From: Jeff <cohen.jeff@...>
Date: 2007-09-17T13:13:01+09:00
Subject: Re: How do I patch Test::Unit?

On Sep 16, 9:05 pm, Dan Zwell <dzw...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Jeff,
>
> I just tested the change to unit.rb that you mentioned, and it had the
> expected effect (printing "Hello there"). So I would make sure you're
> editing the right file. If you are sure you are editing the right file,
> but still cannot get any result, try deleting it -- then you'll know for
> sure whether that file is being used.

Thanks a lot, Dan.  When you said this, it caused me to try the same
thing on my Windows box, and it worked.  So now I suspect it's
something about the way I've compiled/setup Ruby on my Mac laptop.

> As for not being able to edit the (open) classes, make sure you are
> editing the classes after you require the files, otherwise your changes
> will be overwritten. Also be very careful about namespaces / modules and
> such. I suggest not using any "include" statements, because they might
> introduce ambiguity. The important thing is that when you make a change
> to the class in question, you are changing the right class (and not just
> making a new one). When I ran "irb -r 'test/unit'", I found that the
> module Test::Unit::UI existed, but Test::Unit::UI::Console did not, so
> that might be your problem. (I just tested with "puts".)

Interesting, I'll be sure to watch out for these.

> Finally, for which strategy you should use to extend these tools:
> -If your end goal is to make changes that you want distributed with the
> ruby standard library, you might as well patch the source directly.
> -If you intend to distribute your code as a library or gem, you had
> better reopen the class in a different file (not patch unit.rb), because
> it would be rude to ask users to make that change for the sake of your
> program. After all, it could break other programs.
> -If this is purely for personal use, you may do whichever is easier. The
> second way leaves you less likely to accidentally cripple your Ruby
> distribution.

Exactly - I'm hoping to distribute a library to our Ruby teams at
work, so I'll be re-opening the classes.

> Hope this helps,
> Dan

It does!  Thansk again.  Maybe I'll post again if I can find out what
I'm doing wrong on my Mac environment.

Jeff

>
> Jeff wrote:
> > Perhaps my original post was too long or too obtuse... let me
> > rephrase.
>
> > What's the best way to extend then test/unit classes?
>
> > Thanks
> > Jeff
>
> > On Sep 14, 6:50 pm, Jeff <cohen.j...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> I've finally found some time to dig into one of my favorite parts of
> >> Ruby, the Test::Unit module.  I have some ideas for how to enhance it
> >> a bit.
>
> >> First I just wanted to do a sanity check that I can make changes and
> >> see the effects.  For some reason, no matter what I modify in my
> >> Test::Unit source code, my changes don't seem to take effect.
>
> >> For example, if I found unit.rb and added a puts statement:
>
> >> at_exit do
> >>   unless $! || Test::Unit.run?
> >>     puts "HELLO THERE!"
> >>     exit Test::Unit::AutoRunner.run
> >>   end
> >> end
>
> >> but when I run my test (a simple ruby file that requires test/unit), I
> >> don't see "HELLO THERE!".
>
> >> I also tried just reopening the class right above my test class
> >> definition:
>
> >> module Test
> >>   module Unit
> >>     module UI
> >>       module Console
>
> >>         # Runs a Test::Unit::TestSuite on the console.
> >>         class TestRunner
> >>           def start
> >>             output "Hello There!"
> >>             setup_mediator
> >>             attach_to_mediator
> >>             return start_mediator
> >>           end
> >>         end
> >>       end
> >>     end
> >>   end
> >> end
>
> >> and still nothing.
>
> >> What am I doing wrong?
>
> >> Oh, ruby -v reports:
> >> ruby 1.8.6 (2007-03-13 patchlevel 0) [i686-darwin8.9.1]
>
> >> Thanks
> >> Jeff