How do I patch Test::Unit?

I've finally found some time to dig into one of my favorite parts of
Ruby, the Test::Unit module. I have some ideas for how to enhance it
a bit.

First I just wanted to do a sanity check that I can make changes and
see the effects. For some reason, no matter what I modify in my
Test::Unit source code, my changes don't seem to take effect.

For example, if I found unit.rb and added a puts statement:

at_exit do
  unless $! || Test::Unit.run?
    puts "HELLO THERE!"
    exit Test::Unit::AutoRunner.run
  end
end

but when I run my test (a simple ruby file that requires test/unit), I
don't see "HELLO THERE!".

I also tried just reopening the class right above my test class
definition:

module Test
  module Unit
    module UI
      module Console

        # Runs a Test::Unit::TestSuite on the console.
        class TestRunner
          def start
            output "Hello There!"
            setup_mediator
            attach_to_mediator
            return start_mediator
          end
        end
      end
    end
  end
end

and still nothing.

What am I doing wrong?

Oh, ruby -v reports:
ruby 1.8.6 (2007-03-13 patchlevel 0) [i686-darwin8.9.1]

Thanks
Jeff

Perhaps my original post was too long or too obtuse... let me
rephrase.

What's the best way to extend then test/unit classes?

Thanks
Jeff

···

On Sep 14, 6:50 pm, Jeff <cohen.j...@gmail.com> wrote:

I've finally found some time to dig into one of my favorite parts of
Ruby, the Test::Unit module. I have some ideas for how to enhance it
a bit.

First I just wanted to do a sanity check that I can make changes and
see the effects. For some reason, no matter what I modify in my
Test::Unit source code, my changes don't seem to take effect.

For example, if I found unit.rb and added a puts statement:

at_exit do
  unless $! || Test::Unit.run?
    puts "HELLO THERE!"
    exit Test::Unit::AutoRunner.run
  end
end

but when I run my test (a simple ruby file that requires test/unit), I
don't see "HELLO THERE!".

I also tried just reopening the class right above my test class
definition:

module Test
  module Unit
    module UI
      module Console

        # Runs a Test::Unit::TestSuite on the console.
        class TestRunner
          def start
            output "Hello There!"
            setup_mediator
            attach_to_mediator
            return start_mediator
          end
        end
      end
    end
  end
end

and still nothing.

What am I doing wrong?

Oh, ruby -v reports:
ruby 1.8.6 (2007-03-13 patchlevel 0) [i686-darwin8.9.1]

Thanks
Jeff

Jeff,

I just tested the change to unit.rb that you mentioned, and it had the expected effect (printing "Hello there"). So I would make sure you're editing the right file. If you are sure you are editing the right file, but still cannot get any result, try deleting it -- then you'll know for sure whether that file is being used.

As for not being able to edit the (open) classes, make sure you are editing the classes after you require the files, otherwise your changes will be overwritten. Also be very careful about namespaces / modules and such. I suggest not using any "include" statements, because they might introduce ambiguity. The important thing is that when you make a change to the class in question, you are changing the right class (and not just making a new one). When I ran "irb -r 'test/unit'", I found that the module Test::Unit::UI existed, but Test::Unit::UI::Console did not, so that might be your problem. (I just tested with "puts".)

Finally, for which strategy you should use to extend these tools:
-If your end goal is to make changes that you want distributed with the ruby standard library, you might as well patch the source directly.
-If you intend to distribute your code as a library or gem, you had better reopen the class in a different file (not patch unit.rb), because it would be rude to ask users to make that change for the sake of your program. After all, it could break other programs.
-If this is purely for personal use, you may do whichever is easier. The second way leaves you less likely to accidentally cripple your Ruby distribution.

Hope this helps,
Dan

Jeff wrote:

···

Perhaps my original post was too long or too obtuse... let me
rephrase.

What's the best way to extend then test/unit classes?

Thanks
Jeff

On Sep 14, 6:50 pm, Jeff <cohen.j...@gmail.com> wrote:

I've finally found some time to dig into one of my favorite parts of
Ruby, the Test::Unit module. I have some ideas for how to enhance it
a bit.

First I just wanted to do a sanity check that I can make changes and
see the effects. For some reason, no matter what I modify in my
Test::Unit source code, my changes don't seem to take effect.

For example, if I found unit.rb and added a puts statement:

at_exit do
  unless $! || Test::Unit.run?
    puts "HELLO THERE!"
    exit Test::Unit::AutoRunner.run
  end
end

but when I run my test (a simple ruby file that requires test/unit), I
don't see "HELLO THERE!".

I also tried just reopening the class right above my test class
definition:

module Test
  module Unit
    module UI
      module Console

        # Runs a Test::Unit::TestSuite on the console.
        class TestRunner
          def start
            output "Hello There!"
            setup_mediator
            attach_to_mediator
            return start_mediator
          end
        end
      end
    end
  end
end

and still nothing.

What am I doing wrong?

Oh, ruby -v reports:
ruby 1.8.6 (2007-03-13 patchlevel 0) [i686-darwin8.9.1]

Thanks
Jeff

Jeff,

I just tested the change to unit.rb that you mentioned, and it had the
expected effect (printing "Hello there"). So I would make sure you're
editing the right file. If you are sure you are editing the right file,
but still cannot get any result, try deleting it -- then you'll know for
sure whether that file is being used.

Thanks a lot, Dan. When you said this, it caused me to try the same
thing on my Windows box, and it worked. So now I suspect it's
something about the way I've compiled/setup Ruby on my Mac laptop.

As for not being able to edit the (open) classes, make sure you are
editing the classes after you require the files, otherwise your changes
will be overwritten. Also be very careful about namespaces / modules and
such. I suggest not using any "include" statements, because they might
introduce ambiguity. The important thing is that when you make a change
to the class in question, you are changing the right class (and not just
making a new one). When I ran "irb -r 'test/unit'", I found that the
module Test::Unit::UI existed, but Test::Unit::UI::Console did not, so
that might be your problem. (I just tested with "puts".)

Interesting, I'll be sure to watch out for these.

Finally, for which strategy you should use to extend these tools:
-If your end goal is to make changes that you want distributed with the
ruby standard library, you might as well patch the source directly.
-If you intend to distribute your code as a library or gem, you had
better reopen the class in a different file (not patch unit.rb), because
it would be rude to ask users to make that change for the sake of your
program. After all, it could break other programs.
-If this is purely for personal use, you may do whichever is easier. The
second way leaves you less likely to accidentally cripple your Ruby
distribution.

Exactly - I'm hoping to distribute a library to our Ruby teams at
work, so I'll be re-opening the classes.

Hope this helps,
Dan

It does! Thansk again. Maybe I'll post again if I can find out what
I'm doing wrong on my Mac environment.

Jeff

···

On Sep 16, 9:05 pm, Dan Zwell <dzw...@gmail.com> wrote:

Jeff wrote:
> Perhaps my original post was too long or too obtuse... let me
> rephrase.

> What's the best way to extend then test/unit classes?

> Thanks
> Jeff

> On Sep 14, 6:50 pm, Jeff <cohen.j...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> I've finally found some time to dig into one of my favorite parts of
>> Ruby, the Test::Unit module. I have some ideas for how to enhance it
>> a bit.

>> First I just wanted to do a sanity check that I can make changes and
>> see the effects. For some reason, no matter what I modify in my
>> Test::Unit source code, my changes don't seem to take effect.

>> For example, if I found unit.rb and added a puts statement:

>> at_exit do
>> unless $! || Test::Unit.run?
>> puts "HELLO THERE!"
>> exit Test::Unit::AutoRunner.run
>> end
>> end

>> but when I run my test (a simple ruby file that requires test/unit), I
>> don't see "HELLO THERE!".

>> I also tried just reopening the class right above my test class
>> definition:

>> module Test
>> module Unit
>> module UI
>> module Console

>> # Runs a Test::Unit::TestSuite on the console.
>> class TestRunner
>> def start
>> output "Hello There!"
>> setup_mediator
>> attach_to_mediator
>> return start_mediator
>> end
>> end
>> end
>> end
>> end
>> end

>> and still nothing.

>> What am I doing wrong?

>> Oh, ruby -v reports:
>> ruby 1.8.6 (2007-03-13 patchlevel 0) [i686-darwin8.9.1]

>> Thanks
>> Jeff

Remember that the Mac comes with an old Ruby (1.8.2?) in /usr/bin, and
therefore probably an old Test::Unit in /usr/lib. Make sure you're not
picking that up via $PATH; might just wanna delete it.

···

On Mon, 17 Sep 2007 13:13:01 +0900, Jeff wrote:

Thanks a lot, Dan. When you said this, it caused me to try the same
thing on my Windows box, and it worked. So now I suspect it's
something about the way I've compiled/setup Ruby on my Mac laptop.

--
Jay Levitt |
Boston, MA | My character doesn't like it when they
Faster: jay at jay dot fm | cry or shout or hit.
http://www.jay.fm | - Kristoffer

So it turns out that although I thought was saving my edits to
unit.rb, in fact there was a permissions problem and TextMate wasn't
actually saving it.

Your idea about checking the path helped me figure it out.

Thanks.
Jeff

···

On Sep 17, 11:50 am, Jay Levitt <jay+n...@jay.fm> wrote:

Remember that the Mac comes with an old Ruby (1.8.2?) in /usr/bin, and
therefore probably an old Test::Unit in /usr/lib. Make sure you're not
picking that up via $PATH; might just wanna delete it.