I have been doing not simply Unit Testing for my websites however full on Integration Testing and Browser Automation Testing as early as 2007 with Selenium. These days, nevertheless, I have been utilizing the sooner and usually extra suitable Playwright. It has one API and might take a look at on Home windows, Linux, Mac, domestically, in a container (headless), in my CI/CD pipeline, on Azure DevOps, or in GitHub Actions.
For me, it is that final second of reality to be sure that the positioning runs fully from finish to finish.
I can write these Playwright exams in one thing like TypeScript, and I may launch them with node, however I like working finish unit exams and utilizing that take a look at runner and take a look at harness as my leaping off level for my .NET functions. I am used to proper clicking and “run unit exams” and even higher, proper click on and “debug unit exams” in Visible Studio or VS Code. This will get me the advantage of the entire assertions of a full unit testing framework, and all the advantages of utilizing one thing like Playwright to automate my browser.
In 2018 I used to be utilizing WebApplicationFactory and a few difficult hacks to mainly spin up ASP.NET inside .NET (on the time) Core 2.1 inside the unit exams after which launching Selenium. This was form of janky and would require to manually begin a separate course of and handle its life cycle. Nonetheless, I saved on with this hack for quite a lot of years mainly making an attempt to get the Kestrel Net Server to spin up within my unit exams.
I’ve just lately upgraded my important website and podcast website to .NET 8. Remember that I have been shifting my web sites ahead from early early variations of .NET to the latest variations. The weblog is fortunately working on Linux in a container on .NET 8, however its unique code began in 2002 on .NET 1.1.
Now that I am on .NET 8, I scandalously found (as my unit exams stopped working) that the remainder of the world had moved from IWebHostBuilder to IHostBuilder 5 model of .NET in the past. Gulp. Say what you’ll, however the backward compatibility is spectacular.
As such my code for Program.cs modified from this
public static void Major(string[] args)
CreateWebHostBuilder(args).Construct().Run();public static IWebHostBuilder CreateWebHostBuilder(string[] args) =>
WebHost.CreateDefaultBuilder(args)
.UseStartup<Startup>();
to this:
public static void Major(string[] args)
CreateHostBuilder(args).Construct().Run();public static IHostBuilder CreateHostBuilder(string[] args) =>
Host.CreateDefaultBuilder(args).
ConfigureWebHostDefaults(WebHostBuilder => WebHostBuilder.UseStartup<Startup>());
Not a serious change on the surface however tidies issues up on the within and units me up with a extra versatile generic host for my net app.
My unit exams stopped working as a result of my Kestral Net Server hack was not firing up my server.
Right here is an instance of my aim from a Playwright perspective inside a .NET NUnit take a look at.
[Test]
public async Job DoesSearchWork()
await Web page.GotoAsync(Url);await Web page.Locator("#topbar").GetByRole(AriaRole.Hyperlink, new() Title = "episodes" ).ClickAsync();
await Web page.GetByPlaceholder("search and filter").ClickAsync();
await Web page.GetByPlaceholder("search and filter").TypeAsync("spouse");
const string visibleCards = ".showCard:seen";
var ready = await Web page.WaitForSelectorAsync(visibleCards, new PageWaitForSelectorOptions() Timeout = 500 );
await Anticipate(Web page.Locator(visibleCards).First).ToBeVisibleAsync();
await Anticipate(Web page.Locator(visibleCards)).ToHaveCountAsync(5);
I like this. Good and clear. Actually right here we’re assuming that we now have a URL in that first line, which shall be localhost one thing, after which we assume that our net software has began up by itself.
Right here is the setup code that begins my new “net software take a look at builder manufacturing facility,” yeah, the title is silly nevertheless it’s descriptive. Word the OneTimeSetUp and the OneTimeTearDown. This begins my net app inside the context of my TestHost. Word the :0 makes the app discover a port which I then, sadly, should dig out and put into the Url non-public to be used inside my Unit Exams. Word that the <Startup> is actually my Startup class inside Startup.cs which hosts my app’s pipeline and Configure and ConfigureServices get setup right here so routing all works.
non-public string Url;
non-public WebApplication? _app = null;[OneTimeSetUp]
public void Setup()
var builder = WebApplicationTestBuilderFactory.CreateBuilder<Startup>();var startup = new Startup(builder.Surroundings);
builder.WebHost.ConfigureKestrel(o => o.Pay attention(IPAddress.Loopback, 0));
startup.ConfigureServices(builder.Companies);
_app = builder.Construct();// hear on any native port (therefore the 0)
startup.Configure(_app, _app.Configuration);
_app.Begin();//you might be kidding me
Url = _app.Companies.GetRequiredService<IServer>().Options.GetRequiredFeature<IServerAddressesFeature>().Addresses.Final();[OneTimeTearDown]
public async Job TearDown()
await _app.DisposeAsync();
So what horrors are buried in WebApplicationTestBuilderFactory? The primary bit is unhealthy and we must always repair it for .NET 9. The remaining is definitely each good, with a hat tip to David Fowler for his assist and steering! That is the magic and the ick in a single small helper class.
public class WebApplicationTestBuilderFactory
public static WebApplicationBuilder CreateBuilder<T>() the place T : class
//This ungodly code requires an unused reference to the MvcTesting bundle that hooks up
// MSBuild to create the manifest file that's learn right here.
var testLocation = Path.Mix(AppContext.BaseDirectory, "MvcTestingAppManifest.json");
var json = JsonObject.Parse(File.ReadAllText(testLocation));
var asmFullName = typeof(T).Meeting.FullName ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("Meeting Full Title is null");
var contentRootPath = json?[asmFullName]?.GetValue<string>();//spin up an actual reside net software inside TestHost.exe
var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(
new WebApplicationOptions()
ContentRootPath = contentRootPath,
ApplicationName = asmFullName
);
return builder;
The primary 4 traces are nasty. As a result of the take a look at runs within the context of a special listing and my web site must run inside the context of its personal content material root path, I’ve to power the content material root path to be right and the one method to do this is by getting the apps base listing from a file generated inside MSBuild from the (getting old) MvcTesting bundle. The bundle will not be used, however by referencing it it will get into the construct and makes that file that I then use to drag out the listing.
If we are able to do away with that “hack” and pull the listing from context elsewhere, then this helper perform turns right into a single line and .NET 9 will get WAY WAY extra testable!
Now I can run my Unit Exams AND Playwright Browser Integration Exams throughout all OS’s, headed or headless, in docker or on the steel. The location is up to date to .NET 8 and all is true with my code. Properly, it runs at the very least. 😉
About Scott
Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, advisor, father, diabetic, and Microsoft worker. He’s a failed stand-up comedian, a cornrower, and a e-book writer.
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