This presentation introduces PHP unit testing in Yii. It covers test-driven development (TDD) principles, the different types of tests like unit tests and integration tests, how to set up PHPUnit and write tests in Yii, using fixtures to test database interactions, and invoking tests from the command line. Examples are provided of writing unit tests for models and using fixtures to load test data.

1. PHP Unit Testing
in Yii
How to start with TDD in Yii
by Matteo 'Peach' Pescarin
Twitter: @ilPeach
13/06/2013 - Yii London Meetup

2. What is this presentation about?
● Quick introduction to TDD and Unit Testing
● How to Unit Test? Types of Tests
● PHPUnit and Yii
● Write tests and Database interactions
● Fixtures
● Other features
● Command line use
● Few links.
PHP Unit Testing in Yii - 13/06/2013 - Yii London Meetup

3. Test Driven Development (TDD)
"encourages simple design and inspires
confidence" - Kent Beck
Re-discovered in 2004, is related to the test-
first concept from eXtreme Programming.
Works with any Agile methodology, but can be
applied in any context.
Also useful when dealing with legacy code that
wasn't developed with such ideas in mind.
Used as a way to document code by examples.
PHP Unit Testing in Yii - 13/06/2013 - Yii London Meetup

4. What is Unit Testing?
It's not about bug finding (there's no way this
can be proved to be true).
It's about designing software components
robustly.
The behaviour of the units is specified through
the tests.
A set of good unit tests is extremely valuable!
A set of bad unit tests is a terrible pain!
PHP Unit Testing in Yii - 13/06/2013 - Yii London Meetup

5. Some tips to write Unit Tests
They must be isolated from each other:
● Every behaviour should be covered by one test.
● No unnecessary assertions (TDD: one logical assertion
per test)
● Test one code-unit at a time (this should force you write
non-overlapping code, or use IoC, Inversion of Control)
● Mock external services and states (without abusing)
● Avoid preconditions (although it might be useful
sometimes)
Don't test configuration settings.
Name your tests clearly and consistently.
PHP Unit Testing in Yii - 13/06/2013 - Yii London Meetup

6. Types of tests
Unit test 1 Unit test 2
Integration test 1 Integration test 2
Unit test 3
Functional test 1
Unit test 4
Code
PHP Unit Testing in Yii - 13/06/2013 - Yii London Meetup

7. Types of tests in MVC frameworks
Unit test 1 Unit test 2
Integration test 1 Integration test 2
Unit test 3
Functional test 1
Unit test 4
Controllers/Views
Models
The states and the dependencies in controllers/views makes unit testing completely useless from a
server-side point of view.
Not true when considering javascript testing and other front-end behaviour/functionality which can
be done in other ways
PHP Unit Testing in Yii - 13/06/2013 - Yii London Meetup

8. Enters PHPUnit
PHPUnit help you deal with unit and
integration tests. http://www.phpunit.de/
Provides everything needed for any type of
test.
Produces reports in different formats (also for
code coverage).
Yii provides the functionality to integrate and
automate PHPUnit without worrying too much
about configuration.
PHP Unit Testing in Yii - 13/06/2013 - Yii London Meetup

9. Configuring tests in Yii
Have PHPUnit installed and a Yii app ready.
Directory structure available:
protected/tests/ main directory for all tests
unit/ unit tests directory
fixtures/ fixtures directory
phpunit.xml main phpunit config file
bootstrap.php Yii related configuration
PHP Unit Testing in Yii - 13/06/2013 - Yii London Meetup

10. Setup a test DB
In protected/tests/bootstrap.php :
$config=dirname(__FILE__).'/../config/test.php';
In protected/config/test.php :
'db'=>array(
'connectionString' => 'mysql:host=localhost;
dbname=myproject_test',
),
PHP Unit Testing in Yii - 13/06/2013 - Yii London Meetup

11. // tests/unit/doodleTest.php
class DoodleTest extends DBbTestCase
{
//...
/**
* Test getImageSrc returns what
* has been passed to setImageSrc
*/
public function
testGetImageSrcRerturnsWhatHasBeenPassedToSetImageSrc() {
$model = new Doodle();
$expectedImageSrc = 'Something';
$model->imageSrc = $expectedImgSrc;
$this->assertEquals(
$expectedImgSrc,
$model->imageSrc
);
}
//...
}
// models/Doodle.php
class Doodle extends CActiveRecord
{
//...
private $_imageSrc = null;
public function setImageSrc($data)
{
$this->_imageSrc = $data;
}
public function getImageSrc() {
return $this->_imageSrc;
}
//...
}
Write your tests
Tests are made of
assertions
[see full list at phpunit.de]
PHP Unit Testing in Yii - 13/06/2013 - Yii London Meetup

12. //...
/**
* Data Provider for getImageSrc / setImageSrc
*
* @return array
*/
public function imgSrcDataProvider() {
return array(
array(null),
array('some random text'),
array(0),
array(-1)
);
}
//...
}
// tests/unit/doodleTest.php
class DoodleTest extends DBbTestCase
{
//...
/**
* Test getImageSrc returns what has been passed to
setImageSrc
*
* @dataProvider imgSrcDataProvider
*/
public function
testGetImageSrcRerturnsWhatHasBeenPassedToSetImageSrc(
$expectedImgSrc
) {
$model = new Doodle();
if ($expectedImgSrc !== null) {
$model->imageSrc = $expectedImgSrc;
}
$this->assertEquals(
$expectedImgSrc,
$model->imageSrc
);
}
//...
Testing all cases: DataProviders
PHP Unit Testing in Yii - 13/06/2013 - Yii London Meetup

13. Database Interaction and AR classes
Just load the project database structure.
Fill in the tables that will not change during the
tests.
Create and save objects as needed...
(this is normally not enough)
Objects that are loaded, modified and updated
from and to the database require the use of Yii
fixtures.
PHP Unit Testing in Yii - 13/06/2013 - Yii London Meetup

14. public $fixtures = array(
'users' => 'User', // <generic_name> => <table_name>
);
Yii Fixtures
Flexible and useful way to deal with a mutable set of data.
Defined in protected/tests/fixtures/<lowercase-tablename>.php
Contains a return statement of an array of arrays.
Each first level array is a row. Each row can be key
indexed.
Setup at the top of the test Class with:
PHP Unit Testing in Yii - 13/06/2013 - Yii London Meetup
For every test in the class the fixtured tables will be
emptied and filled in with the data (this could be quite
expensive).

15. Class UserTest extends CDbTestCase
{
public $fixtures = array(
'users' => 'User',
);
/**
* @dataProvider expectancyDataProvider
*/
public function testUserExpectancyReturnsTheExpectedValue(
$expectedExpectancyValue
) {
$user = new User();
$user->setAttributes($this->users['simpleUser']);
$this->assertEquals(
$expectedExpectancyValue,
$user->calculateUserExpectancy()
);
}
Fixtures uses
This is just an example on
how you can use the data
from the fixture array.
You can always load the
same data that has been
loaded into the table and use
that.
More examples provided in
the Yii Definitive Guide.
PHP Unit Testing in Yii - 13/06/2013 - Yii London Meetup

16. Other important features
● testing exceptions using
@expectedException <Exception>
● Mocks and Stubs:
○ mock dependencies, injecting objects and resolve
dependencies
○ prepare stubs with methods that returns specific
values based on certain conditions
● a lot more other stuff depending on your
needs.
PHP Unit Testing in Yii - 13/06/2013 - Yii London Meetup

17. Command line invocation
test everything:
$ cd /path/to/project/protected/tests/
$ phpunit unit
PHPUnit 3.6.11 by Sebastian Bergmann.
Configuration read from /path/to/project/protected/tests/phpunit.xml
................................................................. 65 / 86 ( 75%)
.....................
Time: 01:02, Memory: 18.00M
OK (86 tests, 91 assertions)
$
PHP Unit Testing in Yii - 13/06/2013 - Yii London Meetup

18. Command line invocation (2)
test a single file:
$ phpunit unit/CustomerTest.php
Time: 1 second, Memory: 15.00Mb
OK (32 tests, 37 assertions)
or a single test method using a pattern:
$ phpunit --filter testCustomerStartEndDates unit/CustomerTest.php
Time: 1 second, Memory: 15.00Mb
OK (32 tests, 37 assertions)
for more info there's always
$ phpunit --help
PHP Unit Testing in Yii - 13/06/2013 - Yii London Meetup

19. More information and resources
Specific to PHPUnit and Yii Unit Testing
PHPUnit manual
http://phpunit.de/manual/current/en/index.html
Yii Guide on testing
http://www.yiiframework.com/doc/guide/1.1/en/test.overview
Generic information on TDD
Content Creation Wiki entry on TDD: http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?
TestDrivenDevelopment
Software Development Mag
http://www.methodsandtools.com/archive/archive.php?id=20
PHP Unit Testing in Yii - 13/06/2013 - Yii London Meetup

20. Thank you!
Make a kitten happy and start testing today!
PHP Unit Testing in Yii - 13/06/2013 - Yii London Meetup