Question

How do I go about testing a function or module that is machine or platform dependent? For example, something that looks at/depends on $^O or a module like Net::Ifconfig::Wrapper? I don’t need to test that Net::Ifconfig::Wrapper is returning the correct values, but I do need to test whether or not I’m doing the right thing with those values.

Thanks!

EDIT: Testing $^O turned out to be easier than I thought:

{     # <~> $ perl -e 'print $^O'     # linux      local $^O = 'linux';     $rc = GetOSType();     is($rc, $OS_LINUX, 'OS Check - linux'); } 

For some reason I thought it was a read-only variable.

Answer 1

To follow up on Jason’s mock objects suggestion, you should take a look at the article ‘Interfacing with hard-to-test third party controls’ by Misko Hevery. It directly addresses testing third party components.