Explicit

The Explicit attribute causes a test or test fixture to be skipped unless it is explicitly selected for running. The test or fixture will be run if it is selected by name or if it is included by use of a filter. A not filter, which excludes certain tests, is not treated as an explicit selection and never causes an explicit test to be run. All other filters are considered to explicitly select the tests that they match. See examples below.

An optional string argument may be used to give the reason for marking the test Explicit.

If a test or fixture with the Explicit attribute is encountered in the course of running tests, it is skipped unless it has been specifically selected by one of the above means. The test does not affect the overall result of the test run. Explicit tests are displayed in the gui as skipped.

Warning

While the C# syntax allows you to place an Explicit attribute on a SetUpFixture class, the attribute is ignored by NUnit and has no effect in current releases.

Examples of Use

Using the console command-line to select tests, the following options will include any explicit tests that fall under the selection.

    --test=My.Namespace.Fixture.Method
    --test=My.Namespace.Fixture
    --test=My.Namespace
    --where test==My.Namespace.Fixture.Method
    --where test==My.Namespace.Fixture
    --where test==My.Namespace
    --where cat==X
    --where "cat==X || cat==Y"

However, the following options will not include explicit tests

    --where test!=My.Namespace.Fixture
    --where cat!=X

Test Fixture Syntax

C#

namespace NUnit.Tests
{
  using System;
  using NUnit.Framework;

  [TestFixture, Explicit]
  public class ExplicitTests
  {
    // ...
  }
}

Visual Basic

Imports System
Imports NUnit.Framework

Namespace NUnit.Tests

  <TestFixture(), Explicit()>
  Public Class ExplicitTests
    ' ...
  End Class
End Namespace

C++

using namespace System;
using namespace NUnit::Framework;

namespace NUnitTests
{
  [TestFixture]
  [Explicit]
  public __gc class ExplicitTests
  {
    // ...
  };
}

# include "cppsample.h"

namespace NUnitTests {
  // ...
}

Test Syntax

C#

namespace NUnit.Tests
{
  using System;
  using NUnit.Framework;

  [TestFixture]
  public class SuccessTests
  {
    [Test, Explicit]
    public void ExplicitTest()
    { /* ... */ }
}

Visual Basic

Imports System
Imports NUnit.Framework

Namespace NUnit.Tests

  <TestFixture()> Public Class SuccessTests
    <Test(), Explicit()> Public Sub ExplicitTest()
      ' ...
    End Sub
  End Class
End Namespace

C++

# using <NUnit.Framework.dll>
using namespace System;
using namespace NUnit::Framework;

namespace NUnitTests
{
  [TestFixture]
  public __gc class SuccessTests
  {
    [Test][Explicit] void ExplicitTest();
  };
}

# include "cppsample.h"

namespace NUnitTests {
  // ...
}