Chris Dent 3e450b1d37 Add a bit of test running arcana to the faq

Running just one dynamically generated test can be a bit confusing
so some advice is added to the faq. At some point this should
probably be intergrated into the mainline docs.

2017-01-12 13:44:48 +00:00

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Frequently Asked Questions

Note

This section provides a collection of questions with answers that don't otherwise fit in the rest of the documentation. If something is missing, please create an issue.

As this document grows it will gain a more refined structure.

General

Is gabbi only for testing Python-based APIs?

No, you can use gabbi-run <runner> to test an HTTP service built in any programming language.

How do I run just one test?

Each YAML file contains a sequence of tests, each test within each file has a name. That name is translated to the name of the test by replacing spaces with an _.

When running tests that are generated dynamically <loader>, filtering based on the test name prior to the test being collected will not work in some test runners. Test runners that use a --load-list functionality can be convinced to filter after discovery.

pytest does this directly with the -k keyword flag.

When using testrepository with tox as used in gabbi's own tests it is possible to pass a filter in the tox command:

tox -epy27 -- get_the_widget

When using testtools.run and similar test runners it's a bit more complicated. It is necessary to provide the full name of the test as a list to --load-list:

python -m testtools.run --load-list \
    <(echo package.tests.test_api.yamlfile_get_the_widge.test_request)

Testing Style

Can I have variables in my YAML file?

Gabbi provides the $ENVIRON substitution <state-substitution> which can operate a bit like variables that are set elsewhere and then used in the tests defined by the YAML.

If you find it necessary to have variables within a single YAML file you take advantage of YAML alias nodes list this:

vars:
  - &uuid_1 5613AABF-BAED-4BBA-887A-252B2D3543F8

tests:
- name: send a uuid to a post
  POST: /resource
  request_headers:
    content-type: application/json
  data:
    uuid: *uuid_1

You can alias all sorts of nodes, not just single items. Be aware that the replacement of an alias node happens while the YAML is being loaded, before gabbi does any processing.

How many tests should be put in one YAML file?

For the sake of readability it is best to keep each YAML file relatively short. Since each YAML file represents a sequence of requests, it usually makes sense to create a new file when a test is not dependent on any before it.

It's tempting to put all the tests for any resource or URL in the same file, but this eventually leads to files that are too long and are thus difficult to read.

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