Release Notes
NUnit 2.5.1 - Version 2.5.1.9189 - July 8, 2009
Framework
- A new TestResult state has been defined for tests cancelled by the
user. Results with ResultState.Cancelled are reported as a type of
failure and no longer generate an ApplicationException.
- Parameterized test fixtures with TestCaseSource or ValueSource
data are now constructed using the appropriate parameterized constructor
when test cases are being created. This avoids the need for a default
constructor and permits use of member data initialized from
the fixture parameters in creating the test data.
- The TestCaseData class now supports use of a string or other
array type as the sole argument value, without the need to nest
that array in an object array.
- Abstract classes marked with TestFixtureAttribute are no longer
reported as ignored or non-runnable.
Note: This was changed in 2.5 but was omitted from the release notes.
- The methods in the Text class are now marked as obsolete. For string
constraints, use one of the following at the start of an expression:
- Is.StringContaining
- Is.StringStarting
- Is.StringEnding
- Is.StringMatching
Within an expression (afer Not, Some, All, And, Or, etc.) you may use
- Contains or ContainsSubstring
- StartsWith
- EndsWith
- Matches
- ThrowsConstraint now has a constructor taking an ActualValueDelegate
in addition to the constructor that takes a TestDelegate. This allows
simpler use of Lambda expressions under C# 3.0, but requires users of pre-3.0
compilers to disambiguate their delegates by use of an explicit return
expression.
Core
- Individual test cases under a parameterized test are
no longer sorted by name within the test group but are
run (and shown in the Gui) in the order in which the
data is retrieved.
Note: Since the order of retrieval of custom
attributes is not guaranteed by the CLR, the order
of test cases will not necessarily match the textual
ordering of attributes in the source code. The order
of tests will vary across different compilers and
CLR versions as well.
- The XML test result file now contains a count of
inconclusive results.
Gui
- The default icons in the Gui tree have been updated.
- Alternative icons placed by the user in the directory containing
nunit.uikit.dll may now be in PNG format. Icons are now recognized
for Skipped and Inconclusive status in addition to Success, Failure
and Ignored.
- A new setting option allows the user to disable checking for the
existence of files in the Recent Files list before listing them. This
prevents NUnit from appearing to freeze when the file is on a network
path that is no longer connected.
Extensibility
- The ITestCaseProvider2 and IDatapointProvider2 interfaces
extend ITestCaseProvider and IDatapointProvider
with methods that include the fixture for which the test case is being
built. Providers may implement either the old or the new interface,
but the new interface is required if the data source is contained in
the test fixture itself so that the fixture may be constructed with
the proper parameters in the case of a parameterized fixture.
Bug Fixes
- Lambda in Throws constraint was not compiling correctly.
- Null reference exception is no longer thrown when adding an assembly to a
new project that has not yet been saved.
- Dispose is now called on disposable types created while loading test case
parameters.
- Installations that copy NUnit to a single folder (no lib or framework folders)
now work correctly.
- Test Assemblies menu item is no longer enabled when no test was loaded
- The Text Output tab of the Settings dialog no longer causes an exception
when invoked from the mini-gui.
- Errors in various copyright statements were fixed and the year updated to 2009.
- Control characters in test arguments are now escaped in the display.
- Additional control characters are now escaped in error messages.
- Miscellaneous typographic corrections were made to the documentation.
NUnit 2.5 Final Release - Version 2.5.0.9122 - May 2, 2009
Framework
- A new syntax element, Matches(Constraint), allows use of
custom constraints, predicates or lambda expressions in constraint expressions.
- The MessageMatch enum used with ExpectedExceptionAttribute
has been extended with a new value StartsWith, indicating that the
exception message must start with the string provided.
- TestCaseAttribute now supports a MessageMatch
property.
Gui
- The File menu now allows selecting an alternate runtime,
such as Mono, on a machine with multiple CLR implementations
installed. This feature is still considered experimental and
may change in the future.
- The combo box in the Project Editor allowing selection of
a particular runtime type such as Mono for loading the test
has been re-enabled.
Bug Fixes
- Provided a workaround to a Mono 2.4 bug in handling remote
references to an interface, where the provider is running under
MS .NET and the implementation is explicit.
- Fixed a problem with the display of line numbers from a German
language stack trace, with lines terminating in a period.
- The Console Runner display now shows the settings for ProcessModel,
DomainUsage and RuntimeFramework actually provided, before resolution
of any defaults.
- Removed references in the docs to pages that no longer exist.
NUnit 2.5 Release Candidate - Version 2.5.0.9117 - April 27, 2009
General
- The installation now uses a 'lib' subdirectory to hold dlls.
- The build script target names have been changed to make more sense.
In particular, 'package' now builds the default package and
targets not intended to be called directly are no longer listed
as 'Main Targets' by the -projecthelp option.
Framework
- The following Constraints now use the NUnit definition
of equality in comparing items, which may lead to changed behavior
of some tests.
- UniqueItemsConstraint
- CollectionContainsConstraint
- CollectionEquivalentConstraint
- CollectionSubsetConstraint
The constraints listed now accept the IgnoreCase and Using
modifiers, which work exactly as they do with EqualConstraint
Core
- Caching is now used to reduce the time required to load tests.
Gui
- A new submenu under File allows selecting a runtime version
under which to reload the tests. Reloading in this way does not affect
any runtime version setting in the project file.
- The project editor now provides a combo box listing known versions
of the runtime. Other versions may still be entered in the edit box.
Cross-CLR execution (for example, running Mono from .NET) has
been disabled in the Gui, since it isn't yet implemented.
- The new stack trace display now follows the NUnit Font settings.
The stack display uses the general gui font, while the source code
display uses the fixed font.
- The separate settings for Recent Files under .NET 1.1
and .NET 2.0 have been combined, since the Gui now runs exclusively
under .NET 2.0.
- The time required to restore the visual state of the tree after
reloading has been substantially reduced, especially for large numbers
of tests.
Bug Fixes
- Use of a long assembly name for the ApplicationName of the AppDomain
was causing excessively long paths in the shadow cache.
- The Using modifier of EqualConstraint now works as
expected for string operands.
- TestCaseAttribute.ExpectedExceptionMessage is no longer ignored.
- The max number of files setting was not being saved when modified
in the Gui Settings dialog.
- As a temporary fix, the pnunit.tests.dll has been moved to the
same directory as pnunit-agent.exe and pnunit-launcher.exe, since
pnunit tests don't allow for setting an appbase separate from the
location of the test assembly.
NUnit 2.5 Beta 3 Release - Version 2.5.0.9096 - April 6, 2009
General
- The Gui is now built against .NET 2.0 only. Tests may still
be run under .NET 1.x by running in a separate process.
- The Visual Studio 2003 solution has been removed. Framework
and other components may still be built under .NET 1.x through
the NAnt script.
- The nunit.framework.extensions assembly has been removed
from the build.
Framework
- EqualConstraint has been enhanced with
several new modifiers, which may be used immediately after
the Within(...) modifier to indicate how a numeric tolerance value
should be interpreted.
- Ulps = as units in the last place (floating point only)
- Percent = as a percentage of expected value
- Days = as a TimeSpan in days
- Hours = as a TimeSpan in hours
- Minutes = as a TimeSpan in minutes
- Seconds = as a TimeSpan in seconds
- Milliseconds = as a TimeSpan in milliseconds
- Ticks = as a TimeSpan in ticks
- The comparison constraints (GreaterThan, LessThan, etc.),
RangeConstraint and CollectionOrderedConstraint may now be used
with objects that implement IComparable<T>.
- The syntax used for specifying that a collection is ordered has changed.
Is.Ordered is now a property. The property name to use for ordering
is specified using Is.Ordered.By(name).
- The following constraints now accept a Using modifier to indicate
that a user-specified comparer should be used:
- EqualConstraint
- GreaterThanConstraint
- GreaterThanOrEqualConstraint
- LessThanConstraint
- LessThanOrEqualConstraint
- RangeConstraint
- CollectionOrderedConstraint
The provided comparer may be any of the following:
- IComparer
- IComparer<T>
- Comparison<T>
In addition, EqualConstraint may use:
- IEqualityComparer
- IEqualityComparer<T>
NUnit 2.5 Beta 2 Release - Version 2.5.0.9015 - January 15, 2009
Framework
- NUnit now includes an implementation of Theories, similar to what
is found in JUnit. Support for Theories is provided by the
Theory, Datapoint and Datapoints attributes and by
the Assume.That method. For more information and further links,
see the TheoryAttribute
documentation page.
- AssertionHelper has been updated so that the Expect overloads now
include the signatures newly introduced for Assert.That.
- The code for Assert is now generated. This is in addition to the files
that were generated in beta-1.
- AfterConstraint has been renamed to DelayedConstraint.
Console
- The console runner now supports a /framework option, which
allows running the tests under a different version of the CLR.
Gui
- The Gui is now able to display the source code for test or production
code from the stack trace, provided the assemblies contain source code
information and the source code is available. Contributed by Irénée Hottier.
- Reloading the tests after changing settings in a way that modifies
the shape of the tree is now handled correctly.
- The Settings Dialog now opens to the page that was last viewed.
NUnit 2.5 Beta 1 Release - Version 2.5.0.8332 - November 27, 2008
General
- Most of the code for elements of the constraint
syntax is now generated. This allows us to more rapidly deploy new
constraints with their corresponding syntax. The file SyntaxElements.txt
contains the specifications used in generating the code. At this time,
we are including both this file and the generated files with the NUnit source,
so that those working in other areas of the code don't have to regenerate
them each time they make changes.
- The nunit.core.extensions assembly has been removed from the build. Features
that were previously in that assembly are now in the nunit.core assembly.
- All third-party addins have been removed from the build and must be
downloaded separately from their own sites. An index of such
addins is maintained on the NUnit site.
Framework
- New attributes are provided to control use of threads by tests. All of
the following may be used on methods, classes or assemblies:
- RequiresThreadAttribute forces creation of a new thread and
may optionally indicate the desired ApartmentState for the thread.
- RequiresSTAAttribute causes the test to run in the STA. A
new thread is created only if the parent is not in the STA. On
methods, the .NET-provided STAThreadAttribute may also be used.
- RequiresMTAAttribute causes the test to run in the MTA. A
new thread is created only if the parent is not in the MTA. On
methods, the .NET-provided MTAThreadAttribute may also be used.
- TimeoutAttribute is used to set the timeout for tests. When
used on classes or assemblies, the timeout value is used as the
default timeout for all subordinate test cases. Test cases with
a timeout value run on a separate thread and return a failure
message if the timeout is exceeded.
- The MaxTimeAttribute specifies a miximum elapsed time for a
test case. If the test takes longer, it is reported as a failure.
This attribute was previously available as an extension.
Note: Unlike TimeoutAttribute, MaxTimeAttribute
does not cause the test to be cancelled, but merely times it.
- RepeatAttribute causes a test case to be executed multiple
times. This attribute was previously available as an extension.
- PairwiseAttribute now works, generating all pairs of each
argument value. [In earlier betas, it was unimpemented and simply
generated all combinations.]
- PropertyAttribute has been modified internally to use a dictionary
of name/value pairs rather than just a single name and value. This feature
is not exposed for direct use, but may be accessed by derived attributes
that want to apply multiple named values to the test. For a simple
example of usage, see the code for RequiredThreadAttribute.
- The presence of TestCaseSourceAttribute on a method is now
sufficient to identify it as a test. As with TestCaseAttribute,
use of TestAttribute is optional.
- Assert.That has been extended to allow a delegate or a reference
as the argument. By default, these are evaluated before being used by
the constraint supplied but some constraints may delay evaluation. The
new AfterConstraint is an example.
- An additional overload of Assert.Throws allows passing a
constraint or constraint expression as the first argument.
- The syntax for AttributeConstraints has been enhanced so that further
tests may be applied to properties of the attribute rather than just
checking for its existence.
- AfterConstraint allows delaying the application of a constraint
until a certain time has passed. In it's simplest form, it replaces
use of a Sleep in the code but it also supports polling, which may
allow use of a longer maximum time while still keeping the tests as
fast as possible. The After modifier is permitted on any
constraint, but the delay applies to the entire expression up to the
point where After appears.
Note: Use of After with a simple value makes no sense, since
the value will be extracted at the point of call. It's intended use
is with delegates and references. If a delegate is used with polling,
it may be called multiple times so only methods without side effects
should be used in this way.
Core
- NUnit now supports running tests in a separate process or in
multiple processes per assembly. In addition, tests run in
a separate process may use a different runtime version
from that under which NUnit is running.
Note: In the Beta release, execution of tests under Mono
from a copy of NUnit that is running under .NET is not yet supported.
Console
- The new /process:xxxxx command line option is used to run
tests in a separate process or in multiple processes per assembly.
- A new commandline option, /timeout:nnnn allows you to specify a
default timeout value, which is applied to each test case in the run without
a Timeout specified.
Gui
- The Assembly Info display now uses a scrolling text box and has
been enhanced to show information about the Process and AppDomain
in which the test is running and the runtime version under that
is being used.
- The Project Editor now allows setting the ProcessModel and
DomainUsage for a project to control how that project is
loaded and run. It also supports setting a target runtime
framework for each configuration. If the target runtime is
different from the runtime under which NUnit is running, the
tests will be run automatically in a separate process under
the target runtime.
- The Project Editor no longer reloads the tests as each
individual change is made. Tests are reloaded after the
editor is closed and only if changes have been made to
the overall project configuration or to the active
configuration.
- The "Options" dialog is now called "Settings."
Extensibility
- The implementation of constraints has been changed so that it is no
longer necessary to create an additional "Modifier" class when a
custom constraint takes modifiers. If you simply implement each modifier
as a property or method returning the object itself, it will be
usable in the full range of constraint expressions.
Note: Although you can readily create custom constraints,
this release of NUnit still lacks the ability to create new syntactic
elements without rebuilding the framework.
Bug Fixes
- Loading a single assembly and then adding another assembly using
the Add Assembly menu item was not working correctly.
- Reloading tests after settings changes was failing when the
new settings changed the shape of the tree in such a way
that the new tests didn't match the old ones correctly.
- The Reload Project menu item was followed by a prompt asking
if the current project state should be saved first and making
the reload work in an unexpected way if you answered yes.
- A class without a TestFixture attribute, containing only
TestCase methods, without any Tests, was not recognized as
a test fixture.
- Assert.DoesNotThrow was failing to display a user message.
- Xml documentation for Assert.IsNotEmpty and Assert.AreEqual
was incorrect.
- CollectionAssert.AreEqual and EqualConstraint were not
working with IEnumerables that were not also Collections.
- PlatformAttribute now distinguishes correctly between
Vista and Windows 2008 Server.
NUnit 2.5 Alpha 4 Release - Version 2.5.0.8528 - September 14, 2008
Framework
Core
Gui
- The Addin Dialog now shows an error message for any addin that
fails to load. (from 2.4.8)
- The TestLoader settings dialog provides an option for running tests
in a separate process.
- The Assembly Info display now shows two runtime versions for each
test assembly: the one for which it was built and the one under
which it is currently loaded.
Extensibility
- The RequiredAddinAttribute is now only permitted at the assembly level.
Bug Fixes
- The Gui output panes were failing to use a fixed font. (from 2.4.8)
NUnit 2.5 Alpha 3 Release - Version 2.5.0.8189 - July 7, 2008
General
- NUnit now uses a new version numbering scheme. The first three
dot-separated values represent the release level, as before, while
the fourth is a build number tied to the date of the release. This
alpha release, for example, is numbered 2.5.0.8189.
- The NUnit source now includes a VS2008 project, in addition to
the existing VS2005 and VS2003 projects
Framework
- DataSourceAttribute has been replaced with FactoryAttribute.
The new attribute may refer to any field, method or property that
provides test cases consistent with the signature of the method on which
it appears. The naming of this attribute is still a bit unsatisfactory
and it may change in the final release.
- The new TestCaseFactoryAttribute class may be used to mark a
field, method or property that provides test cases. It specifies the
argument types of the test cases that will be provided and is used
to identify the cases to be used when the name of a factory is not
specified.
- Data may be specified for individual arguments of a parameterized test
using the new attributes: ValuesAttribute, RangeAttribute
and RandomAttribute. By default, test cases are created using
every possible combination of the items provided. Attributes on the
test method may specify how data is combined. This release includes
SequentialAttribute, CombinatorialAttribute (the default) and
PairwiseAttribute. However, Pairwise combination is not yet
implemented, so that attribute is currently ignored.
- TestFixture classes may now be generic. They must be marked with
or or more instances of TextFixtureAttribute using the new
constructor that takes an array of Types. NUnit will instantiate
the fixture multiple times, using the type arguments provided.
- Parameterized test methods may now be generic. NUnit will deduce
the correct implementation to use based on the types of the
parameters provided.
- The new RequiredAddinAttribute may be used to mark tests,
fixtures or assemblies, indicating the name of any addin that is
required to run the tests. If the addin is not present, the test,
fixture or assembly is marked NotRunnable.
- A new assertion and corresponding constraint IsOrdered
has been added. (contributed by Simone Busoli)
- PlatformAttribute has been extended to accept the new keywords
NT6, Vista and Win2008Server.
Note: In the current alpha release, NUnit is unable to
distintuish between Vista and Windows 2008 Server. Either
of them will match all the above values.
Gui
- Properties with a collection for a value are now displayed
displayed as a comma-separated list in the properties window.
Extensibility
- The IParameterProvider interface has been replaced with
ITestCaseProvider. The ParameterProviders extension point
has been renamed to TestCaseProviders.
- A new extension point, DataPointProviders, has been
added to support extensions that provide data for individual
test parameters. Extensions must implement the IDataPointProvider
interface.
- A simpler method of providing new data point extensions based
on attributes applied to the parameter itself is also available.
Such attributes may be derived from ValuesAttribute and
do not require any special addin in order to work.
Bug Fixes
- NUnit tests of AssertThrows were not working on systems using
non-English cultures.
- Domains were not unloading correctly in some circumstances. Unloading
is now done on a separate thread.
- An NUnitSettings.xml file of zero length was causing a crash. (from 2.4.8)
- Invoking the gui with /exclude:XXX, where XXX is a non-existent
category, was causing all tests to be excluded. (from 2.4.8)
- Categories were not working properly on repeated tests. (from 2.4.8)
- A serious memory leak was fixed in the NUnit test runners. (from 2.4.8)
- Static SetUp and TearDown methods were not being called in a SetUpFixture.
- The current directory used when executing addins that load tests was
not correctly set.
NUnit 2.5 Alpha 2 Release - May 7, 2008
Note: Since this is an alpha level release, the
features are not complete and some features present in
this release may be removed or changed in future releases.
General
- This release includes pNUnit, an extended NUnit runner for distributed
parallel tests. The pNUnit program was developed at Codice Software
for use in testing the Plastic SCM and has been contributed to NUnit.
For more info about using pNUnit see the
pNUnit site.
- The install now offers Typical, Complete and Custom options. Selecting
Typical gets you the NUnit framework, core, console runner and Gui.
To install pNUnit, any of the bundled addins or the NUnit tests,
select Complete or Custom.
Extensibility
- The RowTestExtension, which was merged into the nunit extension dlls
in Alpha-1, is now provided as a separate addin. This is the general
approach we plan to take with regard to any bundled addins, since it
permits the creator of an addin to provide updates separately from
the NUnit release.
- This release includes the CSUnitAddin extension, which allows the running of
CSUnit tests under NUnit. The csunit.dll must be available in order to
run the tests.
NUnit 2.5 Alpha 1 Release - April 18, 2008
General
- There are no longer separate distributed packages for .NET 1.1 an 2.0.
Both the binary zip and msi packages contain subdirectories for .NET
1.1 and 2.0. In the case of the msi, the user may elect to install either
or both of them.
- The Visual Studio solutions and projects are now in a directory tree that
is parallel to the source tree. This eliminates problems where the VS2003
and VS2005 builds were interfering with one another and makes room for
adding VS2008.
- NUnit is now built using NAnt 0.86 beta 1
- The windows installer is now created using WiX 2.0.5085
Framework
- Two new attributes have been added to support passing arguments
to test methods:
- TestCaseAttribute allows the programmer to
specify the arguments and a number of optional parameters inline.
- DataSourceAttribute identifies a static property that
will provide the arguments and other parameters.
- Two new constraints have been added to permit testing of
application-created paths, without requiring that they exist in
the file system. The following syntax is supported:
- Is.SamePath(string)
- Is.SamePathOrUnder(string)
- The DirectoryAssert class has been added, providing the following Methods:
- AreEqual(DirectoryInfo, DirectoryInfo)
- AreEqual(string, string)
- AreNotEqual(DirectoryInfo, DirectoryInfo)
- AreNotEqual(string, string)
- IsEmpty(DirectoryInfo, DirectoryInfo)
- IsEmpty(string, string)
- IsNotEmpty(DirectoryInfo, DirectoryInfo)
- IsNotEmpty(string, string)
- IsWithin(DirectoryInfo, DirectoryInfo)
- IsWithin(string, string)
- IsNotWithin(DirectoryInfo, DirectoryInfo)
- IsNotWithin(string, string)
- The method Assert.Throws(Type expectedException, TestSnippet code)
has been added to provide more control over tests of expected exceptions.
TestSnippet is a delegate, which may of course be supplied
anonymously under .NET 2.0. If the correct exception type is thrown,
the actual exception is returned from the method, allowing further
verification to be performed.
- The Assert.DoesNotThrow method may be used to verify that a
delegate does not throw an exception.
- The Assert.Pass method allows early termination of a test with a
successful result.
- The Assert.Inconclusive method allows returning
the new Inconclusive result state.
- NUnit now includes added funtionality in the .NET 2.0 build of
the framework. The following additional features are supported:
- All Asserts and Constraints work with nullable types.
- Some Asserts allow an alternate generic syntax for convenience:
- Assert.IsInstanceOf<T>(object actual);
- Assert.IsNotInstanceOf<T>(object actual);
- Assert.IsAssignableFrom<T>(object actual);
- Assert.IsNotAssignableFrom<T>(object actual);
- Assert.Throws<T>(TypeSnippet code);
- The following obsolete interfaces, classes and methods have been removed:
- The IAsserter interface
- The AbstractAsserter class
- The Assertion class
- The AssertionFailureMessage class
- The old NUnit.Framework.TestCase class used for inheriting test classes
- The Assert.DoAssert() method
- Two ExpectedExceptionAttribute(Type, string) constructor
- Two ExpectedExceptionAttribute(string, string) constructor
- The syntactic constructs in the SyntaxHelpers namespace have been
moved to the NUnit.Framework.Syntax.CSharp namespace. The old
namespace may still be used for existing classes, but will not be
supported after the 2.5 release.
Core
- NUnit now allows use of static methods as tests and for SetUp, TearDown,
TestFixtureSetUp and TestFixtureTearDown.
- Failures and Errors are now distinquished internally and in summary reports.
Methods that are not run because they are invalid are also reported separately.
Console
- The summary report now displays Errors, Failures, Inconclusive, Ignored and Skipped tests
separately. More detailed information on non-runnable tests and setup failures
is provided.
- The console summary report is no longer created using a stylesheet, which
renders the /transform option meaningless. The option has been removed.
Gui
- The default gui display now uses a single tab for all text output. For
users upgrading from an earlier release, the current settings are
honored. If you wish to change to the new default, use the Restore Defaults
button on the Text Output settings dialog.
- The final test run display shows a more detailed summary: passed tests,
errors, failures, inconclusive, non-runnable, skipped and ignored.
- The status bar now displays errors and failures separately in.
- The tree display shows non-runnable tests in red and inconclusive tests
in orange. Inconclusive tests are temporarily listed
on the Tests Not Run tab for this alpha release.
Extensibility
- A new extension point ParameterProviders allows addins to
provide data for parameterized tests.
- The following extensions are included in the nunit.core.extensions
and nunit.framework.extensions assemblies:
- The MaxTime extension, which was previously a sample.
- The RowTest extension, which remains an alternative to NUnit's
native TestCase syntax.
- The XmlConstraint extension, which allows comparing two xml files
Earlier Releases