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perltestingfiledist-zilla

How do I test modules/scripts that output/modify files?

I have a couple of modules (DZP::Catalyst and DZP::OurPkgVersion) both of their purposes involve writing out files to the disk. I'm not sure how to test them, are there any good strategies for testing files written out to disk? any place I could go to read up on it?

Solution

  • Well, in this particular case (Dist::Zilla plugins), you're going to want to use Dist::Zilla::Tester. It takes care of much of the grunt work of creating a temporary directory, populating it with files, and cleaning up afterwards. For example, see the tests from my DZP::CJM or the tests from Dist::Zilla itself, especially the plugins directory.

    Update: Dist::Zilla 4.200002 introduced the Test::DZil module, which adds some utility functions useful for testing plugins. You'll probably want to use it instead of using Dist::Zilla::Tester directly.