Question

I created a simple Webapp using express.js and want to test it with jasmine-node. Works fine so far but my problem is that I have to start the server manually every time before I can run my tests.

Could you help me on how to write a spec-helper that runs the server (with another port then my development one) just for the tests and then kills it afterwards?

Answer 1

This is what I do:

I have a server.js file inside the root of my node project that sets up the node application server (with express) and exports 2 methods:

exports.start = function( config, readyCallback ) {

    if(!this.server) {

        this.server = app.listen( config.port, function() {

            console.log('Server running on port %d in %s mode', config.port, app.settings.env);

            // callback to call when the server is ready
            if(readyCallback) {
                readyCallback();
            }
        });
    }
};

exports.close = function() {
    this.server.close();
};

The app.js file will be simple at this point:

var server = require('./server');
server.start( { port: 8000 } );

So the files/folder basic structure would be the following:

src
   app.js
   server.js

Having this separation will allow you to run the server normally:

node src/app.js

..and/or require it from a custom node script, which could be a node script (or a jake/grunt/whatever task) that executes your tests like this:

/** my-test-task.js */

// util that spawns a child process
var spawn = require('child_process').spawn;

// reference to our node application server
var server = require('./path/to/server.js');

// starts the server
server.start( { port: 8000 }, function() {

    // on server ready launch the jasmine-node process with your test file
    var jasmineNode = spawn('jasmine-node', [ '.path/to/test/file.js' ]);

    // logs process stdout/stderr to the console
    function logToConsole(data) {
        console.log(String(data));
    }
    jasmineNode.stdout.on('data', logToConsole);
    jasmineNode.stderr.on('data', logToConsole);

    jasmineNode.on('exit', function(exitCode) {
        // when jasmine-node is done, shuts down the application server
        server.close();
    }
});