MSTest - Hide some unit tests from build server

Question

I have three unit tests that cannot pass when run from the build server—they rely on the login credentials of the user who is running the tests.

Is there any way (attribute???) I can hide these three tests from the build server, and run all the others?

Our build-server expert tells me that generating a vsmdi file that excludes those tests will do the trick, but I'm not sure how to do that.

I know I can just put those three tests into a new project, and have our build-server admin explicitly exclude it, but I'd really love to be able to just use a simple attribute on the offending tests.

David Yaw · Accepted Answer · 2011-05-19 14:58:12Z

35

You can tag the tests with a category, and then run tests based on category.

[TestCategory("RequiresLoginCredentials")]
public void TestMethod() { ... }

When you run mstest, you can specify /category:"!RequiresLoginCredentials"

edited May 19, 2011 at 14:58

answered May 19, 2011 at 14:50

David Yaw

28.1k5 gold badges65 silver badges95 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

3 Comments

Mike Two Over a year ago

That's how I do it in NUnit too.

Adam Rackis Over a year ago

Perfect answer. Just one small thing: are you sure it's not TestCategory, instead of Category?

Adam Rackis Over a year ago

David, here's a closely-related follow-up question, if you're interested: stackoverflow.com/questions/6061282/…

pickypg · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-12 17:34:14Z

3

There is an IgnoreAttribute. The post also lists the other approaches.

edited Nov 12, 2012 at 17:34

answered May 19, 2011 at 14:50

pickypg

22.4k5 gold badges75 silver badges85 bronze badges

Comments

Ygalbel · Accepted Answer · 2016-07-06 15:28:51Z

3

Others answers are old.

In modern visual studio (2012 and above), tests run with vstest and not mstest.

New command line parameter is /TestCaseFilter:"TestCategory!=Nightly" as explained in this article.

answered Jul 6, 2016 at 15:28

Ygalbel

5,5491 gold badge27 silver badges33 bronze badges

Comments

Stecya · Accepted Answer · 2011-05-19 14:52:19Z

2

Open Test->Windows->Test List Editor.

There you can include / hide tests

answered May 19, 2011 at 14:52

Stecya

23.3k10 gold badges76 silver badges102 bronze badges

Comments

Gershon Sherman · Accepted Answer · 2013-07-01 13:57:50Z

1

I figured out how to filter the tests by category in the build definition of VS 2012. I couldn't find this information anywhere else.

in the Test Case Filter field under Test Source, under Automated Tests, under the Build process parameters, in the Process tab you need to write TestCategory=MyTestCategory (no quotes anywhere)

Then in the test source file you need to add the TestCategory attribute. I have seen a few ways to do this but what works for me is adding it in the same attribute as the TestMethod as follows.

[TestCategory("MyTestCategory"), TestMethod()]

Here you do need the quotes

edited Jul 1, 2013 at 13:57

answered Jun 25, 2013 at 8:48

Gershon Sherman

113 bronze badges

Comments

serop · Accepted Answer · 2014-12-08 20:45:28Z

1

When I run unit tests from VS build definition (which is not exactly MSTest), in the Criteria tab of Automated Tests property I specify:

TestCategory!=MyTestCategory

All tests with category MyTestCategory got skipped.

answered Dec 8, 2014 at 20:45

serop

1,17812 silver badges13 bronze badges

Comments

mberube.Net · Accepted Answer · 2014-12-08 21:23:39Z

1

My preferred way to do that is to have 2 kinds of test projects in my solution : one for unit tests which can be executed from any context and should always pass and another one with integration tests that require a particular context to run properly (user credential, database, web services etc.). My test projects are using a naming convention (ex : businessLogic.UnitTests vs businessLogic.IntegrationTests) and I configure my build server to only run unit tests (*.UnitTests). This way, I don't have to comment IgnoreAttributes if I want to run the Integration Tests and I found it easier than editing test list.

answered Dec 8, 2014 at 21:23

mberube.Net

2,1902 gold badges31 silver badges41 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

MSTest - Hide some unit tests from build server

7 Answers 7

3 Comments

Comments

Comments

Comments

Comments

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

7 Answers 7

3 Comments

Comments

Comments

Comments

Comments

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related