NAME

Test::Builder::Module - Base class for test modules

SYNOPSIS

  # Emulates Test::Simple
  package Your::Module;

  my $CLASS = __PACKAGE__;

  use base 'Test::Builder::Module';
  @EXPORT = qw(ok);

  sub ok ($;$) {
      my $tb = $CLASS->builder;
      return $tb->ok(@_);
  }
  
  1;

DESCRIPTION

This is a superclass for Test::Builder-based modules. It provides a handful of common functionality and a method of getting at the underlying Test::Builder object.

Importing

Test::Builder::Module is a subclass of Exporter which means your module is also a subclass of Exporter. @EXPORT, @EXPORT_OK, etc... all act normally.

A few methods are provided to do the use Your::Module tests = 23> part for you.

import

Test::Builder::Module provides an import() method which acts in the same basic way as Test::More's, setting the plan and controlling exporting of functions and variables. This allows your module to set the plan independent of Test::More.

All arguments passed to import() are passed onto Your::Module->builder->plan() with some exceptions below.

import() also sets the exported_to() attribute of your builder to be the caller of the import() function.

Additional behaviors can be added to your import() method by overriding import_extra().

The special keywords are...

import

import can be passed an array ref of symbols to import, using the normal Exporter syntax.

    use Your::Module import => [qw(this that)], tests => 23;

Says to import the functions this() and that() as well as set the plan to be 23 tests.

    use Your::Module import => [qw(!fail)], tests => 23;

Say to export everything normally, except the fail function.

formatter

formatter can be used to change the TB2::Formatter used to output test results.

    use TB2::Formatter::POSIX;
    use Your::Module formatter => TB2::Formatter::POSIX->new;

The test will then use the POSIX formatter rather than the normal TAP formatter. Note this effects the whole test, not just the functions in your module.

See "set_formatter" in Test::Builder for more details.

import_extra

    Your::Module->import_extra(\@import_args);

import_extra() is called by import(). It provides an opportunity for you to add behaviors to your module based on its import list.

Any extra arguments which shouldn't be passed on to plan() should be stripped off by this method.

See Test::More for an example of its use.

NOTE This mechanism is VERY ALPHA AND LIKELY TO CHANGE as it feels like a bit of an ugly hack in its current form.

Builder

Test::Builder::Module provides some methods of getting at the underlying Test::Builder object.

builder

  my $builder = Your::Class->builder;

This method returns the Test::Builder object associated with Your::Class. It is not a constructor so you can call it as often as you like.

This is the preferred way to get the Test::Builder object. You should not get it via Test::Builder->new as was previously recommended.

The object returned by builder() may change at runtime so you should call builder() inside each function rather than store it in a global.

  sub ok {
      my $builder = Your::Class->builder;

      return $builder->ok(@_);
  }