How can we run a test method with multiple parameters in MSTest?

Question

NUnit has a feature called Values, like below:

[Test]
public void MyTest(
    [Values(1,2,3)] int x,
    [Values("A","B")] string s)
{
    // ...
}

This means that the test method will run six times:

MyTest(1, "A")
MyTest(1, "B")
MyTest(2, "A")
MyTest(2, "B")
MyTest(3, "A")
MyTest(3, "B")

We're using MSTest now, but is there any equivalent for this so that I can run the same test with multiple parameters?

[TestMethod]
public void Mytest()
{
    // ...
}

Answer 1

EDIT 4: Looks like this is completed in MSTest V2 June 17, 2016: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/visualstudioalm/2016/06/17/taking-the-mstest-framework-forward-with-mstest-v2/

Original Answer:

As of about a week ago in Visual Studio 2012 Update 1 something similar is now possible:

[DataTestMethod]
[DataRow(12,3,4)]
[DataRow(12,2,6)]
[DataRow(12,4,3)]
public void DivideTest(int n, int d, int q)
{
  Assert.AreEqual( q, n / d );
}

EDIT: It appears this is only available within the unit testing project for WinRT/Metro. Bummer

EDIT 2: The following is the metadata found using "Go To Definition" within Visual Studio:

#region Assembly Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestPlatform.UnitTestFramework.dll, v11.0.0.0
// C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v8.0\ExtensionSDKs\MSTestFramework\11.0\References\CommonConfiguration\neutral\Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestPlatform.UnitTestFramework.dll
#endregion

using System;

namespace Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestPlatform.UnitTestFramework
{
    [AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Method, AllowMultiple = false)]
    public class DataTestMethodAttribute : TestMethodAttribute
    {
        public DataTestMethodAttribute();

        public override TestResult[] Execute(ITestMethod testMethod);
    }
}

EDIT 3: This issue was brought up in Visual Studio's UserVoice forums. Last Update states:

STARTED · Visual Studio Team ADMIN Visual Studio Team (Product Team, Microsoft Visual Studio) responded · April 25, 2016 Thank you for the feedback. We have started working on this.

Pratap Lakshman Visual Studio

https://visualstudio.uservoice.com/forums/330519-team-services/suggestions/3865310-allow-use-of-datatestmethod-datarow-in-all-unit

Answer 2

This feature is in pre-release now and works with Visual Studio 2015.

For example:

[TestClass]
public class UnitTest1
{
    [TestMethod]
    [DataRow(1, 2, 2)]
    [DataRow(2, 3, 5)]
    [DataRow(3, 5, 8)]
    public void AdditionTest(int a, int b, int result)
    {
        Assert.AreEqual(result, a + b);
    }
}

Answer 3

It is unfortunately not supported in older versions of MSTest. Apparently there is an extensibility model and you can implement it yourself. Another option would be to use data-driven tests.

My personal opinion would be to just stick with NUnit though...

As of Visual Studio 2012, update 1, MSTest has a similar feature. See McAden's answer.

Answer 4

Not exactly the same as NUnit's Value (or TestCase) attributes, but MSTest has the DataSource attribute, which allows you to do a similar thing.

You can hook it up to database or XML file - it is not as straightforward as NUnit's feature, but it does the job.

Answer 5

MSTest has a powerful attribute called DataSource. Using this you can perform data-driven tests as you asked. You can have your test data in XML, CSV, or in a database. Here are few links that will guide you

• Unit Testing with VSTS 2008 (Part 3)
• How To: Create a Data-Driven Unit Test
• Walkthrough: Using a Configuration File to Define a Data Source

Answer 6

It's very simple to implement - you should use TestContext property and TestPropertyAttribute.

Example

public TestContext TestContext { get; set; }
private List<string> GetProperties()
{
    return TestContext.Properties
        .Cast<KeyValuePair<string, object>>()
        .Where(_ => _.Key.StartsWith("par"))
        .Select(_ => _.Value as string)
        .ToList();
}

//usage
[TestMethod]
[TestProperty("par1", "http://getbootstrap.com/components/")]
[TestProperty("par2", "http://www.wsj.com/europe")]
public void SomeTest()
{
    var pars = GetProperties();
    //...
}

EDIT:

I prepared few extension methods to simplify access to the TestContext property and act like we have several test cases. See example with processing simple test properties here:

[TestMethod]
[TestProperty("fileName1", @".\test_file1")]
[TestProperty("fileName2", @".\test_file2")]
[TestProperty("fileName3", @".\test_file3")]
public void TestMethod3()
{
    TestContext.GetMany<string>("fileName").ForEach(fileName =>
    {
        //Arrange
        var f = new FileInfo(fileName);

        //Act
        var isExists = f.Exists;

        //Asssert
        Assert.IsFalse(isExists);
    });
}

and example with creating complex test objects:

[TestMethod]
//Case 1
[TestProperty(nameof(FileDescriptor.FileVersionId), "673C9C2D-A29E-4ACC-90D4-67C52FBA84E4")]
//...
public void TestMethod2()
{
    //Arrange
    TestContext.For<FileDescriptor>().Fill(fi => fi.FileVersionId).Fill(fi => fi.Extension).Fill(fi => fi.Name).Fill(fi => fi.CreatedOn, new CultureInfo("en-US", false)).Fill(fi => fi.AccessPolicy)
        .ForEach(fileInfo =>
        {
            //Act
            var fileInfoString = fileInfo.ToString();

            //Assert
            Assert.AreEqual($"Id: {fileInfo.FileVersionId}; Ext: {fileInfo.Extension}; Name: {fileInfo.Name}; Created: {fileInfo.CreatedOn}; AccessPolicy: {fileInfo.AccessPolicy};", fileInfoString);
        });
}

Take a look to the extension methods and set of samples for more details.

Answer 7

I couldn't get The DataRowAttribute to work in Visual Studio 2015, and this is what I ended up with:

[TestClass]
public class Tests
{
    private Foo _toTest;

    [TestInitialize]
    public void Setup()
    {
        this._toTest = new Foo();
    }

    [TestMethod]
    public void ATest()
    {
        this.Perform_ATest(1, 1, 2);
        this.Setup();

        this.Perform_ATest(100, 200, 300);
        this.Setup();

        this.Perform_ATest(817001, 212, 817213);
        this.Setup();
    }

    private void Perform_ATest(int a, int b, int expected)
    {
        // Obviously this would be way more complex...

        Assert.IsTrue(this._toTest.Add(a,b) == expected);
    }
}

public class Foo
{
    public int Add(int a, int b)
    {
        return a + b;
    }
}

The real solution here is to just use NUnit (unless you're stuck in MSTest like I am in this particular instance).

Answer 8

There is, of course, another way to do this which has not been discussed in this thread, i.e. by way of inheritance of the class containing the TestMethod. In the following example, only one TestMethod has been defined but two test cases have been made.

In Visual Studio 2012, it creates two tests in the TestExplorer:

1. DemoTest_B10_A5.test

2. DemoTest_A12_B4.test

   public class Demo
   {
       int a, b;
   
       public Demo(int _a, int _b)
       {
           this.a = _a;
           this.b = _b;
       }
   
       public int Sum()
       {
           return this.a + this.b;
       }
   }
   
   public abstract class DemoTestBase
   {
       Demo objUnderTest;
       int expectedSum;
   
       public DemoTestBase(int _a, int _b, int _expectedSum)
       {
           objUnderTest = new Demo(_a, _b);
           this.expectedSum = _expectedSum;
       }
   
       [TestMethod]
       public void test()
       {
           Assert.AreEqual(this.expectedSum, this.objUnderTest.Sum());
       }
   }
   
   [TestClass]
   public class DemoTest_A12_B4 : DemoTestBase
   {
       public DemoTest_A12_B4() : base(12, 4, 16) { }
   }
   
   public abstract class DemoTest_B10_Base : DemoTestBase
   {
       public DemoTest_B10_Base(int _a) : base(_a, 10, _a + 10) { }
   }
   
   [TestClass]
   public class DemoTest_B10_A5 : DemoTest_B10_Base
   {
       public DemoTest_B10_A5() : base(5) { }
   }
   

Answer 9

MSTest does not support that feature, but you can implement your own attribute to achieve that.

Have a look at Enabling parameterized tests in MSTest using PostSharp.