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NAME

Test - utilities to aid in testing WWW::Search backends

SYNOPSIS

  $oTest = new WWW::Search::Test('HotBot,Yahoo,Excite');
  $oTest->test('HotBot', 'Kingpin', 'one', $sQuery, $TEST_RANGE, 1, 10);

DESCRIPTION

See file test.pl in the WWW-Search-HotBot distribution for a detailed "real-world" example.

METHODS AND FUNCTIONS

new

Create a new WWW::Search::Test object. All arguments are strings, names of backends that this object will be able to test. If no arguments are given, will be able to test all backends.

mode

Set / get the test mode of this object. If an argument is given, sets the mode to that value. Returns the current (or newly set) value.

There are three test modes available. They are:

  $MODE_INTERNAL: parse URLs out of saved pages (as a sanity check or regression test);
  $MODE_EXTERNAL: send the query to the search engine "live", parse the results, and compare them to the previously saved results;
and
  $MODE_UPDATE: send the query to the search engine "live", parse the results, and save them for future testing.

relevant_test

Given the name of a backend, returns true if this Test object is able to test that backend.

eval_test

Given the name of a backend, grabs the $TEST_CASES variable from that backend and evaluates it.

test

Run test(s) for a backend. Arguments are, in order: name of a backend to test (string, required); name of backend maintainer (string, if undef $backend::MAINTAINER will be used); filename for results storage/comparison (string, required); query to be sent to backend (string, required); test method (required, one of the following).

Several test methods are possible:

  $TEST_EXACTLY: list of URLs must match exactly (line for line, in order);
  $TEST_BY_COUNTING: test passes if number of resulting URLs is equal;
  $TEST_GREATER_THAN: test passes if we get more than N result URLs;
and
  $TEST_RANGE: like $TEST_GREATER_THAN but constrained on both ends.

no_test

Prints a message stating that this backend does not have a test suite. Takes two arguments, the backend name and the name of the maintainer.

not_working

Prints a message stating that this backend is known to be broken. Takes two arguments, the backend name and the name of the maintainer.

not_working_with_tests

Prints a message stating that this backend is known to be broken even though it has a test suite. Takes two arguments, the backend name and the name of the maintainer.

not_working_and_abandoned

Prints a message stating that this backend is known to be broken and is not being actively maintained. Takes two arguments, the backend name and the name of the maintainer.

reset_error_count

Reset the counter of errors to zero. You probably want to call this before each call to test() or eval_test().

wc_l (private, not a method)

Given a filename, count the number of lines of text contained within the file. (I.e. simulate running UNIX command wc -l on a file)

diff (private, not a method)

Given two files, returns TRUE if contents are line-by-line different, or FALSE if contents are line-by-line same. (I.e. like the UNIX command diff, but just reports true or false)

Shortcuts for running backend tests

WWW::Search::Test keeps its own count of test numbers, so if you want to mix-and-match these functions with your own tests, use the $WWW::Search::Test::iTest counter.

new_engine

One argument: the name of a backend suitable to be passed to WWW::Search::new(). Prints 'ok' or 'not ok' and the test number. Creates a WWW::Search object internally, to be used for all subsequent calls to run_test and run_gui_test (see below).

run_test

run_gui_test

Three arguments: a query string, NOT escaped; a minimum number of expected results; and a maximum number of expected results. Optional fourth argument: integer value to be used as the search_debug.

If the minimum is undef, assumes zero. If the maximum is undef, does not check.

Prints 'ok' or 'not ok' and the test number.

skip_test

You can call this function instead of run_test() or run_gui_test() if the current test must be skipped for any reason.