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+= MigrationTestHelper
+
+MigrationTestHelper provides methods which let you assert the current state of the schema and run your migrations against the _test_ database.
+
+== Install
+
+  ./script/plugin install svn://rubyforge.org/var/svn/migrationtest/tags/migration_test_helper
+
+OR
+
+  gem install migration_test_helper
+
+
+If you're using it outside of a Rails environment (for whatever reason) include the MigrationTestHelper module in your tests:
+
+  require 'test/unit'
+  require 'migration_test_helper'
+
+  class MyTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
+    include MigrationTestHelper
+    
+    def test_something
+      ...
+    end
+  end
+
+== Use
+
+*assert_schema*: verifies the schema of the database exactly matches the one specified.
+
+  def test_the_schema
+    assert_schema do |s|
+      s.table :books do |t|
+        t.column :id,     :integer
+        t.column :title,  :string, :limit => 5
+        t.column :author, :string
+      end
+
+      s.table :reviews do |t|
+        t.column :id,      :integer
+        t.column :book_id, :integer
+        t.column :body,    :text
+        t.column :rating,  :integer, :default => 0
+        t.index  :book_id, :name => 'index_book_id_on_reviews'
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+This would verify there are only two tables defined in the test database: _books_ and _reviews_ (schema_info is ignored).  It will also verify that the _book_ table has the three columns, _id_, _title_ and _author_, each with their respective types. Indexes are verified too.
+
+
+*assert_table*: verify a table is found exactly as specified:
+
+  assert_table :books do |t|
+    t.column :id,     :integer
+    t.column :title,  :string, :limit => 5
+    t.column :author, :string
+    t.index  :author, :name => 'index_author_on_books'
+  end
+
+
+*drop_all_tables*: does just what it says to your _test_ database.
+
+
+*migrate*: executes the migrations against the test database using the same mechanism as rake db:migrate.
+
+  def test_the_migrations
+    migrate
+    migrate :version => 0
+    migrate :version => 10
+    migrate
+  end
+  
+
+This would do the same thing as running the following rake commands, but within a test case:
+
+  rake db:migrate
+  rake db:migrate VERSION=0
+  rake db:migrate VERSION=10
+  rake db:migrate
+  
+
+By combining the two helpers you can write a test that shows you can run all your migrations and get the final schema:
+
+  def test_should_be_able_to_migrate_from_an_empty_schema
+    drop_all_tables
+
+    # we shouldn't have any tables
+    assert_schema do |s|
+    end
+
+    migrate  
+
+    assert_schema do |s|
+      s.table :books do |t|
+        t.column :id,     :integer
+        t.column :title,  :string
+        t.column :author, :string
+      end
+
+      s.table :reviews do |t|
+        t.column :id,      :integer
+        t.column :book_id, :integer
+        t.column :body,    :text
+        t.column :rating,  :integer
+        t.index  :book_id, :name => 'index_book_id_on_reviews'
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+
+The *migrate* helper can also be useful for testing data tranformation migrations:
+
+  def test_should_get_rid_of_bad_data
+    drop_all_tables
+    migrate :version => 7
+    Book.reset_column_information
+    book = Book.create! :title => "bad title\nwith\todd    spacing"
+    migrate :version => 8 # should cleanse spacing in book titles
+    book.reload
+    assert_equal "bad title with odd spacing", book.title
+  end