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bats-assert

bats-assert is a helper library providing common assertions for Bats.

• Install
• Usage
• Options
• Full Assertion API

In the context of this project, an assertion is a function that perform a test and returns 1 on failure or 0 on success. To make debugging easier, the assertion also outputs relevant information on failure. The output is formatted for readability. To make assertions usable outside of @test blocks, the output is sent to stderr.

The most recent invocation of Bats' run function is used for testing assertions on output and status code.

Install

This project has one dependency, for output formatting: bats-support

Read the shared documentation to learn how to install and load both libraries.

Usage

This project provides the following functions:

• assert / refute Assert a given expression evaluates to true or false.
• assert_equal Assert two parameters are equal.
• assert_not_equal Assert two parameters are not equal.
• assert_success / assert_failure Assert exit status is 0 or 1.
• assert_output / refute_output Assert output does (or does not) contain given content.
• assert_line / refute_line Assert a specific line of output does (or does not) contain given content.
• assert_regex / refute_regex Assert a parameter does (or does not) match given pattern.

These commands are described in more detail below.

Options

For functions that have options, -- disables option parsing for the remaining arguments to allow using arguments identical to one of the allowed options.

assert_output -- '-p'

Specifying -- as an argument is similarly simple.

refute_line -- '--'

Full Assertion API

assert

Fail if the given expression evaluates to false.

Note: The expression must be a simple command. Compound commands, such as [[, can be used only when executed with bash -c.

@test 'assert()' {
  assert [ 1 -lt 0 ]
}

On failure, the failed expression is displayed.

-- assertion failed --
expression : [ 1 -lt 0 ]
--

refute

Fail if the given expression evaluates to true.

Note: The expression must be a simple command. Compound commands, such as [[, can be used only when executed with bash -c.

@test 'refute()' {
  refute [ 1 -gt 0 ]
}

On failure, the successful expression is displayed.

-- assertion succeeded, but it was expected to fail --
expression : [ 1 -gt 0 ]
--

assert_equal

Fail if the two parameters, actual and expected value respectively, do not equal.

@test 'assert_equal()' {
  assert_equal 'have' 'want'
}

On failure, the expected and actual values are displayed.

-- values do not equal --
expected : want
actual   : have
--

If either value is longer than one line both are displayed in multi-line format.

assert_not_equal

Fail if the two parameters, actual and unexpected value respectively, are equal.

@test 'assert_not_equal()' {
  assert_not_equal 'foobar' 'foobar'
}

On failure, the expected and actual values are displayed.

-- values should not be equal --
unexpected : foobar
actual     : foobar
--

If either value is longer than one line both are displayed in multi-line format.

assert_success

Fail if $status is not 0.

@test 'assert_success() status only' {
  run bash -c "echo 'Error!'; exit 1"
  assert_success
}

On failure, $status and $output are displayed.

-- command failed --
status : 1
output : Error!
--

If $output is longer than one line, it is displayed in multi-line format.

assert_failure

Fail if $status is 0.

@test 'assert_failure() status only' {
  run echo 'Success!'
  assert_failure
}

On failure, $output is displayed.

-- command succeeded, but it was expected to fail --
output : Success!
--

If $output is longer than one line, it is displayed in multi-line format.

Expected status

When one parameter is specified, fail if $status does not equal the expected status specified by the parameter.

@test 'assert_failure() with expected status' {
  run bash -c "echo 'Error!'; exit 1"
  assert_failure 2
}

On failure, the expected and actual status, and $output are displayed.

-- command failed as expected, but status differs --
expected : 2
actual   : 1
output   : Error!
--

If $output is longer than one line, it is displayed in multi-line format.

assert_output

This function helps to verify that a command or function produces the correct output by checking that the specified expected output matches the actual output. Matching can be literal (default), partial or regular expression. This function is the logical complement of refute_output.

Literal matching

By default, literal matching is performed. The assertion fails if $output does not equal the expected output.

@test 'assert_output()' {
  run echo 'have'
  assert_output 'want'
}

On failure, the expected and actual output are displayed.

-- output differs --
expected : want
actual   : have
--

If either value is longer than one line both are displayed in multi-line format.

Existence

To assert that any (non-empty) output exists at all, simply omit the matching argument.

@test 'assert_output()' {
  run echo 'have'
  assert_output
}

On failure, an error message is displayed.

-- no output --
expected non-empty output, but output was empty
--

Partial matching

Partial matching can be enabled with the --partial option (-p for short). When used, the assertion fails if the expected substring is not found in $output.

@test 'assert_output() partial matching' {
  run echo 'ERROR: no such file or directory'
  assert_output --partial 'SUCCESS'
}

On failure, the substring and the output are displayed.

-- output does not contain substring --
substring : SUCCESS
output    : ERROR: no such file or directory
--

This option and regular expression matching (--regexp or -e) are mutually exclusive. An error is displayed when used simultaneously.

Regular expression matching

Regular expression matching can be enabled with the --regexp option (-e for short). When used, the assertion fails if the extended regular expression does not match $output.

Note: The anchors ^ and $ bind to the beginning and the end of the entire output (not individual lines), respectively.

@test 'assert_output() regular expression matching' {
  run echo 'Foobar 0.1.0'
  assert_output --regexp '^Foobar v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]$'
}

On failure, the regular expression and the output are displayed.

-- regular expression does not match output --
regexp : ^Foobar v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]$
output : Foobar 0.1.0
--

An error is displayed if the specified extended regular expression is invalid.

This option and partial matching (--partial or -p) are mutually exclusive. An error is displayed when used simultaneously.

Standard Input, HereDocs and HereStrings

The expected output can be specified via standard input (also heredoc/herestring) with the -/--stdin option.

@test 'assert_output() with pipe' {
  run echo 'hello'
  echo 'hello' | assert_output -
}

@test 'assert_output() with herestring' {
  run echo 'hello'
  assert_output - <<< hello
}

refute_output

This function helps to verify that a command or function produces the correct output by checking that the specified unexpected output does not match the actual output. Matching can be literal (default), partial or regular expression. This function is the logical complement of assert_output.

Literal matching

By default, literal matching is performed. The assertion fails if $output equals the unexpected output.

@test 'refute_output()' {
  run echo 'want'
  refute_output 'want'
}

On failure, the output is displayed.

-- output equals, but it was expected to differ --
output : want
--

If output is longer than one line it is displayed in multi-line format.

Existence

To assert that there is no output at all, simply omit the matching argument.

@test 'refute_output()' {
  run foo --silent
  refute_output
}

On failure, an error message is displayed.

-- unexpected output --
expected no output, but output was non-empty
--

Partial matching

Partial matching can be enabled with the --partial option (-p for short). When used, the assertion fails if the unexpected substring is found in $output.

@test 'refute_output() partial matching' {
  run echo 'ERROR: no such file or directory'
  refute_output --partial 'ERROR'
}

On failure, the substring and the output are displayed.

-- output should not contain substring --
substring : ERROR
output    : ERROR: no such file or directory
--

This option and regular expression matching (--regexp or -e) are mutually exclusive. An error is displayed when used simultaneously.

Regular expression matching

Regular expression matching can be enabled with the --regexp option (-e for short). When used, the assertion fails if the extended regular expression matches $output.

Note: The anchors ^ and $ bind to the beginning and the end of the entire output (not individual lines), respectively.

@test 'refute_output() regular expression matching' {
  run echo 'Foobar v0.1.0'
  refute_output --regexp '^Foobar v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]$'
}

On failure, the regular expression and the output are displayed.

-- regular expression should not match output --
regexp : ^Foobar v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]$
output : Foobar v0.1.0
--

An error is displayed if the specified extended regular expression is invalid.

This option and partial matching (--partial or -p) are mutually exclusive. An error is displayed when used simultaneously.

Standard Input, HereDocs and HereStrings

The unexpected output can be specified via standard input (also heredoc/herestring) with the -/--stdin option.

@test 'refute_output() with pipe' {
  run echo 'hello'
  echo 'world' | refute_output -
}

@test 'refute_output() with herestring' {
  run echo 'hello'
  refute_output - <<< world
}

assert_line

Similarly to assert_output, this function helps to verify that a command or function produces the correct output. It checks that the expected line appears in the output (default) or in a specific line of it. Matching can be literal (default), partial or regular expression. This function is the logical complement of refute_line.

Warning: Due to a bug in Bats, empty lines are discarded from ${lines[@]}, causing line indices to change and preventing testing for empty lines.

Looking for a line in the output

By default, the entire output is searched for the expected line. The assertion fails if the expected line is not found in ${lines[@]}.

@test 'assert_line() looking for line' {
  run echo $'have-0\nhave-1\nhave-2'
  assert_line 'want'
}

On failure, the expected line and the output are displayed.

Warning: The output displayed does not contain empty lines. See the Warning above for more.

-- output does not contain line --
line : want
output (3 lines):
  have-0
  have-1
  have-2
--

If output is not longer than one line, it is displayed in two-column format.

Matching a specific line

When the --index <idx> option is used (-n <idx> for short), the expected line is matched only against the line identified by the given index. The assertion fails if the expected line does not equal ${lines[<idx>]}.

@test 'assert_line() specific line' {
  run echo $'have-0\nhave-1\nhave-2'
  assert_line --index 1 'want-1'
}

On failure, the index and the compared lines are displayed.

-- line differs --
index    : 1
expected : want-1
actual   : have-1
--

Partial matching

Partial matching can be enabled with the --partial option (-p for short). When used, a match fails if the expected substring is not found in the matched line.

@test 'assert_line() partial matching' {
  run echo $'have 1\nhave 2\nhave 3'
  assert_line --partial 'want'
}

On failure, the same details are displayed as for literal matching, except that the substring replaces the expected line.

-- no output line contains substring --
substring : want
output (3 lines):
  have 1
  have 2
  have 3
--

This option and regular expression matching (--regexp or -e) are mutually exclusive. An error is displayed when used simultaneously.

Regular expression matching

Regular expression matching can be enabled with the --regexp option (-e for short). When used, a match fails if the extended regular expression does not match the line being tested.

Note: As expected, the anchors ^ and $ bind to the beginning and the end of the matched line, respectively.

@test 'assert_line() regular expression matching' {
  run echo $'have-0\nhave-1\nhave-2'
  assert_line --index 1 --regexp '^want-[0-9]$'
}

On failure, the same details are displayed as for literal matching, except that the regular expression replaces the expected line.

-- regular expression does not match line --
index  : 1
regexp : ^want-[0-9]$
line   : have-1
--

An error is displayed if the specified extended regular expression is invalid.

This option and partial matching (--partial or -p) are mutually exclusive. An error is displayed when used simultaneously.

refute_line

Similarly to refute_output, this function helps to verify that a command or function produces the correct output. It checks that the unexpected line does not appear in the output (default) or in a specific line of it. Matching can be literal (default), partial or regular expression. This function is the logical complement of assert_line.

Warning: Due to a bug in Bats, empty lines are discarded from ${lines[@]}, causing line indices to change and preventing testing for empty lines.

Looking for a line in the output

By default, the entire output is searched for the unexpected line. The assertion fails if the unexpected line is found in ${lines[@]}.

@test 'refute_line() looking for line' {
  run echo $'have-0\nwant\nhave-2'
  refute_line 'want'
}

On failure, the unexpected line, the index of its first match and the output with the matching line highlighted are displayed.

Warning: The output displayed does not contain empty lines. See the Warning above for more.

-- line should not be in output --
line  : want
index : 1
output (3 lines):
  have-0
> want
  have-2
--

If output is not longer than one line, it is displayed in two-column format.

Matching a specific line

When the --index <idx> option is used (-n <idx> for short), the unexpected line is matched only against the line identified by the given index. The assertion fails if the unexpected line equals ${lines[<idx>]}.

@test 'refute_line() specific line' {
  run echo $'have-0\nwant-1\nhave-2'
  refute_line --index 1 'want-1'
}

On failure, the index and the unexpected line are displayed.

-- line should differ --
index : 1
line  : want-1
--

Partial matching

Partial matching can be enabled with the --partial option (-p for short). When used, a match fails if the unexpected substring is found in the matched line.

@test 'refute_line() partial matching' {
  run echo $'have 1\nwant 2\nhave 3'
  refute_line --partial 'want'
}

On failure, in addition to the details of literal matching, the substring is also displayed. When used with --index <idx> the substring replaces the unexpected line.

-- no line should contain substring --
substring : want
index     : 1
output (3 lines):
  have 1
> want 2
  have 3
--

This option and regular expression matching (--regexp or -e) are mutually exclusive. An error is displayed when used simultaneously.

Regular expression matching

Regular expression matching can be enabled with the --regexp option (-e for short). When used, a match fails if the extended regular expression matches the line being tested.

Note: As expected, the anchors ^ and $ bind to the beginning and the end of the matched line, respectively.

@test 'refute_line() regular expression matching' {
  run echo $'Foobar v0.1.0\nRelease date: 2015-11-29'
  refute_line --index 0 --regexp '^Foobar v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]$'
}

On failure, in addition to the details of literal matching, the regular expression is also displayed. When used with --index <idx> the regular expression replaces the unexpected line.

-- regular expression should not match line --
index  : 0
regexp : ^Foobar v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]$
line   : Foobar v0.1.0
--

An error is displayed if the specified extended regular expression is invalid.

This option and partial matching (--partial or -p) are mutually exclusive. An error is displayed when used simultaneously.

assert_regex

This function is similar to assert_equal but uses pattern matching instead of equality, by wrapping [[ value =~ pattern ]].

Fail if the value (first parameter) does not match the pattern (second parameter).

@test 'assert_regex()' {
  assert_regex 'what' 'x$'
}

On failure, the value and the pattern are displayed.

-- values does not match regular expression --
value    : what
pattern  : x$
--

If the value is longer than one line then it is displayed in multi-line format.

An error is displayed if the specified extended regular expression is invalid.

For description of the matching behavior, refer to the documentation of the =~ operator in the [Bash manual]: https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/html_node/Conditional-Constructs.html. Note that the BASH_REMATCH array is available immediately after the assertion succeeds but is fragile, i.e. prone to being overwritten as a side effect of other actions.

refute_regex

This function is similar to refute_equal but uses pattern matching instead of equality, by wrapping ! [[ value =~ pattern ]].

Fail if the value (first parameter) matches the pattern (second parameter).

@test 'refute_regex()' {
  refute_regex 'WhatsApp' 'Threema'
}

On failure, the value, the pattern and the match are displayed.

@test 'refute_regex()' {
  refute_regex 'WhatsApp' 'What.'
}

-- value matches regular expression --
value    : WhatsApp
pattern  : What.
match    : Whats
case     : sensitive
--

If the value or pattern is longer than one line then it is displayed in multi-line format.

An error is displayed if the specified extended regular expression is invalid.

For description of the matching behavior, refer to the documentation of the =~ operator in the [Bash manual]: https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/html_node/Conditional-Constructs.html.

Note that the BASH_REMATCH array is available immediately after the assertion fails but is fragile, i.e. prone to being overwritten as a side effect of other actions like calling run. Thus, it's good practice to avoid using BASH_REMATCH in conjunction with refute_regex(). The valuable information the array contains is the matching part of the value which is printed in the failing test log, as mentioned above.