ASUnit with FlashLite 2.x and 3.x
The tutorial explains a simple way to get started with ASUnit for unit testing your Flash Lite apps. There are many different ways of setting up ASUnit, but rather than be open and vague I’m going to prescribe a specific method which I feel separates your tests from the framework nicely, whilst being quick and easy to set up at the same time. Once you manage this, you’ll soon find your favourite method.
Please note – this method will also work with all Actionscript 2.0 Flash 8 apps.
1 – Download and install the ASUnit Framework
Download the latest version of the code.
Unpackage and locate the folder named ‘as25′.
Copy this folder ‘as25′ into the classpath (the root folder containing the code files) of your app.
Create another folder in the classpath called ‘tests’.
I’m assuming the classpath also contains all your components, classes etc, or if you have yet to code, its empty.
Here’s the contents of my root folder so you can follow my examples:
* AppName.fla (file)
* _classpath (folder, containing all my .as files)
** as25 (folder)
** tests (folder)
** other .as files
2 – Set up the ASUnitRunner app
2a – Copy the ASUnitRunner.fla and open it
Copy the ASUnitRunner.fla file to the same location as your apps fla file/s.
My folder now looks like this:
* AppName.fla (file)
* ASUnitRunner.fla (file)
* _classpath (folder, containing all my .as files)
** as25 (folder)
** tests (folder)
** other .as files
Open the newly moved ASUnitRunner file with your editor.
2b – Set the publish settings
Open publish settings and set the .swf to be published in your chosen location.
Alternatively you can create a folder called bin in the same folder the ASUnitRunner is sitting in, and it will automatically publish in there.
2c – Set the classpath
Open the Actionscript settings (in CS4 its File -> Publish Settings -> Flash -> Script settings button).
Remove both classpaths currently in place.
Set one class path pointing to the src folder within the as25 folder starting from the location of the fla e.g.
in my case:
Set another class path pointing to the classpath root starting from the location of the fla e.g.
in my case:
2d – Set the action to the right folder
Open the first frame of the fla and change it to:
AsUnitRunner.main(this);
3 – Set up the tests folder
3a – copy test files
There are 2 more files to copy over into your tests folder.
Copy ‘as25/test/AllTests.as’ to ‘tests/AllTests.as’
Copy ‘as25/test/AsUnitRunner.as’ to ‘tests/AsUnitRunner.as’
3b – Add correct paths to AllTests.as
AllTests is set up to test ASUnit itself – so we will update it to test a sample file we will create.
Change tests/AllTests.as to:
private var className:String = "AllTests";
public function AllTests() {
super();
addTest(new tests.components.ExampleTest());
}
}
3c – Add correct paths to AsUnitRunner.as
Change tests/AsUnitRunner.as to:
import tests.AllTests;
class tests.AsUnitRunner extends TestRunner {
public static function main(container:MovieClip) : Void {
var tR = new AsUnitRunner();
}
public function AsUnitRunner() {
start(AllTests);
}
}
4 – Create sample file to test along with some tests
4a – Create components/Example.as
Create a folder called components at the root of your classpath, for me thats:
* AppName.fla (file)
* ASUnitRunner.fla (file)
* _classpath (folder, containing all my .as files)
** as25 (folder)
** tests (folder)
** components (folder)
** other .as files
Create a new file called Example.as and place it inside the components with the following code:
public function Example() {
}
}
4b – Create tests/components/AllTests and ExampleTest
Create a folder within your tests folder called components, for me thats:
* AppName.fla (file)
* ASUnitRunner.fla (file)
* _classpath (folder, containing all my .as files)
** as25 (folder)
** tests (folder)
*** components (folder)
** components (folder)
** other .as files
Create the following two files:
AllTests.as
private var className:String = "AllTests";
public function AllTests() {
super();
addTest(new tests.components.ExampleTest());
}
}
ExampleTest.as
import asunit.framework.TestCase;
class tests.components.ExampleTest extends TestCase {
private var className:String = "ExampleTest";
private var instance:Example;
public function ExampleTest(testMethod:String) {
super(testMethod);
}
public function setUp():Void {
instance = new Example();
}
public function tearDown():Void {
delete instance;
}
public function testInstantiated():Void {
assertTrue("Example instantiated", instance instanceof Example);
}
public function test():Void {
assertTrue("failing test", false);
}
}
5 – Run your tests
Now you are all set up, time to run those tests.
Simply publish and run AsUnitRunner.fla.
Expect to see a failure, the dummy test is set up expected to fail.
Now you can see how to set up ASUnit, you can expand Example.as and add some functions to test, and play around until you are ready to test your own functions. Advice on how to write tests can be found here. I hope to add another tutorial on this soon.
