NAME

Test::Unit::Assert - unit testing framework assertion class

SYNOPSIS

    # this class is not intended to be used directly, 
    # normally you get the functionality by subclassing from 
    # Test::Unit::TestCase

    use Test::Unit::TestCase;

    # more code here ...

    $self->assert($your_condition_here, $your_optional_message_here);

    # or, for regular expression comparisons:
    $self->assert(qr/some_pattern/, $result);

    # or, for functional style coderef tests:
    $self->assert(sub {
                      $_[0] == $_[1]
                        or $self->fail("Expected $_[0], got $_[1]");
                  }, 1, 2);

    # or, for old style regular expression comparisons
    # (strongly deprecated; see warning below)
    $self->assert(scalar("foo" =~ /bar/), $your_optional_message_here);

    # Or, if you don't mind us guessing
    $self->assert_equals('expected', $actual [, $optional_message]);
    $self->assert_equals(1,$actual);
    $self->assert_not_equals('not expected', $actual [, $optional_message]);
    $self->assert_not_equals(0,1);

    # Or, if you want to force the comparator
    $self->assert_num_equals(1,1);
    $self->assert_num_not_equals(1,0);
    $self->assert_str_equals('string','string');
    $self->assert_str_not_equals('stringA', 'stringB');

    # assert defined/undefined status
    $self->assert_null(undef);
    $self->assert_not_null('');

DESCRIPTION

This class contains the various standard assertions used within the framework. With the exception of the assert(CODEREF, @ARGS), all the assertion methods take an optional message after the mandatory fields. The message can either be a single string, or a list, which will get concatenated.

Although you can specify a message, it is hoped that the default error messages generated when an assertion fails will be good enough for most cases.

Methods

assert_equals(EXPECTED, ACTUAL [, MESSAGE])
assert_not_equals(NOTEXPECTED, ACTUAL [, MESSAGE]): The catch all assertions of (in)equality. We make a guess about whether to test for numeric or string (in)equality based on the first argument. If it looks like a number then we do a numeric test, if it looks like a string, we do a string test.; If the first argument is an object, we check to see if the '==' operator has been overloaded and use that if it has, otherwise we do the string test.
assert_num_equals
assert_num_not_equals: Force numeric comparison with these two.
assert_str_equals
assert_str_not_equals: Force string comparison
assert_matches(qr/PATTERN/, STRING [, MESSAGE])
assert_does_not_match(qr/PATTERN/, STRING [, MESSAGE]): Assert that STRING does or does not match the PATTERN regex.
assert_deep_equals(A, B [, MESSAGE ]): Assert that reference A is a deep copy of reference B. The references can be complex, deep structures. If they are different, the default message will display the place where they start differing.; NOTE This is NOT well-tested on circular references. Nor am I quite sure what will happen with filehandles.
assert_null(ARG [, MESSAGE])
assert_not_null(ARG [, MESSAGE]): Assert that ARG is defined or not defined.
assert(BOOLEAN [, MESSAGE]): Checks if the BOOLEAN expression returns a true value that is neither a CODE ref nor a REGEXP. Note that MESSAGE is almost non optional in this case, otherwise all the assertion has to go on is the truth or otherwise of the boolean.; If you want to use the ``old'' style for testing regular expression matching, please be aware of this: the arguments to assert() are evaluated in list context, e.g. making a failing regex ``pull'' the message into the place of the first argument. Since this is usually just plain wrong, please use scalar() to force the regex comparison to yield a useful boolean value.
assert(qr/PATTERN/, ACTUAL [, MESSAGE]): Matches ACTUAL against the PATTERN regex. If you omit MESSAGE, you should get a sensible error message.
assert(CODEREF, @ARGS): Calls CODEREF->(@ARGS). Assertion fails if this returns false (or throws Test::Unit::Failure)
assert_raises(EXCEPTION_CLASS, CODEREF [, MESSAGE]): Calls CODEREF->(). Assertion fails unless an exception of class EXCEPTION_CLASS is raised.
multi_assert(ASSERTION, @ARGSETS): Calls $self->assert(ASSERTION, @$ARGSET) for each $ARGSET in @ARGSETS.
ok(@ARGS): Simulates the behaviour of the Test module. Deprecated.

NAME

SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

Methods

AUTHOR

SEE ALSO