lightning talk

gistfile1.txt

How do we test TIM controllers from the html parameters?

Rails:

    test "should create post" do
      assert_difference('Post.count') do
        post :create, :post => { :title => 'Hi', :body => 'This is my first post.'}
      end
      assert_redirected_to post_path(assigns(:post))
      assert_equal 'Post was successfully created.', flash[:notice]
    end




Notice that the post method in the rails test helpers directly can directly choose
an action, and provide a map of post variables in a similar format to how the
controller code will process it.



What is this most like in a TIM context?
  
    params  =>  HTMLParameters
    action  =>  ThreeStageController @DefaultAction OR specific action
                referenced in HTMLParameters

Explanation: the TIM, unlike Rails, is not RESTful in action dispatch. 
It always hits the /monitor url endpoint, with parameters to identify the controller,
and an action if not the default action. How these work in the TIM is an interesting
topic that we've had to come up to speed on, but is beyond the scope of this
lightning talk.




Can we write TIM controller tests that construct the HTMLParameters in a natural way,
to test in from there a la Rails? Certainly, you can use 
TIMPersistantFrame#createDocumentFromInjectedController(...), for example, 
passing in an HTMLParameters object.

    Document content = createDocumentFromInjectedController(
        controller, params, new ScreenMessages());

In a number of TIM tests, this is sufficient, as the format of the 
parameters is simple. Sweet!




BUT...





What if our controller makes use of DataSets for CRUD operations on data... 
like... most of TIM's significant controllers? 

   1.  construct DataSets manually using pure DataSets (examples)
   2.  construct DataSets using test-specific builders layered 
       on controller-specific DataSets (examples)
   ...
   3.  Profit?



No way to go from DataSet to HTMLParameters!

To solve this, we wrote DataSetHTMLParams.
Call static method constructHTMLParameters(String action, DataSet ds), for 
example in ManageMacroInstrumentsControllerIntegrationTest:

    @Test public void
    can_delete_a_macro_asset_type() throws Exception {
        MacroAssetType commodities = givenRandomMacroAssetType("Commodities", false, null);

        MacroInstrumentsPage macroInstrumentsPage = 
            loadMacroInstrumentsPage(paramsToDeleteAssetTypes(asList(commodities)));

        macroInstrumentsPage.assertMacroAssetTypeIsNotPresent(commodities);
    }

    ...

    private HTMLParameters paramsToDeleteAssetTypes(List<MacroAssetType> assetTypes) {
        return constructHTMLParameters(
                "SAVE_MACRO_REGIONS_AND_ASSET_TYPES",
                createMacroAssetTypeDataSetContainingDeletedRows(
                    availableAssetTypes, assetTypes));
    }



Questions?