Documentation for Release 2024.1

Writing Tests

This tutorial is automatically generated from TestWritingTestsTutorial.hpp at revision a2c88fcf7c1b. Note that the code is given in full at the bottom of the page.

Writing tests

We do not use int main() methods in Chaste. Instead, we write tests, which are run using CxxTest. Tests are used both as:

  • (i) part of the testing environment - every class in the source code has an equivalent test file which tests each aspect of its functionality, making use of the TS_ASSERTs as described below; and
  • (ii) for experimental/simulation work, which involve writing a ’test’ as below but generally without TS_ASSERTs, just to hijack the testing framework as a convenient way to run things without linking to Chaste as an external library (which is also possible but a little bit more fuss to set up)

This tutorial shows how to write a test using CxxTest. Note that the full code is given at the bottom of the page.

First, the following header file needs to be included.

#include <cxxtest/TestSuite.h>

Now we have to define a class containing the tests. It is sensible to name the class with the same name as the file name. The class should inherit from CxxTest::TestSuite.

class TestWritingTestsTutorial: public CxxTest::TestSuite
{

Now we define some tests, which must be public, begin with the word ‘Test’, return void, and take in no parameters.

public:
    void TestOnePlusOneEqualsTwo()
    {

To test whether two integers are equal, we can use the macro TS_ASSERT_EQUALS.

        int some_number = 1 + 1;
        TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(some_number, 2);

To test whether two numbers are equal to within a certain (absolute) tolerance we can use TS_ASSERT_DELTA. This should almost always be used when comparing two doubles. (See also CompareDoubles for more advanced comparisons.)

        double another_number = 1.000001 + 1.0001;
        TS_ASSERT_DELTA(another_number, 2.0, 1e-2);
    }

This second test shows some of the other TS_ASSERT macros that are available.

    void TestSomeOtherStuff()
    {
        TS_ASSERT(1==1); // however, it is better to use TS_ASSERT_EQUALS, below
        TS_ASSERT_EQUALS((true||false), true);
        TS_ASSERT_DIFFERS(1.348329534564385643543957436, 1.348329534564395643543957436);
        TS_ASSERT_LESS_THAN(2.71828183, 3.14159265); // Note: to test if x is greater than y, use TS_ASSERT_LESS_THAN(y,x)
        TS_ASSERT_LESS_THAN_EQUALS(-1e100, 1e100);
        TS_ASSERT_THROWS_ANYTHING(throw 0;); // normally you would put a function call inside the brackets

        unsigned x;
        // The following TS_ASSERT_THROWS_NOTHING may be useful if you want to be certain that there are no uncaught exceptions
        TS_ASSERT_THROWS_NOTHING(x=1;);  // normally you would put a function call inside the brackets
        TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(x, 1u); //Note that x and 1u are of the same type: unsigned integer
    }

Other useful macros include TS_ASSERT_THROWS_THIS and TS_ASSERT_THROWS_CONTAINS for testing exception messages.

Note that methods that don’t start with ‘Test’ are compiled but not run. So, if you want to stop a single test running, just put an ‘x’ or a ‘donot’ (for instance) before its name.

    void donotTestThis()
    {
        TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(1,   2);
        TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(1u,  2u);
        TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(1.0, 2.0);
    }
};

To run this code, first copy it into a file, say, called TestWritingTests.hpp in the directory global/test/. Second, add the full name of your new file to the relevant continuous test pack, say [path/to/Chaste]/global/test/ContinuousTestPack.txt. Third, from the command line, run

cd [path/to/ChasteBuild]
ccmake [path/to/Chaste]

Then press c to configure, e to exit, and g to generate. Finally, run

make global
ctest -V -R TestWritingTests

Full code

#include <cxxtest/TestSuite.h>

class TestWritingTestsTutorial: public CxxTest::TestSuite
{
public:
    void TestOnePlusOneEqualsTwo()
    {
        int some_number = 1 + 1;
        TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(some_number, 2);
        double another_number = 1.000001 + 1.0001;
        TS_ASSERT_DELTA(another_number, 2.0, 1e-2);
    }
    void TestSomeOtherStuff()
    {
        TS_ASSERT(1==1); // however, it is better to use TS_ASSERT_EQUALS, below
        TS_ASSERT_EQUALS((true||false), true);
        TS_ASSERT_DIFFERS(1.348329534564385643543957436, 1.348329534564395643543957436);
        TS_ASSERT_LESS_THAN(2.71828183, 3.14159265); // Note: to test if x is greater than y, use TS_ASSERT_LESS_THAN(y,x)
        TS_ASSERT_LESS_THAN_EQUALS(-1e100, 1e100);
        TS_ASSERT_THROWS_ANYTHING(throw 0;); // normally you would put a function call inside the brackets

        unsigned x;
        // The following TS_ASSERT_THROWS_NOTHING may be useful if you want to be certain that there are no uncaught exceptions
        TS_ASSERT_THROWS_NOTHING(x=1;);  // normally you would put a function call inside the brackets
        TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(x, 1u); //Note that x and 1u are of the same type: unsigned integer
    }

    void donotTestThis()
    {
        TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(1,   2);
        TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(1u,  2u);
        TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(1.0, 2.0);
    }
};
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