Testing with pgTAP

If you just want to write tests with pgTAP <https://pgtap.org/>, here's how:

• Build your test database, including pgTAP. It's best to install it in its own schema. To build it and install it in the schema "tap", do this (assuming your database is named "try"):

    make TAPSCHEMA=tap
    make install
    psql -U postgres -d try -f pgtap.sql
      

• Write your tests in files ending in .pg in the t directory, right alongside your normal Perl .t tests. Here's a simple pgTAP test to get you started:

    BEGIN;
    SET search_path = public,tap,pg_catalog;
    SELECT plan(1);
    SELECT pass('This should pass!');
    SELECT * FROM finish();
    ROLLBACK;
      

  Note how "search_path" has been set so that the pgTAP functions can be found in the "tap" schema. Consult the extensive pgTAP documentation <https://pgtap.org/documentation.html> for a comprehensive list of test functions.

• Run your tests with "prove" like so:

    prove --source Perl \
          --ext .t --ext .pg \
          --source pgTAP --pgtap-option dbname=try \
                         --pgtap-option username=postgres \
                         --pgtap-option suffix=.pg
      

  This will run both your Perl .t tests and your pgTAP .pg tests all together. You can also use pg_prove to run just the pgTAP tests like so:

    pg_prove -d try -U postgres t/
      

• Once you're sure that you've got the pgTAP tests working, modify your Build.PL script to allow ./Build test to run both the Perl and the pgTAP tests, like so:

    Module::Build->new(
        module_name        => 'MyApp',
        test_file_exts     => [qw(.t .pg)],
        use_tap_harness    => 1,
        configure_requires => { 'Module::Build' => '0.30', },
        tap_harness_args   => {
            sources => {
                Perl  => undef,
                pgTAP => {
                    dbname   => 'try',
                    username => 'postgres',
                    suffix   => '.pg',
                },
            }
        },
        build_requires     => {
            'Module::Build'                     => '0.30',
            'TAP::Parser::SourceHandler::pgTAP' => '3.19',
        },
    )->create_build_script;
      

  The "use_tap_harness" parameter is optional, since it's implicitly set by the use of the "tap_harness_args" parameter. All the other parameters are required as you see here. See the documentation for "make_iterator()" for a complete list of options to the "pgTAP" key under "sources".

  And that's it. Now get testing!

Class Methods

"can_handle"

  my $vote = $class->can_handle( $source );

Looks at the source to determine whether or not it's a pgTAP test and returns a score for how likely it is in fact a pgTAP test file. The scores are as follows:

  1    if it's not a file and starts with "pgsql:".
  1    if it has a suffix equal to that in a "suffix" config
  0.9  if its suffix is ".pg"
  0.8  if its suffix is ".sql"
  0.75 if its suffix is ".s"

The latter two scores are subject to change, so try to name your pgTAP tests ending in ".pg" or specify a suffix in the configuration to be sure.

"make_iterator"

  my $iterator = $class->make_iterator( $source );

Returns a new TAP::Parser::Iterator::Process for the source. "$source->raw" must be either a file name or a scalar reference to the file name -- or a string starting with "pgsql:", in which case the remainder of the string is assumed to be SQL to be executed inside the database.

The pgTAP tests are run by executing "psql", the PostgreSQL command-line utility. A number of arguments are passed to it, many of which you can affect by setting up the source source configuration. The configuration must be a hash reference, and supports the following keys:

"psql"

The path to the "psql" command. Defaults to simply "psql", which should work well enough if it's in your path.

"dbname"

The database to which to connect to run the tests. Defaults to the value of the $PGDATABASE environment variable or, if not set, to the system username.

"username"

The PostgreSQL username to use to connect to PostgreSQL. If not specified, no username will be used, in which case "psql" will fall back on either the $PGUSER environment variable or, if not set, the system username.

"host"

Specifies the host name of the machine to which to connect to the PostgreSQL server. If the value begins with a slash, it is used as the directory for the Unix-domain socket. Defaults to the value of the $PGDATABASE environment variable or, if not set, the local host.

"port"

Specifies the TCP port or the local Unix-domain socket file extension on which the server is listening for connections. Defaults to the value of the $PGPORT environment variable or, if not set, to the port specified at the time "psql" was compiled, usually 5432.

"pset"

Specifies a hash of printing options in the style of "\pset" in the "psql" program. See the psql documentation <https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/app-psql.html> for details on the supported options.