Unit and Functional Testing Your Flex Applications

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Unit and Functional Testing Your Flex Applications

• Mike Nimer
• Dir. Of Engineering
• nomee.com

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The goal(s) of testing
Isolate each part of the program and show that
the individual parts are correct. Provide a
strict, written contract that the piece of code
must satisfy. Find problems early in the
development cycle. Unit testing allows the
programmer to re-factor code at a later date, and
make sure the module still works
correctly --wikipedia
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Types of Testing

• Manual
• Humans create test scripts.
• Step by Step instructions (word doc).
• Humans execute those tests.
• Low cost to begin. High cost over the life of a
  project
• Testing generally happens less often
• Automated
• Humans create test methods. Machines execute
  those tests.
• Higher cost to develop. Much lower cost over the
  life of a project
• Testing can happen continually
• On every check-in

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Automated Testing

• Testing as part of Development
• As developers create code, they create tests
• Test Driven Development tests first, code 2nd
• Tests are continually executed by developer to
  ensure new code does not break existing features
• Automated build/test environments
• Part of Continuous Integration
• Code checked out and built automatically
• Code continually tested with your tests and
  reports generated
• Automated QA ensuring a last minute check in does
  not break a release

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Types of Automated Testing

• Unit
• Tests the smallest unit of code that is possible
• Usually tests a single method or function
• Multiple tests for every path through a method
• Usually created by Developer
• Integration / functional
• Tests a combination of units
• Can be used to test UI Components
• Confirms that individual pieces of code work
  together
• Created by Developer or QA

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Tools for Unit Testing

• Unit Testing
• (before)
• FlexUnit - The original Flex/ActionScript 3.0
  unit testing framework.
• Fluint Written for better asynchronous support
  and support for testing UI components.
• (today)
• FlexUnit 4 A merge of FlexUnit 3 and Fluint.
  Providing better asyncronous testing support,
  support for UIComponent testing and IDE
  integration.

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Tools for Automated Testing

• These products all use the Flex Automation API,
  to monitor, manipulate, and control the Flex
  application.
• FlexMonkey
• TestComplete
• Selenium (with SeleniumFlex project)
• Mercury QuickTest Pro 9.1 (QTP)
• Borland SilkTest
• IBM Rational Functional Tester

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Testing Terminology

• Test Method - A test method is the smallest unit
  of the testing process. A test method executes
  code and checks the outcome.
• At the end of the test method the developer
  generally makes an assertion, stating the
  expected outcome of this executed code.
• Test Case - A test case is a collection of test
  methods that share a common test environment,
  also referred to as a test fixture.
• Test Suite - A test suite is a collection of test
  cases.
• Test Runner - A test runner is an application
  that executes the test methods in your suites and
  cases.

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Understanding Assertions

• assertEquals()Accepts two parameters and is a
  valid assertion if the two values are equal ().
• assertStrictlyEquals()Accepts two parameters and
  is a valid assertion if the two values are
  strictly equal ().
• assertTrue()Accepts a single parameter and is a
  valid assertion if the value is true.
• assertFalse()Accepts a single parameter and is a
  valid assertion if the value is false.
• assertNull()Accepts a single parameter and is a
  valid assertion if the value is null.
• assertNotNull()Accepts a single parameter and is
  a valid assertion if the value is not null.
• fail() Marks the test failed.

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Whats new in FlexUnit 4

• Support for all Junit 4 features
• Support for UI testing
• Metadata driven
• Exception handling
• New attribute of Test Metadata allows you to
  define expected exceptions (instead of using
  try/catch)
• Test(expectsTypeError)
• Async test support
• Support for multiple Runners
• Hamcrest support
• Uses the Hamecrest AS3 project for a richer set
  of Asserts.
• Theories and Assumptions
• IDE Support
• Beta 1 now available.

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Understanding Metadata

• FlexUnit 4 can be driven off of specific
  flexmetadata (similar to java annotations). This
  allows you to define tests as you see fit, with
  your own naming conventions or in existing code.
  
• Before metadata you had to name your test methods
  a certain way, and your tests had to extend
  specific classes.
• Test
• Suite
• Before
• After
• BeforeClass
• AfterClass
• Ignore
• DataPoints
• Theory
• RunWith

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Creating A Basic Unit Test

• package simpleTest.tests
• import org.flexunit.Assert
• public class SimpleTestCase
• Test
• public function testMath()void
• var xint 5 3
• Assert.assertEquals( 8, x )

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Creating A Basic Test Suite

• package simpleTest
• import flexunit.framework.TestSuite
• import simpleTest.tests.SimpleTestCase
• Suite
• RunWith("org.flexunit.runners.Suite")
• public class SimpleTestSuite
• // define a var for each test case.
• public var simpleTestCaseSimpleTestCase

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Creating A Test Runner

• lt?xml version"1.0" encoding"utf-8"?gt
• ltmxApplication xmlnsmx"http//www.adobe.com/200
  6/mxml"
• creationComplete"runMe()"
• xmlnsflexUnitUIRunner"http//www.adobe.com/2009/
  flexUnitUIRunner" gt
• ltmxScriptgtlt!CDATA
• import simpleTest.SimpleTestSuite
• import org.flexunit.listeners.UIListener
• import org.flexunit.runner.FlexUnitCore
• private var coreFlexUnitCore
• public function runMe()void
• core new FlexUnitCore()
• //Listener for the UI, optional
• core.addListener( new UIListener( uiListener ))
• core.run( SimpleTestSuite )
• gtlt/mxScriptgt
• ltflexUnitUIRunnerTestRunnerBase
• id"uiListener"

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Asynchronous Testing

• Asynchronous Tests examples
• Server calls
• Timers
• AIR Sqlite
• AIR File Access

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Creating an Asynchronous Unit Test
Setup/Teardown
Before(async) public function
setUp()void timer new Timer( 500, 3
) After(async) public function
tearDown()void if ( timer )
timer.stop() timer null
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Creating an Asynchronous Test Test Method
Test(async) public function testInTimePass()
void var objObject expected3 timer.dela
y 100 timer.addEventListener(TimerEvent.TIMER_
COMPLETE, Async.asyncHandler( this,
completehandler, 500, obj, null) , false, 0,
true ) timer.start() protected function
completehandler( eventEvent, data_Object)void
if( event.type "timerComplete
) Assert.assertEquals(Timer(event.target).curren
tCount, data_.expected )
else Assert.fail("wrong event type")
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Integration Testing

• UIComponents
• A common goal when developing Flex applications
  is to test UIComponents in a repeatable way
• UIComponents are internally asynchronous

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Integration Testing (FlexUnit)

• FlexUnit Sequences
• Sometimes a test of a UIComponent can require
  many steps to setup.
• For example, you may need to create a Login Form,
  populate it and then click a button before you
  can decide if everything worked
• Sequences are a shorthand to simplify that work
  into a readable set of steps

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Testing UIComponents setup
public var formLoginForm Before(async,ui) pub
lic function setUp()void form new
LoginForm() Async.proceedOnEvent( this, form,
FlexEvent.CREATION_COMPLETE, 200
) UIImpersonator.addChild( form
) After(async,ui) public function
tearDown()void UIImpersonator.removeChild(
form ) form null
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Testing UIComponents test method
Test(async,ui) public function
testLogin()void var passThroughDataObject
new Object() passThroughData.username
'myuser1' passThroughData.password
'somepsswd' var sequenceSequenceRunner new
SequenceRunner( this ) sequence.addStep( new
SequenceSetter( form.usernameTI,
textpassThroughData.username )
) sequence.addStep( new SequenceWaiter(
form.usernameTI, FlexEvent.VALUE_COMMIT, 100 )
) sequence.addStep( new SequenceSetter(
form.passwordTI, textpassThroughData.password
) ) sequence.addStep( new SequenceWaiter(
form.passwordTI, FlexEvent.VALUE_COMMIT, 100 )
) sequence.addStep( new SequenceEventDispatcher(
form.loginBtn, new MouseEvent( 'click', true,
false ) ) ) sequence.addStep( new
SequenceWaiter( form, 'loginRequested', 100 )
) sequence.addAssertHandler( handleLoginEvent,
passThroughData ) sequence.run() protected
function handleLoginEvent( eventTextEvent,
passThroughDataObject )void Assert.assertEqual
s( passThroughData.password, event.text )
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Testing UIComponents test method
var sequenceSequenceRunner new
SequenceRunner( this ) sequence.addStep( new
SequenceSetter( form.usernameTI,
textpassThroughData.username )
) sequence.addStep( new SequenceWaiter(
form.usernameTI, FlexEvent.VALUE_COMMIT, 100 )
) sequence.addStep( new SequenceSetter(
form.passwordTI, textpassThroughData.password
) ) sequence.addStep( new SequenceWaiter(
form.passwordTI, FlexEvent.VALUE_COMMIT, 100 ) )

1. Create a new Sequence
2. Set a property on a UIComponent
3. Wait for the valueCommit event to fire, so you
   know the property was set correctly.

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Testing UIComponents test method
sequence.addStep( new SequenceEventDispatcher(
form.loginBtn, new MouseEvent( 'click', true,
false ) ) ) sequence.addStep( new
SequenceWaiter( form, 'loginRequested', 100 )
) sequence.addAssertHandler( handleLoginEvent,
passThroughData ) sequence.run()

1. Add a new step that simulates a user clicking on
   the login button.
2. Wait for the loginRequested event.
3. Add an assertHandler to check the login when it
   is completed.
4. Run the test.

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Testing UIComponents test method
//sequence.addAssertHandler( handleLoginEvent,
passThroughData ) protected function
handleLoginEvent( eventTextEvent,
passThroughDataObject )void Assert.assertEqua
ls( passThroughData.password, event.text )

1. Use the assertHandler method to test the results
   of the login action (server call)
2. If the right data exists, success.

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Integration Testing (FlexMonkey)

• Recording Scripts
• Replaying Scripts

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Tips

• All Software projects should be thoroughly
  tested!!
• Automated testing saves you money by preventing
  bugs form returning again and again.
• A getting started rule of thumb for writing a new
  test case
• Write one test that passes the usual case
• Write one test that passes by testing the
  extremes
• Write one test that is supposed to fail
• Continue building your test cases, by writing a
  test case for every bug that is submitted
  before you close the bug as fixed.
• Tests cases should clean up after themselves
• Any developer should be able to run the tests
  without custom setup if possible.

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Questions
?
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FlexUnit 4 http//opensource.adobe.com/wiki/displa
y/flexunit/FlexUnit Flex Monkey http//code.googl
e.com/p/flexmonkey/ More on Continuous
Integration http//www.martinfowler.com/articles/c
ontinuousIntegration.html