Re: design issue

--- In junit@xxxx, Boris Garbuzov <boris_garbuzov@xxxx> wrote:
> Thanks, J.B., I will follow your practical
> recommendation. But still there are 2 theoretical
> questions:
> 1. How to implement TestListener in a TestCase? More
> exactly, how to add it?
> 2. What is the difference between setUp() and
> startTest()?

I'm far from an expert on the matter but...

1. As far as I know TestListeners are merely observers of tests.
Usually in 
order to provide Views on test progress to the tester (of the person
class -> 
end user subclass) so that they can informed of the results. I may be
mistaken 
here but testers do not usually mess with TestListeners inside of a
TestCase. In 
other words, they are interface elements. They follow (or are players
in) the 
Observer Pattern as in the GOF book.

http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?ObserverPattern
http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?DesignPatternsBook

The TestRunner classes are the observers in the standard jUnit
framework. 
They indicate their interest of being notified of test
progress/events by 
registering themselves with a TestResult. If you take a look at the
source code 
inside TestRunner classes you can see how this is done.

Those who extend or enhance the framework may add the
listeners/observers in 
a different way but the idea is the same.


2. A tester puts in their code which does whatever is needed to set
up a test's 
fixture in setUp(). Like opening a file, opening a database, or doing
any 
initializations which may be common across all tests in a TestCase.

startTest() is just for TestListeners it has nothing to do with a end
user's 
writing of TestCase code. TestListeners are informed that a test has
started 
through this interface. You can see this in the source code of
TestResult.

However, don't take my word for it as I can't even program in
Java.

Anthony Adachi