Test::Builder(3pm)					 Perl Programmers Reference Guide					Test::Builder(3pm)

NAME

       Test::Builder - Backend for building test libraries

SYNOPSIS

	 package My::Test::Module;
	 use Test::Builder;
	 require Exporter;
	 @ISA = qw(Exporter);
	 @EXPORT = qw(ok);

	 my $Test = Test::Builder->new;
	 $Test->output('my_logfile');

	 sub import {
	     my($self) = shift;
	     my $pack = caller;

	     $Test->exported_to($pack);
	     $Test->plan(@_);

	     $self->export_to_level(1, $self, 'ok');
	 }

	 sub ok {
	     my($test, $name) = @_;

	     $Test->ok($test, $name);
	 }

DESCRIPTION

       Test::Simple and Test::More have proven to be popular testing modules, but they're not always flexible enough.  Test::Builder provides the
       a building block upon which to write your own test libraries which can work together.

       Construction

       new
	     my $Test = Test::Builder->new;

	   Returns a Test::Builder object representing the current state of the test.

	   Since you only run one test per program, there is one and only one Test::Builder object.  No matter how many times you call new(),
	   you're getting the same object.  (This is called a singleton).

       Setting up tests

       These methods are for setting up tests and declaring how many there are.  You usually only want to call one of these methods.

       exported_to
	     my $pack = $Test->exported_to;
	     $Test->exported_to($pack);

	   Tells Test::Builder what package you exported your functions to.  This is important for getting TODO tests right.

       plan
	     $Test->plan('no_plan');
	     $Test->plan( skip_all => $reason );
	     $Test->plan( tests => $num_tests );

	   A convenient way to set up your tests.  Call this and Test::Builder will print the appropriate headers and take the appropriate
	   actions.

	   If you call plan(), don't call any of the other methods below.

       expected_tests
	       my $max = $Test->expected_tests;
	       $Test->expected_tests($max);

	   Gets/sets the # of tests we expect this test to run and prints out the appropriate headers.

       no_plan
	     $Test->no_plan;

	   Declares that this test will run an indeterminate # of tests.

       has_plan
	     $plan = $Test->has_plan

	   Find out whether a plan has been defined. $plan is either "undef" (no plan has been set), "no_plan" (indeterminate # of tests) or an
	   integer (the number of expected tests).

       skip_all
	     $Test->skip_all;
	     $Test->skip_all($reason);

	   Skips all the tests, using the given $reason.  Exits immediately with 0.

       Running tests

       These actually run the tests, analogous to the functions in Test::More.

       $name is always optional.

       ok
	     $Test->ok($test, $name);

	   Your basic test.  Pass if $test is true, fail if $test is false.  Just like Test::Simple's ok().

       is_eq
	     $Test->is_eq($got, $expected, $name);

	   Like Test::More's is().  Checks if $got eq $expected.  This is the string version.

       is_num
	     $Test->is_num($got, $expected, $name);

	   Like Test::More's is().  Checks if $got == $expected.  This is the numeric version.

       isnt_eq
	     $Test->isnt_eq($got, $dont_expect, $name);

	   Like Test::More's isnt().  Checks if $got ne $dont_expect.  This is the string version.

       isnt_num
	     $Test->is_num($got, $dont_expect, $name);

	   Like Test::More's isnt().  Checks if $got ne $dont_expect.  This is the numeric version.

       like
	     $Test->like($this, qr/$regex/, $name);
	     $Test->like($this, '/$regex/', $name);

	   Like Test::More's like().  Checks if $this matches the given $regex.

	   You'll want to avoid qr// if you want your tests to work before 5.005.

       unlike
	     $Test->unlike($this, qr/$regex/, $name);
	     $Test->unlike($this, '/$regex/', $name);

	   Like Test::More's unlike().	Checks if $this does not match the given $regex.

       maybe_regex
	     $Test->maybe_regex(qr/$regex/);
	     $Test->maybe_regex('/$regex/');

	   Convenience method for building testing functions that take regular expressions as arguments, but need to work before perl 5.005.

	   Takes a quoted regular expression produced by qr//, or a string representing a regular expression.

	   Returns a Perl value which may be used instead of the corresponding regular expression, or undef if it's argument is not recognised.

	   For example, a version of like(), sans the useful diagnostic messages, could be written as:

	     sub laconic_like {
		 my ($self, $this, $regex, $name) = @_;
		 my $usable_regex = $self->maybe_regex($regex);
		 die "expecting regex, found '$regex'
"
		     unless $usable_regex;
		 $self->ok($this =~ m/$usable_regex/, $name);
	     }

       cmp_ok
	     $Test->cmp_ok($this, $type, $that, $name);

	   Works just like Test::More's cmp_ok().

	       $Test->cmp_ok($big_num, '!=', $other_big_num);

       BAILOUT
	       $Test->BAILOUT($reason);

	   Indicates to the Test::Harness that things are going so badly all testing should terminate.	This includes running any additional test
	   scripts.

	   It will exit with 255.

       skip
	       $Test->skip;
	       $Test->skip($why);

	   Skips the current test, reporting $why.

       todo_skip
	     $Test->todo_skip;
	     $Test->todo_skip($why);

	   Like skip(), only it will declare the test as failing and TODO.  Similar to

	       print "not ok $tnum # TODO $why
";

       Test style

       level
	       $Test->level($how_high);

	   How far up the call stack should $Test look when reporting where the test failed.

	   Defaults to 1.

	   Setting $Test::Builder::Level overrides.  This is typically useful localized:

	       {
		   local $Test::Builder::Level = 2;
		   $Test->ok($test);
	       }

       use_numbers
	       $Test->use_numbers($on_or_off);

	   Whether or not the test should output numbers.  That is, this if true:

	     ok 1
	     ok 2
	     ok 3

	   or this if false

	     ok
	     ok
	     ok

	   Most useful when you can't depend on the test output order, such as when threads or forking is involved.

	   Test::Harness will accept either, but avoid mixing the two styles.

	   Defaults to on.

       no_header
	       $Test->no_header($no_header);

	   If set to true, no "1..N" header will be printed.

       no_ending
	       $Test->no_ending($no_ending);

	   Normally, Test::Builder does some extra diagnostics when the test ends.  It also changes the exit code as described in Test::Simple.

	   If this is true, none of that will be done.

       Output

       Controlling where the test output goes.

       It's ok for your test to change where STDOUT and STDERR point to, Test::Builder's default output settings will not be affected.

       diag
	       $Test->diag(@msgs);

	   Prints out the given $message.  Normally, it uses the failure_output() handle, but if this is for a TODO test, the todo_output() handle
	   is used.

	   Output will be indented and marked with a # so as not to interfere with test output.  A newline will be put on the end if there isn't
	   one already.

	   We encourage using this rather than calling print directly.

	   Returns false.  Why?  Because diag() is often used in conjunction with a failing test ("ok() || diag()") it "passes through" the fail-
	   ure.

	       return ok(...) || diag(...);

       output
	       $Test->output($fh);
	       $Test->output($file);

	   Where normal "ok/not ok" test output should go.

	   Defaults to STDOUT.

       failure_output
	       $Test->failure_output($fh);
	       $Test->failure_output($file);

	   Where diagnostic output on test failures and diag() should go.

	   Defaults to STDERR.

       todo_output
	       $Test->todo_output($fh);
	       $Test->todo_output($file);

	   Where diagnostics about todo test failures and diag() should go.

	   Defaults to STDOUT.

       Test Status and Info

       current_test
	       my $curr_test = $Test->current_test;
	       $Test->current_test($num);

	   Gets/sets the current test # we're on.

	   You usually shouldn't have to set this.

       summary
	       my @tests = $Test->summary;

	   A simple summary of the tests so far.  True for pass, false for fail.  This is a logical pass/fail, so todos are passes.

	   Of course, test #1 is $tests[0], etc...

       details
	       my @tests = $Test->details;

	   Like summary(), but with a lot more detail.

	       $tests[$test_num - 1] =
		       { 'ok'	    => is the test considered a pass?
			 actual_ok  => did it literally say 'ok'?
			 name	    => name of the test (if any)
			 type	    => type of test (if any, see below).
			 reason     => reason for the above (if any)
		       };

	   'ok' is true if Test::Harness will consider the test to be a pass.

	   'actual_ok' is a reflection of whether or not the test literally printed 'ok' or 'not ok'.  This is for examining the result of 'todo'
	   tests.

	   'name' is the name of the test.

	   'type' indicates if it was a special test.  Normal tests have a type of ''.	Type can be one of the following:

	       skip	   see skip()
	       todo	   see todo()
	       todo_skip   see todo_skip()
	       unknown	   see below

	   Sometimes the Test::Builder test counter is incremented without it printing any test output, for example, when current_test() is
	   changed.  In these cases, Test::Builder doesn't know the result of the test, so it's type is 'unkown'.  These details for these tests
	   are filled in.  They are considered ok, but the name and actual_ok is left undef.

	   For example "not ok 23 - hole count # TODO insufficient donuts" would result in this structure:

	       $tests[22] =    # 23 - 1, since arrays start from 0.
		 { ok	     => 1,   # logically, the test passed since it's todo
		   actual_ok => 0,   # in absolute terms, it failed
		   name      => 'hole count',
		   type      => 'todo',
		   reason    => 'insufficient donuts'
		 };

       todo
	       my $todo_reason = $Test->todo;
	       my $todo_reason = $Test->todo($pack);

	   todo() looks for a $TODO variable in your tests.  If set, all tests will be considered 'todo' (see Test::More and Test::Harness for
	   details).  Returns the reason (ie. the value of $TODO) if running as todo tests, false otherwise.

	   todo() is pretty part about finding the right package to look for $TODO in.	It uses the exported_to() package to find it.  If that's
	   not set, it's pretty good at guessing the right package to look at.

	   Sometimes there is some confusion about where todo() should be looking for the $TODO variable.  If you want to be sure, tell it explic-
	   itly what $pack to use.

       caller
	       my $package = $Test->caller;
	       my($pack, $file, $line) = $Test->caller;
	       my($pack, $file, $line) = $Test->caller($height);

	   Like the normal caller(), except it reports according to your level().

THREADS

       In perl 5.8.0 and later, Test::Builder is thread-safe.  The test number is shared amongst all threads.  This means if one thread sets the
       test number using current_test() they will all be effected.

EXAMPLES

       CPAN can provide the best examples.  Test::Simple, Test::More, Test::Exception and Test::Differences all use Test::Builder.

SEE ALSO

       Test::Simple, Test::More, Test::Harness

AUTHORS

       Original code by chromatic, maintained by Michael G Schwern <schwern@pobox.com>

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright 2002 by chromatic <chromatic@wgz.org>,
			 Michael G Schwern <schwern@pobox.com>.

       This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

       See http://www.perl.com/perl/misc/Artistic.html

perl v5.8.0							    2002-06-01							Test::Builder(3pm)