Unit vs Functional Testing
Many classes have shortcut names used when creating (instantiating) a class with a
configuration object. The shortcut name is referred to as an alias (or xtype if the
class extends Ext.Component). The alias/xtype is listed next to the class name of
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static label next to the
method name. *See Static below.Below is an example class member that we can disect to show the syntax of a class member (the lookupComponent method as viewed from the Ext.button.Button class in this case).
Let's look at each part of the member row:
lookupComponent in this example)( item ) in this example)Ext.Component in this case). This may be omitted for methods that do not
return anything other than undefined or may display as multiple possible values
separated by a forward slash / signifying that what is returned may depend on the
results of the method call (i.e. a method may return a Component if a get method calls is
successful or false if unsuccessful which would be displayed as
Ext.Component/Boolean).PROTECTED in
this example - see the Flags section below)Ext.container.Container in this example). The source
class will be displayed as a blue link if the member originates from the current class
and gray if it is inherited from an ancestor or mixed-in class.view source in the example)item : Object in the example).undefined a "Returns" section
will note the type of class or object returned and a description (Ext.Component in the
example)Available since 3.4.0 - not pictured in
the example) just after the member descriptionDefaults to: false)The API documentation uses a number of flags to further commnicate the class member's function and intent. The label may be represented by a text label, an abbreviation, or an icon.
classInstance.method1().method2().etc();false is returned from
an event handler- Indicates a framework class
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method
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theme variable
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theme mixin
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Just below the class name on an API doc page is a row of buttons corresponding to the types of members owned by the current class. Each button shows a count of members by type (this count is updated as filters are applied). Clicking the button will navigate you to that member section. Hovering over the member-type button will reveal a popup menu of all members of that type for quick navigation.
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Ext.button.Button class has an alternate class name of Ext.Button). Alternate class
names are commonly maintained for backward compatibility.Runnable examples (Fiddles) are expanded on a page by default. You can collapse and expand example code blocks individually using the arrow on the top-left of the code block. You can also toggle the collapse state of all examples using the toggle button on the top-right of the page. The toggle-all state will be remembered between page loads.
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Tests written within Sencha Test will fall into the following categories:
Unit tests
Functional tests
Knowing how to use each type of test to your advantage will ensure the highest degree of integrity within your applications.
Unit testing can be described as tests targeting the underlying code of an application. This style of testing may be of particular interest to application developers.
Functional testing analyzes the running application instead of simply testing its pieces and parts.
This style of testing may be of particular interest to quality assurance and end users.
Let's clarify this generalized description by saying that unit tests are able to be performed without spinning up an application while functional tests require the application to be launched to perform testing.
This distinction is important because Sencha Test, along with Ext JS 5+, can test code without any UI present. For example, you can test validations within data models without a running application. Views used within an application can also be tested independently from the application.
Many aspects of an application may be difficult or lengthy to test when testing through a running application. A test may require you to first follow a specific set of navigational steps, or to be logged in as a particular user type.
For example, consider a scenario where you want to test that a "user" can edit a given field versus an "admin" role on a “User Details” panel. A functional test requires you to launch the app and sign in as a user, not an admin. Then, perhaps navigate to a “User List” view, select a user from the list, and click an edit button to launch the “User Details” popup. You would then need to evaluate the fields that “user” is eligible to edit.
Ultimately, we simply want to know whether a “user” can edit certain fields in a view of type “User Details”. With unit testing, just create a test that only launches the view that injects “user” permissions. You can then evaluate the editability of the fields based on permissions.
Before exploring functional testing, let’s look at some common unit testing use cases and how we can perform those tests using Sencha Studio.
Note: Unit tests do not require an application or the Sencha framework. That said, we're following this model to create a front-to-back guide path.
For this unit test, let's test validation for our User model. We want to
ensure that the data stub representing inputted user data is valid within our parameters.
First, let’s add our User model class to our application by adding the following file:
"{appName}/app/model/User.js":
Ext.define('MyApp.model.User', {
extend: 'Ext.data.Model',
fields: ['first', 'last', 'fullname', 'username'],
validators: {
first: 'presence',
last: { type: 'length', min: 2 },
username: [
{ type: 'exclusion', list: ['Admin', 'Operator'] },
{ type: 'format', matcher: /([a-z]+)[0-9]{2,3}/i }
]
}
});
The “User” model can now be instantiated for test purposes. Next, let’s add some data to the scenario that the test is able to access when validating our User model. We’ll create a folder/file in the workspace root directory of: "{workspaceRoot}/shared/userdata.js". The "userdata" file will contain the following:
var __my_user_data = {
first: 'Rick',
last: 'Grimes',
username: 'rgrimes'
}
Next, we’ll add the "userdata" file to the test project so that any scenario’s tests may access it. We’ll do this by clicking on the + Add button under the Additional Libraries header for the test project, double-click the default field value, click on the folder icon to bring up the file picker, and choose the “userdata.js” file from the “[workspaceRoot]/shared” directory. Finally, click on the Save button in the top toolbar.
In this next step, we’ll create the unit test used to verify that the "userdata" values are validated by our “User” model class.
First, create a Scenario by clicking on the "+ Add" button under the Scenarios heading in the Test Project view. For the purpose of this guide, we’ll give it a name of “User Data”.
Next, right-click on the "User Data" node in the workspace navigation tree and select "New > Jasmine Test Suite" and give the user validation test the name of “UserValidation”. This adds the “UserValidation” test as a child of the “User Data” scenario.
Click on the “UserValidation.js” node in the workspace validation tree to open the test editor view.
Finally, replace the placeholder test script with the following:
describe("UserValidation", function() {
it("should pass", function(done) {
Ext.require('MyApplication.model.User', function () {
var user = new MyApplication.model.User(__my_user_data),
failedValidation = user.getValidation().dirty;
expect(failedValidation).toBe(!true);
done();
});
});
});
In this test, we’re expecting the model to validate the sample user data. If you play the test in the Scenario's test runner, you should see that it does indeed pass!
In addition to testing non-view logic, we can also unit test pieces and parts of our
larger application to ensure they’re working correctly. In this test, let’s create a
button with a badge that displays the text set in the button’s badgeText config.
To start, add the following folder/file to your application at: “{workspaceRoot}/app/view/button/BadgeButton.js”
Ext.define('MyApplication.view.button.BadgeButton', {
extend: 'Ext.button.Button',
xtype: 'badgebutton',
config: {
badgeText: null
},
childEls: ['badgeEl'],
cls: 'da-badge-button',
hideBadgeOnDisabled: true,
initRenderData: function() {
return Ext.apply(this.callParent(), {
badgeText: this.badgeText
});
},
updateBadgeText: function(text) {
var me = this;
if (me.rendered) {
me.badgeEl.setHtml(text).setVisible(text);
} else {
me.on('render', function() {
me.badgeEl.setVisibilityMode(Ext.dom.Element.DISPLAY);
me.badgeEl.setHtml(text).setVisible(text);
});
}
},
onDisable: function() {
this.callParent();
if (this.hideBadgeOnDisabled) {
this.badgeEl.hide();
}
},
onEnable: function() {
this.callParent();
this.badgeEl.show();
}
}, function(BadgeButton) {
BadgeButton.prototype.renderTpl += '<span id="{id}-badgeEl" class="da-badgeElCls" data-ref="badgeEl">{badgeText}</span>';
});
Next, create a new Scenario called “Badge Button” in our application’s test project and then right-click on the Scenario to create a new Jasmine Test Suite called “ButtonText”.
We can add a single describe() with multiple it() specs in the badge button test
suite. The description of each it() will show up as nodes under the scenario test tree
under “ButtonText”.
Enter the following test in the "ButtonText" tab. This will allow studio to evaluate the badge text and ensure the badge element is hidden when the button is disabled.
describe("ButtonText", function() {
var btn;
beforeEach(function(){
btn = Ext.create('MyApplication.view.button.BadgeButton', {
renderTo: Ext.getBody()
});
});
afterEach(function () {
btn.destroy();
});
it("should have a badge of 2", function() {
btn.setBadgeText('update');
expect(btn.badgeEl.getHtml()).toBe('update');
});
it("badge should be hidden", function() {
btn.setBadgeText('update');
btn.disable();
expect(btn.badgeEl.isVisible()).toBe(false);
});
});
Running the tests should show green checkmarks for both specs in "ButtonText".
Unit tests are agile and allow for discrete testing of internal code and isolated componentry. Unit tests offer a great front line of defense when guarding against bugs introduced as an application evolves and becomes more complex. However, functional testing has its place in the bug defense strategy as well and should not be discounted in favor of unit tests alone.
It's quite possible for a suite's unit tests to all pass, leading you to believe your application has been error-proofed. All this, only to discover that when you run the application, some dynamic element of the application environment wasn’t captured in the unit tests.
For some operations, the only practical way to round out your test setup is to launch the application and put it through its paces.
One such example would be to navigate between views within an application.
Let’s say your application has a parent container with a card view and two child views:
Home and User List.
Then, let's say you want to test whether the routing works to display a
specific user’s details view when the URL contains #!/user/rgrimes.
Internally you have a route in the parent view’s viewController that routes based on #!/user/ to the
user panel and the user panel’s viewController opens the user details panel using the
/rgrimes portion of the hash. Testing this type of navigational logic is exactly where
functional testing comes into its own. The launching of the application takes care of
presenting the main container and its children, which in turn spins up their respective
viewControllers to manage the routing logic between views.
Complex routing is one scenario in which you’d want to spin up the application from Studio and run through test logic in order to validate the functionality of the app. Another reason you may want to employ functional testing would be to test the application running in a real-world environment.
Imagine you’ve set up a unit test to ensure that “User Details” views are viewable by “users”, but editable by “supervisors” and “admins”. You have a unit test to ensure that a “Weekly Overview” shows a single user’s details when viewed by a user, but an entire team roll-up when viewed by a supervisor.
The “Admin Dashboard” that configures user roles is only accessible to admins and not supervisors and users. With all of these unit tests in place you may feel that all bases are covered and every unique facet of the application has been tested so you may deploy. Now imagine that the user launches the application and is unable to sign in because the connection to the server / database is broken. A functional test that pulled down the user role information from the remote server would have secured this issue before the application deployed.
Unit and functional testing are essential when safeguarding your application against bugs.
Fortunately, Sencha Test gives you the tools needed to manage and perform both. This guide provides some simple examples for unit tests, but as you build out your test base, you’ll want to incorporate more than just direct logical testing. You’ll want to simulate user interactions within the UI.
To see how you can easily add simulated user interactions to your unit / functional tests, check out the Event Recorder guide.
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