EcomDev_PHPUnit Tip #4

For years, the test framework EcomDev_PHPUnit is quasi-standard for Magento unit tests. The current version is 0.3.7 and last state of official documentation is version 0.2.0 – since then, much has changed which you have to search yourself in code and GitHub issues. This series shall collect practical usage tips.

Tip #4: Named Parameters

The advantage of YAML files for configuration is supposed to be easy readability. But if a data provider looks like this, there’s not so much readability left:

-
  - 7
  - 1
  -
    5: 7
    6: 9
-
  - 7
  - 1
  -
    5: 8
    6: 10

Technically the same, but way more maintainable:

Bundle_X_A1_B2:
  product_id: 7
  qty: 1
  bundle_selections_by_option:
    5: 7
    6: 9
Bundle_X_A2_B2:
  product_id: 7
  qty: 1
  bundle_selections_by_option:
    5: 8
    6: 10

You can at least guess, that this one is about adding bundle products to the cart, and if you know it, the test data is easy to understand, without having to look at the source code.

Another positive effect is, that for failed tests PHPUnit doesn’t show messages like TestCase::test() with data set #1 anymore, but for example TestCase::test() with data set "Bundle_X_A1_B2"