Test PHP headers with PHPUnit

Question

I'm trying to use PHPunit to test a class that outputs some custom headers.

The problem is that on my machine this:

<?php

class HeadersTest extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase {

    public function testHeaders()
    {
        ob_start();

        header('Location: foo');
        $headers_list = headers_list();
        header_remove();

        ob_clean();

        $this->assertContains('Location: foo', $headers_list);
    }
}

or even this:

<?php

class HeadersTest extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase {

    public function testHeaders()
    {
        ob_start();

        header('Location: foo');
        header_remove();

        ob_clean();
    }
}

return this error:

name@host [~/test]# phpunit --verbose HeadersTest.php 
PHPUnit 3.6.10 by Sebastian Bergmann.

E

Time: 0 seconds, Memory: 2.25Mb

There was 1 error:

1) HeadersTest::testHeaders
Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/local/lib/php/PHPUnit/Util/Printer.php:173)

/test/HeadersTest.php:9

FAILURES!
Tests: 1, Assertions: 0, Errors: 1.

This looks as if there is something else outputting to the terminal before the test runs even though there is no other file included and there is no other character before the beginning of the PHP tag. Could it be something inside PHPunit that is causing this?

What could the issue be?

Just wanted to cover this if there are some other people interested in this as well. headers_list() doesn't work while running PHPunit (which uses PHP CLI) but xdebug_get_headers() works instead. — titel
– titel, Commented Mar 18, 2012 at 17:26

b01 · Accepted Answer · 2017-07-21 15:47:25Z

136

The issue is that PHPUnit will print a header to the screen and at that point you can't add more headers.

The work around is to run the test in an isolated process. Here is an example

<?php

class FooTest extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
{
    /**
     * @runInSeparateProcess
     */
    public function testBar()
    {
        header('Location : http://foo.com');
    }
}

This will result in:

$ phpunit FooTest.php
PHPUnit 3.6.10 by Sebastian Bergmann.

.

Time: 1 second, Memory: 9.00Mb

OK (1 test, 0 assertions)

The key is the @runInSeparateProcess annotation.

If you are using PHPUnit ~4.1 or something and get the error:

PHP Fatal error:  Uncaught Error: Class 'PHPUnit_Util_Configuration' not found in -:378
Stack trace:
#0 {main}
  thrown in - on line 378

Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Class 'PHPUnit_Util_Configuration' not found in - on line 378

Error: Class 'PHPUnit_Util_Configuration' not found in - on line 378

Call Stack:
    0.0013     582512   1. {main}() -:0

Try add this to your bootstrap file to fix it:

<?php
if (!defined('PHPUNIT_COMPOSER_INSTALL')) {
    define('PHPUNIT_COMPOSER_INSTALL', __DIR__ . '/path/to/composer/vendors/dir/autoload.php');
}

edited Jul 21, 2017 at 15:47

b01

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answered Mar 17, 2012 at 0:36

SamHennessy

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13 Comments

Minhaz Over a year ago

this causes errors in there is some define() statements PHPUnit_Framework_Exception: Notice: Constant xyz already defined

SamHennessy Over a year ago

@mebjas That sounds unrelated.

t1gor Over a year ago

I got this when applied:

PHP Fatal error:  Uncaught exception 'Exception' with message 'Serialization of 'SplFileInfo' is not allowed' in phar:///usr/local/bin/phpunit/phpunit/Util/GlobalState.php:211

xarlymg89 Over a year ago

This is definitely the best option to solve the problem. It worked like a charm!

Shalom Sam Over a year ago

I had to use xdebug_get_headers(), to get the array of set headers. headers_list() global function did not work in my case.

|

Jon Cairns · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-30 12:03:42Z

112

Although running the test in a separate process does fix the problem, there's a noticeable overhead when running a large suite of tests.

My fix was to direct phpunit's output to stderr, like so:

phpunit --stderr <options>

That should fix the problem, and it also means that you don't have to create a wrapper function and replace all occurrences in your code.

answered May 30, 2012 at 12:03

Jon Cairns

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6 Comments

alexfernandez Over a year ago

Brilliant! No changes to my code, no separate processes, and it works.

spankmaster79 Over a year ago

but will I still see errors I made and get output of error_reporting(E_ALL) ??

Jon Cairns Over a year ago

@spankmaster79 yes, it will just go to your terminal's standard error. By default, most terminals will print standard out and standard error together, but they are actually separate streams.

th3n3rd Over a year ago

i was becoming made!!! tnx for this trick, it does make sense, errors should be reported to the stderror!!! Tnx

tszming Over a year ago

You can add stderr="true" in your phpunit.xml to save a few keystrokes.

|

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 11:47:09Z

20

As an aside: For me headers_list() kept returning 0 elements. I noticed @titel's comment on the question and figured it deserves special mention here:

Just wanted to cover this if there are some other people interested in this as well. headers_list() doesn't work while running PHPunit (which uses PHP CLI) but xdebug_get_headers() works instead.

HTH

edited May 23, 2017 at 11:47

CommunityBot

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answered Oct 6, 2016 at 9:29

Melle

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1 Comment

ggorlen Over a year ago

Error : Call to undefined function xdebug_get_headers() in PHPUnit 9.5.2

PepeNietnagel · Accepted Answer · 2017-06-12 20:30:10Z

7

As already mentioned in a comment, I think it's a better solution to define processIsolation in the XML config file like

     <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
     <phpunit
        processIsolation            = "true"
        // ... 
     >
     </phpunit>

Like this, you don't have to pass the --stderr option, which might irritate your co-workers.

answered Jun 12, 2017 at 20:30

PepeNietnagel

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2 Comments

Shi Over a year ago

It probably is better to define it just for the test that requires it. Setting it for all tests will just make running the tests slow.

Richard Smith Over a year ago

@Shi – How do you do that? The processIsolation attribute isn't allowed on the <testsuite> or <file> element.

Majid Golshadi · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-01 07:33:33Z

3

I had a more radical solution, in order to use $_SESSION inside my tested/included files. I edited one of the PHPUnit files at ../PHPUnit/Utils/Printer.php to have a "session_start();" before the command "print $buffer".

It worked for me like a charm. But I think "joonty" user's solution is the best of all up to now.

edited Jul 1, 2014 at 7:33

Majid Golshadi

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answered Nov 9, 2013 at 13:12

Sergio Abreu

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2 Comments

t1gor Over a year ago

Did you submit the pull-request in the repository? I guess this might be a common problem.

bumperbox Over a year ago

Thanks for the hint, I called session_start() in my phpunit bootstrap.php and it works for me

NSukonny · Accepted Answer · 2020-02-18 08:00:32Z

1

Use --stderr parameter for getting headers from PHPUnit after your tests.

phpunit --stderr

answered Feb 18, 2020 at 8:00

NSukonny

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Comments

Alaa Moneam · Accepted Answer · 2021-05-23 09:17:12Z

1

if you're using Laravel and you're adding some headers in route file

then you need to surround with headers_sent to ignore during tests

this is example:

if (!headers_sent()) {
    header('Access-Control-Allow-Methods: GET, POST, PATCH, PUT, DELETE, OPTIONS');
    header('Access-Control-Allow-Headers: Origin, Access-Control-Allow-Origin,  Content-Type, X-Authorization, Authorization, Accept,charset,boundary,Content-Length');
    header('Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *');
}

then try unit test again it will pass..

answered May 23, 2021 at 9:17

Alaa Moneam

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1 Comment

Dale Ryan Over a year ago

I was working on a laravel 5.4 application and noticed the same header calls in ./bootstrap/app.php. Tried that solution of yours and it works! No --stderr or @runInSeparateProcess flags needed.

AlexB · Accepted Answer · 2016-01-23 17:20:53Z

0

An alternative solution to @runInSeparateProcess is to specify the --process-isolation option when running PHPUnit:

name@host [~/test]# phpunit --process-isolation HeadersTest.php

That is analogous to set the processIsolation="true" option in phpunit.xml.

This solution has similar advantages/disadvantages to specifying the --stderr option, which however did not work in my case. Basically no code changes are necessary, even though there may be a performance hit due to running each test in a separate PHP process.

edited Jan 23, 2016 at 17:20

answered Jan 23, 2016 at 17:02

AlexB

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2 Comments

Shi Over a year ago

This might be a first step in tracking down the cause and doing some tests, but in order to create maintainable tests, just directly embed the annotation into the test file. The fewer 'special' options are required from command line, the easier the maintenance of a CI system configuration is.

f b Over a year ago

who ever downgraded #fail. this answer is correct as another option.

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