Unit Test Execution - Part 2

In my first posting in this thread I discussed some of the issues around executing unit tests as part of Team Build. In this entry I will look at how the custom create test list task I have created works.

I first started looking at this task by checking if I could create a test list using the built in .Net assemblies. Unfortunately the test list class is marked as internal, so I had to be a bit more creative.

Without the use of the test list class I did the following:

• Investigated how unit test methods are identified.
• Inferred a XSD from the test list XML.
• Modified the XSD to create a C# class.
• Created a framework that:
  • Uses reflection to find TestMethods from a compiled test assembly.
  • Creates test categories.
  • Adds tests to a default ‘generated’ category.
• Serializes the information to create a vsmdi test list file.
• Created a custom MSBuild task to wrap the new test list functionality.

Having generated a vsmdi test list file I then changed the build project in the following ways:

• Imported the custom build task from a build targets file.
• Changed the RunTest to true.
• Changed the MetaDataFile property to include the generated vsmdi test list file.
• Added an AfterCompile build target that calls the custom CreateTestList task.

The result is a vsmdi test list file that can used by the Team Build testing process to execute all test methods in a single test assembly.

I am currently in the process of looking at setting up a GotDotNet workspace to host the MSI files and the source code. If you would like to act as beta tester before release please contact me and I will send you a copy of the install MSI.

In the next post in this thread I will look at:

• How the custom task is deployed via an MSI file.
• Possible future improvements to enhance the process.