The stfRunner command is used for running statictea system tests.
StfRunner executes a stf test file which tests a feature. A stf file contains instructions for creating files, running files and comparing files.
A normal test creates all the input files, runs statictea then compares the outputs to the expected values.
Although stfRunner was written to test statictea, you can use it to test any command line program.
What’s cool about it:
* you specify each test in one file
* a test with its documentation looks good in a markdown reader
* the test file format is simple
* you can test standard out, standard error, the error code as well as files
Below is the hello world statictea readme example. The test creates four files “cmd.sh”, “hello.json”, “hello.html” and “stdout.expected”. It then runs the cmd.sh file which creates two output files: “stdout” and “stderr”. The final steps compare the output files with the expected files. stf file, version 0.1.0
# Hello World
Readme Hello World example.
### File cmd.sh command
~~~
$statictea \
-s hello.json \
-t hello.html \
>stdout 2>stderr
~~~
### File hello.html
~~~
hello {s.name}
~~~
### File hello.json
~~~
{"name": "world"}
~~~
### File stdout.expected
~~~
hello world
~~~
### Expected stdout == stdout.expected
### Expected stderr == empty
In this example, six files where created. Using some other test method, it would be hard to manage all these files when you have a lot of tests.
Since the test file is a markdown file, you can create easy to read tests and associated embedded documentation and it looks good in a markdown reader. You can see what hello world it looks like viewed with github’s viewer:
* hello.stf.md
Here are all the statictea system tests:
* statictea stf tests
I’m planning to spin out stfRunner into its own standalone github project.
The letters STF stand for “Single Test File” or my name STeve Flenniken.
I’m considering changing its name to tea-runner. You can think of it as t-runner for test-runner, stf-runner, or maybe rum-runner or beer-run.