[Catalyst] unit testing Chuck Norris style

[Matt Lawrence]

Andrew Strader wrote:
> I have a question about writing unit tests for a Catalyst app.
>
> I've found it's extremely useful to have internal controller tests, as
> described on http://www.catalystframework.org/calendar/2006/17 ("Chuck
> Norris tests his Catalyst controllers with Test::More").
>
> The basic approach I've been using is like this:
>   
[snip]
> My question is...
>
> Is there a way to get a fully instantiated and interfaceable $c outside of
> the server without having to maintaining my own separate mock implementation
> of it?
>
> I've looked at Catalyst::Test, Test::WWW::Mechanize::Catalyst, Catalyst,
> Catalyst::Engine, and Catalyst::Request, but none of them seem to contain a
> full-fledged $c independently of the server startup process.
>   
Just noticed this unanswered question in Phaylon's very helpful summary..

When I wanted to do something similar, I did:


my $controller = MyApp->controller('MyController');
my $c = MyApp->prepare();

# Monkey with $c to set up a fake context (set req->uri, or params)

my $result = $controller->method_to_test($c, @args);


Which worked for me in the very narrow context I was working in (I just
wanted to check the return value of the method).

I'm sure someone more familiar with the internals of Catalyst could tell
you more about the pros and cons of this approach. One obvious drawback
is the inability to forward to other actions from the one you're testing.

Cheers,

Matt