Chapter 9. Testing

Creating a new Test Scenario

1. In Business Central, click Authoring → Project Authoring to open the Projects view.
2. Select a project for your test scenario.
3. Click New Item → Test Scenario.
4. Enter the name, select the package, and click OK.

5. You will be presented with the Test Scenario edit screen.

   

1. Open your test scenario.
2. Click the Data Objects tab.
3. Click New Item, select your import and click Ok. The imports can be specific to your project’s data model or generic ones like String or Double objects.

Providing Test Scenario Facts

1. After importing data objects, click the Editor tab. At minimum, there are two sections that require input: GIVEN and EXPECT.

   • GIVEN: The input facts for the test.

   • EXPECT: The expected results given the input facts.

     GIVEN the input parameters, EXPECT these rules to be activated or fired. You can also EXPECT facts to be present and to have specific field values or EXPECT rules not to fire at all.

     If the expectations are met, the test scenario has passed and your rules are correct. Otherwise, the test scenario fails.

Providing Given Facts

1. To add a new fact, click next to the GIVEN label. Provide your fact data in the New Input dialog window based on the data models that you have imported in the Data Objects tab.

   

   You can select a particular data object from the model and give it a variable name, called Fact Name in the window, or choose to activate a rule flow group instead. Activating a rule flow group allows rules from the specified rule flow group to be tested by activating the group in advance. To add a given fact and activate a rule flow group:

   1. Add the given fact.
   2. Click again and add the rule flow group activation.

2. Optionally, add restrictions on the object you will insert.

   1. Click Add a field and select a property of your object.

      

   2. Click next to the property.

      • Click Create a new fact if the property type is another fact object.

      • Click Literal value otherwise.

        See Section 9.3, “Additional Test Scenario Features” for more information.

   3. Provide the value. For example:

      

      The example above is equivalent to the following:

      Customer fact1 = new Customer();
      fact1.setHasInternetService(true);
      insert(fact1);

Providing Expected Rules

1. Once you are satisfied with the GIVEN conditions, you can expect rules that will be fired, facts created, or field values in existing facts changed. Click next to the EXPECT label to start adding expected results.

   

2. You can provide one of three expectations given the set of data that was created in the Given section:

   • Rule: enables you to check for firing of a particular rule. Either type the name of a rule that is expected to be fired or select it from the list of rules. Click the OK when done.

   • Fact value: enables you to check a specific object instance and its values. In the following example, given a Customer object with the hasInternetService boolean set to true, we expect the same object to have the hasPhoneService boolean set to true:

     

   • Any fact that matches: enables you to check any objects in the working memory and the values of their field. In the following example, given a Customer object which has internet service, a new object RecurringPayment is expected to be inserted into the working memory with the amount field set to 5:

     

Reviewing, Saving, and Running a Scenario

1. Click Save in the upper right corner to save your scenario. Ensure you regularly save and review your scenarios.

2. Click Run scenario in the upper right corner to execute your test. The results are displayed at the bottom of this screen in a new panel called Reporting.

   
3. If you created more tests in one file, you can run all the tests in a sequence. Click Run all scenarios to do so.

4. Also note the Audit log:, which informs you about inserted facts and fired rules:

   

Calling Methods

1. Call Method enables you to call a method on an existing fact in the beginning of the rule execution. This feature is accessed by clicking next to the CALL METHOD label.

   Figure 9.2. Call Method

   

2. After selecting an existing fact from the drop-down list, click Add. The green arrow button enables you to call a method on the fact.

   Figure 9.3. Invoke a Method

   

1. Click New Item → Global Variable(s) to create a global definition.
2. Define your global variable name and type.
3. Import the object type in your test. If you do not import the type of your global variable, the variable will not be accessible for your test.

Adding a New Global

1. Click next to the (globals) label to add a global and click Add.

   

Configuring Rules

1. The (configuration) label enables the you to set additional constraints on the firing of rules by providing the following options:

   • Allow these rules to fire: enables you to select which rules are allowed to fire.
   • Prevent these rules from firing: enables you to prevent certain rules from firing for the test scenario.
   • All rules may fire allows all the rules to fire for the given test.

   Figure 9.4. Configuration

   

2. If you select one of the following:

   • Allow these rules to fire:

   • Prevent these rules from firing:

     Enter the rules into the empty field. Clicking next to the empty field to select which rules are affected by the condition.

     Figure 9.5. Selecting rules

     
3. Choose a rule from the drop-down list and click OK. The selected rules will appear in the field next to the rules configuration option.

Date and Time Configuration

1. The Use real date and time option uses real time when running the test scenario.

   Figure 9.6. Real Date and Time

   

2. The Use a simulated date and time option enables you to specify the year, month, day, hour, and minute associated with the test scenario.

   Figure 9.7. Title

   

Advanced Fact Data

1. After providing fields to editable properties as part of your created fact, click to open the Field value dialogue. You can edit literal values or provide advanced fact data.

   Figure 9.8. Advanced Options

   

2. In the Advanced Options…​ section, you can choose between the following, depending on the type of fact created and the model objects used for the particular test scenario.

   • Bound variable sets the value of the field to the fact bound to the selected variable. The field type must match the bound variable type.
   • Create new fact enables you to create a new fact and assign it as a field value of the parent fact. Click on the fact to be assigned as a field value to be supplied with a drop down of various field values. These values may be given further field values.