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  1. Moodle
  2. MDL-62483

Should be harder to write fragile unit tests that make unwarranted assumptions about a new Moodle install

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    • MOODLE_33_STABLE, MOODLE_34_STABLE, MOODLE_35_STABLE

    Description

      This is a similar in philosophy to -MDL-43835- which was done in Moodle 2.8. There, we randomised the starting value of DB sequences, to ensure that people did not write fragile unit tests because they had hard-coded expected ids in asserts.

      There is another problem, where core unit tests assume that, for example, a new Moodle install only has one course category, but a third-party plugin my create a course category for its own use on install.

      In order to prevent these test-breaking assumptions from getting in to Moodle core, perhaps we should change the PHPunit site installer, so that after a default Moodle install, it generates a small random number (0, 1 or 2) of some key entities (e.g. user, course, category, question). These things should be given very specific names, to minimise the change they break existing tests.

      As a specific example, if you install qtype_coderunner, then core_question_privacy_provider_testcase starts failing.

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        Issue Links

          has a non-specific relationship to

          Bug - A problem which impairs or prevents Moodle from functioning correctly. MDL-47726 test_custom_textarea_field fails when a plugin creates a custom user text field during install

          • Minor - Minor loss of function where workaround is possible
          • Closed

          Bug - A problem which impairs or prevents Moodle from functioning correctly. MDL-62781 core_question_privacy_provider_testcase makes assumptions that CodeRunner breaks

          • Minor - Minor loss of function where workaround is possible
          • Closed

          Improvement - An enhancement to an existing Moodle feature. MDL-43835 Use unique sequence values on database reset to pick unit testing mistakes

          • Blocker - Blocks development and/or testing, prevents Moodle from running (applicable to bugs only)
          • Closed
          has been marked as being related by

          Bug - A problem which impairs or prevents Moodle from functioning correctly. MDL-62488 Filebrowser unit tests shouldn't assume content of system context

          • Minor - Minor loss of function where workaround is possible
          • Closed

          Bug - A problem which impairs or prevents Moodle from functioning correctly. MDL-68503 event_profile_field_test fails if a plugin has created additional categories

          • Minor - Minor loss of function where workaround is possible
          • Closed

          Activity

            People

              Unassigned Unassigned
              timhunt Tim Hunt
              Andrew Lyons, Huong Nguyen, Jun Pataleta, Michael Hawkins, Shamim Rezaie, Simey Lameze, Andrew Lyons, Huong Nguyen, Jun Pataleta, Michael Hawkins, Shamim Rezaie, Simey Lameze
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              2 Vote for this issue
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              4 Start watching this issue

              Dates

                Created:
                Updated: