Unit Testing

Spectre.Console has a separate project that contains test harnesses for unit testing your own console applications.

The fastest way of getting started is to install the Spectre.Console.Testing NuGet package.

> dotnet add package Spectre.Console.Testing

Spectre.Console.Testing is also the namespace containing the test classes.

Testing console behaviour

TestConsole and TestConsoleInput are testable implementations of IAnsiConsole and IAnsiConsoleInput, allowing you fine-grain control over testing console output and interactivity.

The following example renders some widgets before then validating the console output:

    [TestMethod]
    public void Should_Render_Panel()
    {
        // Given
        var console = new TestConsole();

        // When
        console.Write(new Panel(new Text("Hello World")));

        // Then
        Assert.AreEqual(console.Output, """"
┌─────────────┐
│ Hello World │
└─────────────┘

"""");
    }

While Assert is fine for validating simple output, more complex output may benefit from a tool like Verify.

The following example prompts the user for input before then validating the expected choice was made:

    [TestMethod]
    public void Should_Select_Orange()
    {
        // Given
        var console = new TestConsole();
        console.Input.PushTextWithEnter("Orange");

        // When
        console.Prompt(
            new TextPrompt<string>("Favorite fruit?")
                .AddChoice("Banana")
                .AddChoice("Orange"));

        // Then
        Assert.AreEqual(console.Output, "Favorite fruit? [Banana/Orange]: Orange\n");
    }