use Perl

When writing tests for my modules, my usual method is to create a separate .t file for each method within a module. This method does create quite a few .t files with generally few tests in each. I don't know whether this is a good or bad method but it's works great for me and the way I develop. .t files are created as I need each new method (starting with new), and tested with prove -lv (thanks for the -l Andy).

I tend to put Carp to good use. croak can be found throughout the modules I write wherever a method requires something (write access to a file, parameters passed, etc). To test that each croak works the way I expect I use Test::Exception's dies_ok.

In each .t file I'd have the following after the tests for proper use:

SKIP: {
  eval { use Test::Exception };
  skip 'Test::Exception not installed', 1 if $@;

  dies_ok { test code here }, 'message';
}

Test::Exception is installed on all of my development boxes, and all of our production boxes to ensure full testing before a module gets installed. This caused me not to realize that the above code does not work if you don't have Test::Exception installed. Something I did not notice until I released CPAN::Mini::Inject onto CPAN.

One of the cpantesters and rjbs brought this to my attention on the Windows platform. I'd thought I'd fixed it with the last release, until today.

I spent today installing Perl and configuring remote access on one of the kids Windows XP systems (my plan is to use it to test my code and to as a cpantester). First thing, install CPANPLUS, second try to install CPAN::Mini::Inject. Failures all over the place. Can not find Test::Exception.

I ended up moving all of the exception tests out of each method's .t file and into a zz.exceptions.t file. The following code is at the top skipping every test if Test::Exception isn't installed:

use Test::More;

BEGIN {
  eval "use Test::Exception";

  plan skip_all => "Test Exceptions required to test croaks" if $@;
  plan tests => 9; # # of tests.
}

Now the tests all pass on boxes with or without Test::Exception installed. Needless to say expect CPAN::Mini::Inject 0.16 shortly.