Laravel 5.8 testing settings record from database

Question

I am new to writing tests and I was wondering if what I am doing here is correct.

Basically I wanna write a test to check if the settings are correct but I use a record straight from my database.

Everything works great but I was wondering what if my database is empty? This test will never work

So what is best practice here?

my test:

/** @test */
public function settings_for_ftp_flysytem_is_correct_test()
{
    $clientSettings = Client::where('category', 'ftp')->first()->settings()->get();

    $this->assertArrayHasKey('host', $clientSettings);
    $this->assertArrayHasKey('username', $clientSettings);
    $this->assertArrayHasKey('password', $clientSettings);
    $this->assertArrayHasKey('port', $clientSettings);
    $this->assertArrayHasKey('root', $clientSettings);
}

You could use a [seeder](https://laravel.com/docs/5.8/seeding) to create test data in the table. — marv255, Jul 26 '19 at 06:28
@marv255 I see but my questions is basicaly if it's "ok" to fetch data from the db for a test or should I mock data or something ? — michael, Jul 26 '19 at 06:30
There are two sides. If you want to test data itself you must put this data to database before tests. If you want to test just a mechanism of settings you can use factories to create mocks in every test. — marv255, Jul 26 '19 at 06:33
Exactly I just want to test my functions so the mechanism so I need to use factories? — michael, Jul 26 '19 at 06:36
You can insert test data to db and rollback after test . I used that way sometimes — hs-dev2 MR, Jul 26 '19 at 06:36
use Facade/Db and set transaction on setUp and insert test data to table and rollback on tearDown — hs-dev2 MR, Jul 26 '19 at 06:41
It is worth to know this [DB Transaction](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/974596/what-is-a-database-transaction) — hs-dev2 MR, Jul 26 '19 at 07:19

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 26 '19 at 12:10

I reckon the easiest solution is to use DatabaseTransactions trait and model factories. It is always a good idea to generate test data for every test case.

<?php
// ClientFactory.php

use Faker\Generator;

$factory::define(App\Setting::class, function (Generator $faker) {
    return [...];
});

<?php
// SettingFactory.php

use Faker\Generator;

$factory::define(App\Setting::class, function (Generator $faker) {
    return [...];
});

use Tests\TestCase;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Testing\DatabaseTransactions;

use App\Client;
use App\Setting;

class SettingsTest extends TestCase
{
    use DatabaseTransactions;

    public function test_client_has_settings()
    {
        // 1. Arrange.
        $client = factory(Client::class)->create();
        $settings = factory(Setting::class, 2)->create();
        $client->settings()->saveMany($settings);

        // 2. Act.
        $response = $this->getJson("/clients/{$client->id}/settings");

        // 3. Assert.
        $response->assertJson([...]);
    }
}

The above code is an example. For more info, pls check the following resources:Laravel Docs, Build a Forum with Laravel, Test-Driven Laravel.

the settings is just a property in the client model I used this package for that: https://laravel-news.com/laravel-model-settings — michael, Jul 26 '19 at 12:17

Laravel 5.8 testing settings record from database

1 Answers1