How to share objects in different test in PHPUnit - php

Question

I have the following class 'MyControllerTest' for testing purposes of 'MyController'.
I want to share the same object which is '$algorithms' in different tests of this classes but I don't know how to do that after trying adding the variable in different places:
class MyControllerTest extends Zend_Test_PHPUnit_ControllerTestCase
{
// $algorithms = ... <----- does not work
public static function main()
{
$suite = new PHPUnit_Framework_TestSuite("MyControllerTest");
$result = PHPUnit_TextUI_TestRunner::run($suite);
}
public function setUp()
{
$this->bootstrap = new Zend_Application(
'testing',
APPLICATION_PATH . '/configs/application.ini'
);
$configuration = Zend_Registry::get('configuration');
// $algorithms = ... <----- does not work
parent::setUp();
}
public function tearDown()
{
}
public function test1() {
// this array shared in different tests
$algorithms[0] = array(
"class" => "Mobile",
"singleton" => "true",
"params" => array(
"mobile" => "true",
"phone" => "false"
)
);
...
}
public function test2() { };
}
How can I share this object?
Any help would be appreciated!

Answer 1

You've got a couple of options here
Declare the data fixture right into the setUp method and declare a private variable that holds it. So you can use it in the other test methods.
Declare a private function within your test class that holds your data fixture. If you need the data fixture just call the private method
Create a Utiltity class with a method that holds the data fixture. The Utility class is initialized in the setUp function. Declare a private variable within the MyControllerTest that holds the instance of the Utility class. When a test needs the fixture just call the fixture method from the Utility instance.
Example 1
class MyControllerTest extends Zend_Test_PHPUnit_ControllerTestCase
{
private $alg;
public function setUp()
{
# variable that holds the data fixture
$this->alg = array(....);
}
public function test1()
{
$this->assertCount(1, $this->alg);
}
}
Example 2
class MyControllerTest extends Zend_Test_PHPUnit_ControllerTestCase
{
public function test1()
{
$this->assertCount(1, $this->getAlgo());
}
# Function that holds the data fixture
private function getAlgo()
{
return array(....);
}
}
Example 3
class Utility
{
# Function that holds the data fixture
public function getAlgo()
{
return array(....);
}
}
class MyControllerTest extends Zend_Test_PHPUnit_ControllerTestCase
{
private $utility;
public function setUp()
{
$this->utility = new Utility();
}
public function test1()
{
$this->assertCount(1, $this->utility->getAlgo());
}
}
But beware of fixtures that are shared and are altered in some tests. This can really mess up your test suite.