Synopsis
Simple and powerful end-to-end testing for command-line apps.
Description
Nixt is aiming to make testing of command-line apps as simple as possible. It
plays nice with the testing tools that you are already using and in case you are
one of those devs who practice outside-in BDD, it has the potential to become
something that lives in every command-line app that you are going to build.
How it looks
var nixt = require('nixt');
nixt()
.exec('touch /tmp/test')
.run('ls /tmp/')
.stdout(/test/)
.end();
Formatting options
Nixt can strip newlines and colors. You can tell it to do so by passing an
object that looks like this:
var options = {
colors: false,
newlines: false,
};
nixt(options).stdout...
Custom expectations
While Nixt comes with built-in expectations, you can use your own too.
nixt()
.expect(function(result) {
if (result.stdout !== 'unicorns') {
return new Error('NO!');
}
})
.run('unicorns')
.end(fn);
Custom middlewares
You can register as many before and after middlewares as you wish.
nixt()
.before(setupDatabase)
.before(runMigrations)
.run(cmd)
.after(downgradeCron)
.after(deleteDatabase)
.end();
Middleware order
The Middleware execution order is very simple - "before" middlewares always run
before everything else, "after" middlewares always run after everything else.
The other middlewares will match the order that you have specified.
nixt()
.before(before1)
.before(before2)
.after(after1)
.after(after2)
.writeFile(file, '')
.run(cmd)
.unlink(file)
.end(fn)
// Execution order:
// before1, before2, writeFile, cmd, unlink, after1, after2
You may also want to reuse before and after middlewares as much as possible,
especially when testing something that requires extensive setup and cleanup. You
can accomplish this by cloning a Nixt instance.
var base = nixt()
.before(setupDatabase)
.after(removeDatabase);
// Later on
base.clone().run....
Plugins
Nixt has primitive support for plugins. You can register any expectation or/and
any middleware by calling nixt.register.
var fn = function() {};
nixt.register('foo', fn);
Or you may want to register many functions at once.
var fn = function() {};
var fn1 = function() {};
nixt.register({ baz: fn, bar: fn1 });
Usage with a test runner
Nixt plays nice with any test runner out there. Here is a minimal example how
you could use it with Mocha.
describe('todo add', function() {
it('adds a new todo item', function(done) {
nixt()
.run('todo add')
.stdout('A new todo has been added')
.end(done);
});
});
Usage without a test runner
While using a test runner is recommended nixt is completely 'nodeable'. Here is
a simple example how you could accomplish that:
var assert = require('assert');
function refute(err) {
assert(!err);
}
nixt()
.run(cmd)
.end(refute);
nixt()
.run(anotherCmd)
.end(refute);
Responding to interactive prompts
Nixt can respond to apps that run interactively using the on() and
respond() functions.
nixt()
.run(cmd)
.on('Your name: ').respond('Joe User\n')
.end();
See test/prompt.test.js for more examples.
API
#before
Register a "before" middleware.
nixt()
.before(fn)
.before(fn2)
.run(cmd)
.end();
#after
Register an "after" middleware.
nixt()
.run(cmd)
.after(fn)
.after(fn2)
.end();
#cwd
Change the current working directory of the main command (specified with run).
Please note that this won't affect any other commands like unlink etc.
nixt()
.cwd(__dirname)
.run('pwd')
.stdout(/test$/)
.end();
#base
Set a base command. Useful for templates.
nixt()
.base('node ')
.run('--version')
.stdout('0.10.16')
.end();
#run
Set a primary command to execute:
nixt()
.run('node --version')
.stdout('0.10.16')
.end(fn);
You could also run the test right after specifying the command to run:
nixt()
.stdout('0.10.16')
.run('node --version', fn)
#stdin
Set the contents of stdin.
nixt()
.stdin('foobar')
.run('rev')
.stdout('raboof')
.end(fn);
#env
Set environment variables.
nixt()
.env('foo', 'bar')
.env('baz', 'boo')
.run('node --version')
.stdout('0.10.16')
.end(fn);
#timeout
Set a timeout for the main command that you are about to test.
nixt()
.timeout(1) // ms
.run('cat /dev/null')
.end(fn);
#stdout
Set expectations on stdout.
nixt()
.stdout('LICENSE Makefile')
.run('ls')
.end(fn);
Works with regular expressions too.
nixt()
.stdout(/system/)
.run('time')
.end(fn);
#stderr
Same as stdout but well.. surprise works with stderr.
nixt()
.run('todo add')
.stderr('Please speicfy a todo')
.end(fn);
#code
Expect a given exit code.
nixt()
.run('todo add')
.code(1)
.end(fn);
#exist
Check if a given path exists (works with both files and directories).
nixt()
.run('mkdir /tmp/test')
.exist('/tmp/test')
.end(fn);
#notExist
Check if a given path does not exist (works with both files and directories).
nixt()
.run('rm /tmp/file')
.notExist('/tmp/file')
.end(fn);
#match
Check the contents of a file.
nixt()
.writeFile(file, 'Hello')
.run('node void.js')
.match(file, 'Hello')
.unlink(file)
.end(done);
nixt()
.writeFile(file, 'Hello')
.run('node void.js')
.match(file, /ello/)
.unlink(file)
.end(done);
#mkdir
Create a new directory.
nixt()
.mkdir('xml-database')
.run('this does stuff with the xml-database directory')
.end(fn);
#exec
Execute a given command.
nixt()
.writeFile('LICENSE', 'MIT License')
.exec('git add -a')
.exec('git commit -m "Add LICENSE"')
.run('git log')
.stdout(/LICENSE/)
.end();
By default the commands will inherit the "world" for the main command which
includes environment variables, cwd, timeout. However, you can override this by
supplying a different "world":
nixt()
.exec('git add LICENSE', { timeout: 4, cwd: '/tmp' })
.run('git log')
.stdout(/LICENSE/)
.end();
#writeFile
Create a file with or without given contents.
Without:
nixt()
.writeFile(pathToFile)
.end();
With:
nixt()
.writeFile(pathToFile, data)
.end();
#rmdir
Remove a directory.
nixt()
.mkdir('xml-database')
.run('this does stuff with the xml-database directory')
.rmdir('xml-database')
.end(fn);
#unlink
Unlink a file.
nixt()
.writeFile('my-file', data)
.run('this does stuff with my file')
.unlink('my-file')
.end(fn);
#on
Detect a prompt for user input. Accepts a String or RegExp that appears in
the the stdout stream. Must be paired with #respond.
nixt()
.run(cmd)
.on('Your name: ').respond('Joe User\n')
.end();
#respond
Write a response to the stdin stream when a prompt is detected.
See #on
#end
Run the given test.
nixt()
.run('ls')
.stdout('this-is-not-porn-i-promise')
.end(function(err) {
});
The same might be accomplished with supplying a function to run:
nixt()
.stdout('this-is-not-porn-i-promise')
.run('ls', function(err) {
})
#clone
Deep clone a Nixt instance.
var clone = nixt()
.before(fn)
.after(fn)
.run('my awesome command')
.end()
.clone();
#expect
Register a custom expectation.
nixt()
.expect(function(result) {
if (result.stdout !== 'Unicorns') {
return new Error('OMG');
}
})
.run('ls')
.end(fn);
Installation
$ npm install nixt
Tests
Running the tests
$ make
Credits
Special thanks to:
- Alexander Petkov - logo design
- Martin Lazarov - various ideas
- Radoslav Stankov
Support the author
Do you like this project? Star the repository, spread the word - it really helps. You may want to follow
me on Twitter and
GitHub. Thanks!
License
MIT License
Copyright (C) 2013 Veselin Todorov (hi@vesln.com)
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated
documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit
persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial
portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT,
TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
