defmodule ExUnitProperties do @moduledoc """ Provides macros for property-based testing. This module provides a few macros that can be used for property-based testing. The core is `check/3`, which allows executing arbitrary tests on many pieces of generated data. Another one is `property/3`, which is meant as a utility to replace the `ExUnit.Case.test/3` macro when writing properties. The last one is `gen/3`, which can be used as syntactic sugar to build generators (see `StreamData` for other ways of building generators and for core generators). ## Overview of property-based testing One of the most common ways of writing tests (in Elixir and many other languages) is to write tests by hand. For example, say that we want to write a `starts_with?/2` function that takes two binaries and returns `true` if the first starts with the second and `false` otherwise. We would likely test such function with something like this: test "starts_with?/2" do assert starts_with?("foo", "f") refute starts_with?("foo", "b") assert starts_with?("foo", "") assert starts_with?("", "") refute starts_with?("", "something") end This test highlights the method used to write such kind of tests: they're written by hand. The process usually consists of testing an expected output on a set of expected inputs. This works especially well for edge cases, but the robustness of this test could be improved. This is what property-based testing aims to solve. Property testing is based on two ideas: * specify a set of **properties** that a piece of code should satisfy * test those properties on a very large number of randomly generated data The point of specifying **properties** instead of testing manual scenarios is that properties should hold for all the data that the piece of code should be able to deal with, and in turn, this plays well with generating data at random. Writing properties has the added benefit of forcing the programmer to think about their code differently: they have to think about which are invariant properties that their code satisfies. To go back to the `starts_with?/2` example above, let's come up with a property that this function should hold. Since we know that the `Kernel.<>/2` operator concatenates two binaries, we can say that a property of `starts_with?/2` is that the concatenation of binaries `a` and `b` always starts with `a`. This is easy to model as a property using the `check/3` macro from this module and generators taken from the `StreamData` module: test "starts_with?/2" do check all a <- StreamData.binary(), b <- StreamData.binary() do assert starts_with?(a <> b, a) end end When run, this piece of code will generate a random binary and assign it to `a`, do the same for `b`, and then run the assertion. This step will be repeated for a large number of times (`100` by default, but it's configurable), hence generating many combinations of random `a` and `b`. If the body passes for all the generated data, then we consider the property to hold. If a combination of randomly generated terms fails the body of the property, then `ExUnitProperties` tries to find the smallest set of random generated terms that still fails the property and reports that; this step is called shrinking. ### Shrinking Say that our `starts_with?/2` function blindly returns false when the second argument is the empty binary (such as `starts_with?("foo", "")`). It's likely that in 100 runs an empty binary will be generated and bound to `b`. When that happens, the body of the property fails but `a` is a randomly generated binary and this might be inconvenient: for example, `a` could be `<<0, 74, 192, 99, 24, 26>>`. In this case, the `check/3` macro tries to **shrink** `a` to the smallest term that still fails the property (`b` is not shrunk because `""` is the smallest binary possible). Doing so will lead to `a = ""` and `b = ""` which is the "minimal" failing case for our function. The example above is a contrived example but shrinking is a very powerful tool that aims at taking the noise out of the failing data. For detailed information on shrinking, see also the "Shrinking" section in the documentation for `StreamData`. ## Building structs We can use the built-in generators to generate other kinds of structs. For example, imagine we wanted to test the following function. def noon?(~T[12:00:00]), do: true def noon?(_), do: false We could generate `%Time{}` structs as follows: defp non_noon_generator do gen all time <- valid_time_generator(), time != ~T[12:00:00] do time end end defp valid_time_generator do gen all hour <- StreamData.integer(0..23), minute <- StreamData.integer(0..59), second <- StreamData.integer(0..59) do Time.new!(hour, minute, second) end end and use them in properties: describe "noon?/1" do test "returns true for noon" do assert noon?(~T[12:00:00]) == true end property "returns false for other times" do check all time <- non_noon_generator() do assert noon?(time) == false end end end ## Resources on property-based testing There are many resources available online on property-based testing. An interesting read is the original paper that introduced QuickCheck, ["QuickCheck: A Lightweight Tool for Random Testing of Haskell Programs"](http://www.cs.tufts.edu/~nr/cs257/archive/john-hughes/quick.pdf), a property-testing tool for the Haskell programming language. Another very useful resource especially geared towards Erlang and the BEAM is [propertesting.com](http://propertesting.com), a website created by Fred Hebert: it's a great explanation of property-based testing that includes many examples. Fred's website uses an Erlang property-based testing tool called [PropEr](https://github.com/manopapad/proper) but many of the things he talks about apply to `ExUnitProperties` as well. ## Options When an error occurs, StreamData will shrink the generated values to find the smallest set of values that still reproduces the error. It will then print out the generated values using `inspect/2`. You can customize the `inspect/2` options used by setting the `:inspect_opts` option in your test config. # config/test.exs import Config config :stream_data, inspect_opts: [limit: :infinity] """ alias ExUnit.AssertionError defmodule Error do @moduledoc false defexception [:message] end @doc """ Sets up an `ExUnit.Case` module for property-based testing. """ defmacro __using__(_opts) do quote do import unquote(__MODULE__) import StreamData end end @doc """ Defines a not-implemented property test with a string. Provides a convenient macro that allows a property test to be defined with a string, but not yet implemented. The resulting property test will always fail and print a "Not implemented" error message. The resulting test case is also tagged with `:not_implemented`. This behavior is similar to `ExUnit.Case.test/1`. ## Examples property "this will be a property test in the future" """ defmacro property(message) do ExUnit.plural_rule("property", "properties") %{module: mod, file: file, line: line} = __CALLER__ quote bind_quoted: binding() do name = ExUnit.Case.register_test(mod, file, line, :property, message, [:not_implemented]) def unquote(name)(_), do: flunk("Not implemented") end end @doc """ Defines a property and imports property-testing facilities in the body. This macro is similar to `ExUnit.Case.test/3`, except that it denotes a **property**. In the given body, all the functions exposed by `StreamData` are imported, as well as `check/2`. When defining a test whose body only consists of one or more `check/2` calls, it's advised to use `property/3` so as to clearly denote and scope properties. Doing so will also improve reporting. ## Examples use ExUnitProperties property "reversing a list doesn't change its length" do check all list <- list_of(integer()) do assert length(list) == length(:lists.reverse(list)) end end """ defmacro property(message, context \\ quote(do: _), contents) do ExUnit.plural_rule("property", "properties") contents = case contents do [do: block] -> quote do unquote(block) :ok end _ -> quote do try(unquote(contents)) :ok end end context = Macro.escape(context) contents = Macro.escape(contents, unquote: true) quote bind_quoted: [context: context, contents: contents, message: message] do %{module: mod, file: file, line: line} = __ENV__ name = ExUnit.Case.register_test(mod, file, line, :property, message, [:property]) def unquote(name)(unquote(context)), do: unquote(contents) end end @doc """ Syntactic sugar to create generators. This macro provides ad-hoc syntax to write complex generators. Let's see a quick example to get a feel of how it works. Say we have a `User` struct: defmodule User do defstruct [:name, :email] end We can create a generator of users like this: email_generator = map({binary(), binary()}, fn {left, right} -> left <> "@" <> right end) user_generator = gen all name <- binary(), email <- email_generator do %User{name: name, email: email} end Everything between `gen all` and `do` is referred to as **clauses**. You can write clauses to specify the values to generate. You can then use those values in the `do` body. The newly-created generator will generate values that are the return value of the `do` body using the generated values in the clauses. ### Clauses As seen in the example above, clauses can be of the following types: * **value generation** - they have the form `pattern <- generator` where `generator` must be a generator. These clauses take a value out of `generator` on each run and match it against `pattern`. Variables bound in `pattern` can be then used throughout subsequent clauses and in the `do` body. If `pattern` doesn't match a generated value, it's treated like a filter (see the "filtering" clauses described below). * **filtering and binding** - they have the form `expression`. If a filtering clause returns a truthy value, then the set of generated values that appear before the filtering clause is considered valid and generation continues. If the filtering clause returns a falsey value, then the current value is considered invalid and a new value is generated. Note that filtering clauses should not filter out too many times; in case they do, a `StreamData.FilterTooNarrowError` error is raised (same as `StreamData.filter/3`). Filtering clauses can be used also to assign variables: for example, `a = :foo` is a valid clause. The behaviour of the clauses above is similar to the behaviour of clauses in `Kernel.SpecialForms.for/1`. ### Body The return value of the body passed in the `do` block is what is ultimately generated by the generator return by this macro. ## Shrinking See the module documentation for more information on shrinking. Clauses affect shrinking in the following way: * filtering clauses affect shrinking like `StreamData.filter/3` * value generation clauses affect shrinking similarly to `StreamData.bind/2` """ defmacro gen({:all, _meta, clauses_with_body} = _clauses_and_body) do {clauses, [[do: body]]} = Enum.split(clauses_with_body, -1) compile(clauses, body) end # We don't need docs for `check/2`, the docs for `check/1` are enough since # using `do:` should just work from the perspective of the end user. @doc false defmacro gen({:all, _meta, clauses}, do: body) do compile(clauses, body) end defp compile(clauses, body) do assert_first_clause_is_generator(clauses) quote do var!(generated_values, unquote(__MODULE__)) = [] {:cont, data} = unquote(compile_clauses(clauses, body, _line = nil)) data end end defp assert_first_clause_is_generator([{:<-, _, [_, _]} | _]) do :ok end defp assert_first_clause_is_generator([clause | _]) do raise ArgumentError, "\"gen all\" and \"check all\" clauses must start with a generator (<-) clause, " <> "got: #{Macro.to_string(clause)}" end defp compile_clauses([], body, _line) do quote do var!(generated_values, unquote(__MODULE__)) = Enum.reverse(var!(generated_values, unquote(__MODULE__))) {:cont, StreamData.constant(unquote(body))} end end defp compile_clauses([{:<-, meta, [pattern, generator]} = clause | rest], body, _line) do line = meta[:line] quote generated: true, line: line do data = StreamData.bind_filter(unquote(generator), fn # TODO: support when unquote(pattern) = generated_value, tries_left -> var!(generated_values, unquote(__MODULE__)) = [ {unquote(Macro.to_string(clause)), generated_value} | var!(generated_values, unquote(__MODULE__)) ] unquote(compile_clauses(rest, body, line)) other, _tries_left = 1 -> raise StreamData.FilterTooNarrowError, last_generated_value: {:value, other} _other, _tries_left -> :skip end) {:cont, data} end end defp compile_clauses([clause | rest], body, parent_line) do line = get_clause_line(clause, parent_line) quote generated: true, line: line do cond do unquote(clause) -> unquote(compile_clauses(rest, body, line)) tries_left == 1 -> raise StreamData.FilterTooNarrowError, last_generated_value: :none true -> :skip end end end defp get_clause_line(clause, parent_line) do with {_, meta, _} when is_list(meta) <- clause, {:ok, line} when is_integer(line) <- Keyword.fetch(meta, :line) do line else _ -> parent_line end end @doc """ Runs tests for a property. This macro provides ad hoc syntax to write properties. Let's see a quick example to get a feel of how it works: check all int1 <- integer(), int2 <- integer(), int1 > 0 and int2 > 0, sum = int1 + int2 do assert sum > int1 assert sum > int2 end Everything between `check all` and `do` is referred to as **clauses**. Clauses are used to specify the values to generate in order to test the properties. The actual tests that the properties hold live in the `do` block. Clauses work exactly like they work in the `gen/1` macro. The body passed in the `do` block is where you test that the property holds for the generated values. The body is just like the body of a test: use `ExUnit.Assertions.assert/2` (and friends) to assert whatever you want. ## Options * `:initial_size` - (non-negative integer) the initial generation size used to start generating values. The generation size is then incremented by `1` on each iteration. See the "Generation size" section of the `StreamData` documentation for more information on generation size. Defaults to `1`. * `:max_runs` - (non-negative integer) the total number of generations to run. Defaults to `100`. * `:max_run_time` - (non-negative integer) the total number of time (in milliseconds) to run a given check for. This is not used by default, so unless a value is given then the length of the test will be determined by `:max_runs`. If both `:max_runs` and `:max_run_time` are given, then the check will finish at whichever comes first, `:max_runs` or `:max_run_time`. * `:max_shrinking_steps` - (non-negative integer) the maximum numbers of shrinking steps to perform in case a failing case is found. Defaults to `100`. * `:max_generation_size` - (non-negative integer) the maximum generation size to reach. Note that the size is increased by one on each run. By default, the generation size is unbounded. * `:initial_seed` - (integer) the initial seed used to drive the random generation. When `check all` is run with the same initial seed more than once, then every time the terms generated by the generators will be the same as all other runs. This is useful when you want to deterministically reproduce a result. However, it's usually better to leave `:initial_seed` to its default value, which is taken from ExUnit's seed: this way, the random generation will follow options like `--seed` used in ExUnit to deterministically reproduce tests. It is also possible to set the values for `:initial_size`, `:max_runs`, `:max_run_time`, and `:max_shrinking_steps` through your project's config files. This is especially helpful in combination with `:max_runs` when you want to run more iterations on your continuous integration platform, but keep your local tests fast: # config/test.exs import Config config :stream_data, max_runs: if System.get_env("CI"), do: 1_000, else: 50 ## Examples Check that all values generated by the `StreamData.integer/0` generator are integers: check all int <- integer() do assert is_integer(int) end Check that `String.starts_with?/2` and `String.ends_with?/2` always hold for concatenated strings: check all start <- binary(), finish <- binary(), concat = start <> finish do assert String.starts_with?(concat, start) assert String.ends_with?(concat, finish) end Check that `Kernel.in/2` returns `true` when checking if an element taken out of a list is in that same list (changing the number of runs): check all list <- list_of(integer()), member <- member_of(list), max_runs: 50 do assert member in list end ### Using `check all` in doctests `check all` can be used in doctests. Make sure that the module where you call `doctest(MyModule)` calls `use ExUnitProperties`. Then, you can call `check all` in your doctests: @doc \"\"\" Tells if a term is an integer. iex> check all i <- integer() do ...> assert int?(i) ...> end :ok \"\"\" def int?(i), do: is_integer(i) `check all` always returns `:ok`, so you can use that as the return value of the whole expression. """ defmacro check({:all, _meta, clauses_with_body} = _clauses_and_body) when is_list(clauses_with_body) do {clauses, [body_with_options]} = Enum.split(clauses_with_body, -1) {options, [do: body]} = Enum.split(body_with_options, -1) compile_check_all(clauses ++ [options], body) end # We don't need docs for `check/2`, the docs for `check/1` are enough since # using `do:` should just work from the perspective of the end user. @doc false defmacro check({:all, _meta, clauses_and_options}, do: body) when is_list(clauses_and_options) do compile_check_all(clauses_and_options, body) end defp compile_check_all(clauses_and_options, body) do {clauses, options} = split_clauses_and_options(clauses_and_options) quote do options = unquote(options) # TODO: Use :rand.export_seed in Elixir master. # The value may be :undefined in a new process # though, which means we may need to generate one. initial_seed = case Keyword.get(options, :initial_seed, ExUnit.configuration()[:seed]) do seed when is_integer(seed) -> {0, 0, seed} other -> raise ArgumentError, "expected :initial_seed to be an integer, got: #{inspect(other)}" end # TODO: Use ExUnit configuration when made part of ExUnit options = [ initial_seed: initial_seed, initial_size: options[:initial_size] || Application.fetch_env!(:stream_data, :initial_size), max_runs: options[:max_runs] || Application.fetch_env!(:stream_data, :max_runs), max_run_time: options[:max_run_time] || Application.fetch_env!(:stream_data, :max_run_time), max_shrinking_steps: options[:max_shrinking_steps] || Application.fetch_env!(:stream_data, :max_shrinking_steps) ] property = ExUnitProperties.gen all unquote_splicing(clauses) do fn -> try do unquote(body) rescue exception -> result = %{ exception: exception, stacktrace: __STACKTRACE__, generated_values: var!(generated_values, unquote(__MODULE__)) } {:error, result} else _result -> {:ok, nil} end end end property = if max_size = options[:max_generation_size] do StreamData.scale(property, &min(max_size, &1)) else property end case StreamData.check_all(property, options, & &1.()) do {:ok, _result} -> :ok {:error, test_result} -> unquote(__MODULE__).__raise__(test_result) end end end @spec __raise__(term()) :: no_return() def __raise__(test_result) do %{ original_failure: original_failure, shrunk_failure: shrunk_failure, successful_runs: successful_runs } = test_result choose_error_and_raise(original_failure, shrunk_failure, successful_runs) end defp choose_error_and_raise( _, %{exception: %AssertionError{}} = shrunk_failure, successful_runs ) do reraise enrich_assertion_error(shrunk_failure, successful_runs), shrunk_failure.stacktrace end defp choose_error_and_raise( %{exception: %AssertionError{}} = original_failure, _, successful_runs ) do reraise enrich_assertion_error(original_failure, successful_runs), original_failure.stacktrace end defp choose_error_and_raise(_original_failure, shrunk_failure, successful_runs) do %{exception: exception, stacktrace: stacktrace, generated_values: generated_values} = shrunk_failure {exception, stacktrace} = Exception.blame(:error, exception, stacktrace) formatted_exception = Exception.format_banner(:error, exception, stacktrace) message = "failed with generated values (after #{successful_runs(successful_runs)}):\n\n" <> indent(format_generated_values(generated_values), " ") <> "\n\ngot exception:\n\n" <> indent(formatted_exception, " ") reraise Error, [message: message], shrunk_failure.stacktrace end defp enrich_assertion_error( %{exception: exception, generated_values: generated_values}, successful_runs ) do message = "Failed with generated values (after #{successful_runs(successful_runs)}):\n\n" <> indent(format_generated_values(generated_values), " ") <> if(is_binary(exception.message), do: "\n\n" <> exception.message, else: "") %{exception | message: message} end defp format_generated_values(values) do Enum.map_join(values, "\n\n", fn {gen_string, value} -> String.trim_trailing(""" * Clause: #{gen_string} Generated: #{inspect(value, Application.fetch_env!(:stream_data, :inspect_opts))} """) end) end defp indent(string, indentation) do indentation <> String.replace(string, "\n", "\n" <> indentation) end defp successful_runs(1), do: "1 successful run" defp successful_runs(n), do: "#{n} successful runs" defp split_clauses_and_options(clauses_and_options) do case Enum.split_while(clauses_and_options, &(not Keyword.keyword?(&1))) do {_clauses, []} = result -> result {clauses, [options]} -> {clauses, options} end end @doc """ Picks a random element generated by the `StreamData` generator `data`. This function uses the current ExUnit seed to generate a random term from `data`. The generation size (see [*Generation size*](StreamData.html#module-generation-size)) is chosen at random between in `1..100`. If you want finer control over the generation size, you can use functions like `StreamData.resize/2` to resize `data` or `StreamData.scale/2` to scale the generation size. ## Examples ExUnitProperties.pick(StreamData.integer()) #=> -21 """ @spec pick(StreamData.t(a)) :: a when a: term() def pick(data) do exported_seed = case :rand.export_seed() do :undefined -> raise "the random seed is not set in the current process. Make sure to only call " <> "pick/1 inside ExUnit tests" seed -> seed end seed = :rand.seed_s(exported_seed) {size, seed} = :rand.uniform_s(100, seed) %StreamData.LazyTree{root: root} = StreamData.__call__(data, seed, size) root end end