Question

What tools would you recommend for unit testing in Delphi.
I’ve used FastMM4 for memoryleak testing.
And MadExcept, both rule, but it doesn’t help me test the logic in my programs.
I would like some alternatives, so don’t all rush to suggest DUnit :-).

Any suggestions?

Answer 1

You could take a look at the unit testing classes available in our SynCommons open source unit. It’s used in our Open-Source framework for all regression tests. It’s perhaps not the best, but it’s worth taking a look at it. See http://blog.synopse.info/post/2010/07/23/Unit-Testing-light-in-Delphi

In the up-to-come 1.13 version, there is also a new logging mechanism with stack trace of any raised exception and such, just like MadExcept, using .map file content as source.

It’s now used by the unit testing classes, so that any failure will create an entry in the log with the source line, and stack trace:

C:\Dev\lib\SQLite3\exe\TestSQL3.exe 0.0.0.0 (2011-04-13)
Host=Laptop User=MyName CPU=2*0-15-1027 OS=2.3=5.1.2600 Wow64=0 Freq=3579545
TSynLogTest 1.13 2011-04-13 05:40:25

20110413 05402559 fail  TTestLowLevelCommon(00B31D70) Low level common: TDynArray "" stack trace 0002FE0B SynCommons.TDynArray.Init (15148) 00036736 SynCommons.Test64K (18206) 0003682F SynCommons.TTestLowLevelCommon._TDynArray (18214) 000E9C94 TestSQL3 (163) 

The difference between a test suit without logging and a test suit with logging is only this:

procedure TSynTestsLogged.Failed(const msg: string; aTest: TSynTestCase);
begin
  inherited;
  with TestCase[fCurrentMethod] do
    fLogFile.Log(sllFail,'%: % "%"',
      [Ident,TestName[fCurrentMethodIndex],msg],aTest);
end;

The logging mechanism can be used to trace recursive calls. It can use an interface-based mechanism to log when you enter and leave any method:

procedure TMyDB.SQLExecute(const SQL: RawUTF8);
var ILog: ISynLog;
begin
  ILog := TSynLogDB.Enter(self,'SQLExecute');
  // do some stuff
  ILog.Log(sllInfo,'SQL=%',[SQL]);
end; // when you leave the method, it will write the corresponding event to the log

It will be logged as such:

20110325 19325801  +    MyDBUnit.TMyDB(004E11F4).SQLExecute
20110325 19325801 info   SQL=SELECT * FROM Table;
20110325 19325801  -    MyDBUnit.TMyDB(004E11F4).SQLExecute 

Here the method name is set in the code (‘SQLExecute’). But if you have an associated .map file, the logging mechanism is able to read this symbol information, and write the exact line number of the event.

Note that by default you have time and date written to the log, but it’s also possible to replace this timing with high-resolution timestamps. With this, you’ll be able to profile your application with data coming from the customer side, on its real computer. Via the Enter method (and its auto-Leave feature), you have all information needed for this. 😉

Like this:

0000000000000B56  +    TTestCompression(00AB3570).000E6C79 SynSelfTests.TTestCompression.TestLog (376) 
0000000000001785  -    TTestCompression(00AB3570).000E6D09 SynSelfTests.TTestCompression.TestLog (385) 

I still need to write some tool to compute the profiling, but there is already a dedicated TSynLogFile class able to read the .log file, and recognize its content.

The first time the .map file is read, a .mab file is created, and will contain all symbol information needed. You can send the .mab file with the .exe to your client, or even embed its content to the .exe. This .mab file is optimized: a .map of 927,984 bytes compresses into a 71,943 .mab file.

So this unit could be recognized as the natural child of DUnit and MadExcept wedding, in pure OpenSource. 🙂

Additional information is available on our forum. Feel free to ask. Feedback and feature requests are welcome! Works from Delphi 6 up to XE.