#PhpSpec Laravel Extension

PhpSpec Extension for testing Laravel applications.

##Why this extension?

This extension allows you to test your objects and classes as you would normally with PhpSpec, but gives you a Laravel application context to test within, so that you can continue to make use of Laravel's nice features.

In detail,

it:

• Bootstraps the Laravel environment, so that you can use class aliases across your application without running into to testing trouble, and so that you can make use of Laravel's environment configuration for your testing environment. You will also continue to be able to use Laravel's helper functions across your codebase
• Allows you to test your Eloquent models, which I ran into difficulty with before writing this extension
• Provides a few extra Laravel-specific PhpSpec matchers to make testing your application code more straightforward

and

it is not:

• A swap-in replacement for Laravel's built in PHPUnit setup. If you'd like functional tests, please use that, Behat, or Codeception

##Installation

Add this to your composer.json:

{
    "require": {
        "benconstable/phpspec-laravel": "~1.0"
    }
}

then add this to your phpspec.yml:

extensions:
    - PhpSpec\Laravel\Extension\LaravelExtension

##Configuration

###Testing environment

By default, the extension bootstraps Laravel in the testing environment. You can change this to production (or whatever you like) by setting:

laravel_extension:
    testing_environment: 'production'

in your phpspec.yml.

###Database migration

If you'd like your database migrations to be run before each spec, you can specify:

laravel_extension:
    migrate_db: true

This is useful if you'd like to make use of a SQLite in-memory database for any Eloquent model tests (see here for how you'd set this up).

####Seeding

If you're running migrations, you can also specify that you'd like your database to be seeded:

laravel_extension:
    migrate_db: true
    seed_db: true
    seed_class: 'DatabaseSeeder'

seed_class is optional, and defaults to DatabaseSeeder. If you are using a custom seed class, be sure to add the fully qualified namespace (e.g My\Custom\Seeder)

###Laravel path

By default, the extension will look for the Laravel framework files in the directory above the vendor/ dir, like so:

- app/
- bootstrap/
- public/
- vendor/
- phpspec.yml

This is the default layout of a Laravel project. However, you can manually specify the path to the Laravel framework files like so:

laravel_extension:
    framework_path: "/shared/laravel/install"

You can specify either an absolute path (use leading slash), or a path relative to the vendor/ directory. For example, a relative path setting for the default install location would be as follows:

laravel_extension:
    framework_path: ".." # Read like vendor/../

##Usage

###General testing

You should test your regular classes by extending the PhpSpec\Laravel\LaravelObjectBehavior class:

<?php namespace spec;

use PhpSpec\Laravel\LaravelObjectBehavior;

class MyClassSpec extends LaravelObjectBehavior {

    // Test code here...
}

###Testing Eloquent models

You should test your Eloquent models by extending the PhpSpec\Laravel\EloquentModelBehavior class:

<?php namespace spec;

use PhpSpec\Laravel\EloquentModelBehavior;

class MyPostModelSpec extends EloquentModelBehavior {

    public function it_should_have_comments()
    {
        $this->comments()->shouldDefineRelationship('hasMany', 'Comment');
    }
}

###Accessing the IoC container

You shouldn't need to, but just in case, the booted Laravel IoC container can be accessed like:

<?php

$this->laravel->app['variable'];

in your specs.

##Custom Matchers

Some custom matchers are provided for convenience, feel free to ignore them completely!

###DefineRelationshipMatcher

This matcher lets you check for the existence of a valid Eloquent relationship.

####Usage

should[Not]DefineRelationship('relationshipType', 'Related\Class')

Example

<?php namespace spec;

use PhpSpec\Laravel\EloquentModelBehavior;

class MyPostModelSpec extends EloquentModelBehavior {

    public function it_should_have_comments()
    {
        $this->comments()->shouldDefineRelationship('hasMany', 'Comment');
    }
}

##Roadmap

• Improved code generation for Laravel

##Further reading

The following articles/websites have been useful to me when developing this extension:

• This open issue on the PHPSpec repo was a good help and is an interesting read
• Taylor Otwell's video on DI and unit testing in Laravel
• Laracasts has a few posts and guides on PHPSpec and Laravel
• This tutorial has some useful information on setting up your database for testing