[Bioperl-l] New testing base: BioperlTest.pm

[Chris Fields]

On Jun 25, 2007, at 8:06 AM, Sendu Bala wrote:

> Sendu Bala wrote:
>> In considering updating all the test scripts to [... use] t/lib/ 
>> BioperlTest.pm
>
> I'm now in the process of converting all test scripts. In addition to
> those things mentioned previously, BioperlTest now also provides the
> methods test_input_file() and test_output_file().
>
>
> This:
> ----
> use Bio::Root::IO;
> my $output_file = Bio::Root::IO->catfile(qw(t data temp.file));
> $obj->new(-file => ">$output_file");
>
> END {
>    unlink($output_file);
> }
>
> ...
>
> $obj->new(-file => Bio::Root::IO->catfile(qw(t data input.file)));
> ----
>
>
> Becomes this:
> ----
> my $output_file = test_output_file();
> $obj->new(-file => ">$output_file");
>
> ...
>
> $obj->new(-file => test_input_file('input.file'));
> ----
>
>
> I should think the benefits are obvious, especially for the output
> files, which thanks to inconsistency of using END blocks correctly  
> or at
> all, leaves some output data behind on occasion.

Sounds fine by me, though it's a lot of work.  BTW, did we ever  
decide whether to finish up with Test::More conversion?  I haven't  
heard back yet; let me know what you want to do.

> test_input_file() is helpful for the shorthand, but also gets rid of
> many tests' usage of Bio::Root::IO (relying on something you're
> installing and testing in another test script to work in the current
> test script, without testing it in your own test script seems like a
> no-no to me).

Well, in a way isn't that itself a test of the class (whether it  
breaks or not)?  ; >

Do test_input_file() and test_input_file() handle directory  
structures in an OS-safe way like catfile()?  For instance, I plan on  
adding test data to a new directory similar to Bio::Graphics (t/data/ 
eutil) to prevent cluttering of the t/data directory.  I could use  
'$obj->new(-file => test_input_file('/eutil/input.xml'))' if the base  
directory is 't/data' but that may not be cross-platform compatible  
with win32 file systems, which may still expect something like 't\data 
\eutil\input.xml'.

chris