From: "bpettichord@..." <bpettichord@...>
Date: 2006-05-23T03:31:35+09:00
Subject: Re: Test::Unit Patch that allows test methods to be executed sequentially

Ryan Davis said:
> Why not subclass TestCase and create SequentialTestCase or
> WatirTestCase? I don't see any reason why this functionality needs to
> be folded into test/unit but I see your argument for Watir. We should
> be trying our damnedest to make test/unit thinner, not thicker.

Unfortunately, subclassing TestCase is not a good idea. All subclasses
of TestCase are presumed to be concrete tests and you will get errors
if the subclass does not have a test method. (Try it out if you don't
believe me.) There is no provision for "Virtual" testcases, which is
what we would want here.

I think the ideal solution would be to refactor the TestCase code along
the lines of this patch, and thereby expose
TestCase.sorted_test_methods so that it could then be overlayed by
Modules.

This would keep the code from bulking up and allow users to add custom
behavior without modifying the class itself. For example, there has
been some interest expressed in randomizing the order of the test
methods. This suggestion would allow users to easily do this.

Bret