ACAT Testing Quick Reference

Version: 1.0 | Target: Developers | Updated: February 2026

🎯 Test Types

Type	Speed	Dependencies	Use For
Unit	Fast (<100ms)	Mocked	Single components
Integration	Medium (<5s)	Real/Mixed	Component interaction
Performance	Varies	Real	Performance validation

📦 Setup

1. Add Reference

<ProjectReference Include="..\ACATCore.Tests.Shared\ACATCore.Tests.Shared.csproj" />
<PackageReference Include="Moq" Version="4.20.72" />

2. Inherit BaseTest

[TestClass]
public class MyTests : BaseTest { }

🔨 Common Patterns

Unit Test (AAA Pattern)

[TestMethod]
[TestCategory("Unit")]
public void Method_Scenario_ExpectedBehavior()
{
    // Arrange
    var mock = MockHelper.CreateMockLogger<MyClass>();
    var sut = new MyClass(mock.Object);
    
    // Act
    var result = sut.DoWork();
    
    // Assert
    Assert.IsNotNull(result);
    MockHelper.VerifyLoggerCalled(mock, LogLevel.Information);
}

Integration Test

[TestMethod]
[TestCategory("Integration")]
public void Integration_Scenario_ExpectedBehavior()
{
    using (var workspace = new TestWorkspace("MyTest"))
    {
        // Arrange
        workspace.CreateFile("config.json", "{}");
        var service = new MyService(workspace.WorkspaceRoot);
        
        // Act
        var result = service.Process();
        
        // Assert
        Assert.IsTrue(workspace.FileExists("output.txt"));
    }
}

Performance Test

[TestMethod]
[TestCategory("Performance")]
public void Performance_LargeDataset_CompletesQuickly()
{
    var data = TestDataGenerator.RandomList(() => new Item(), 10000);
    
    AssertCompletesWithin(() =>
    {
        processor.ProcessAll(data);
    }, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1), "10K items in <1s");
}

🎭 Mocking

Create Mocks

// Simple mock
var mock = MockHelper.CreateMockLogger<MyClass>();

// Capturing mock
var messages = new List<string>();
var mock = MockHelper.CreateCapturingLogger<MyClass>(messages);

// Strict mock (throws on unexpected calls)
var mock = MockHelper.CreateStrictMock<IMyInterface>();

Setup & Verify

// Setup
mock.Setup(x => x.Method(It.IsAny<string>())).Returns("result");

// Verify
MockHelper.VerifyLoggerCalled(mock, LogLevel.Information);
MockHelper.VerifyLoggerCalledWithMessage(mock, "expected");
mock.Verify(x => x.Method("value"), Times.Once);

📊 Test Data

Random Data

string name = TestDataGenerator.RandomString(10);
int value = TestDataGenerator.RandomInt(1, 100);
bool flag = TestDataGenerator.RandomBool();
string guid = TestDataGenerator.RandomGuid();
string item = TestDataGenerator.RandomItem("A", "B", "C");
var list = TestDataGenerator.RandomList(() => new Item(), 10);

Builder Pattern

public class MyDataBuilder : TestDataBuilder<MyData>
{
    private string _name = "Default";
    
    public MyDataBuilder WithName(string name)
    {
        _name = name;
        return this;
    }
    
    public override MyData Build()
    {
        return new MyData { Name = _name };
    }
    
    public override void Reset()
    {
        _name = "Default";
    }
}

// Usage
var data = new MyDataBuilder().WithName("Test").Build();

✅ Assertions

Collections

AssertHelper.CollectionContainsExactly(items, "A", "B", "C");
AssertHelper.CollectionContainsAll(items, "A", "B");
AssertHelper.CollectionDoesNotContain(items, "X", "Y");

Strings

AssertHelper.StringContains(text, "substring");
AssertHelper.StringDoesNotContain(text, "bad");
AssertHelper.StringStartsWith(text, "prefix");
AssertHelper.StringEndsWith(text, "suffix");

Ranges & Numbers

AssertHelper.InRange(value, 1, 100);
AssertHelper.DoubleClose(actual, expected, 0.001);
AssertHelper.DateTimeClose(actual, expected, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1));

Predicates

AssertHelper.All(items, x => x.IsValid);
AssertHelper.Any(items, x => x.IsSpecial);
AssertHelper.None(items, x => x.IsDeleted);

Exceptions & Timing

AssertThrows<ArgumentNullException>(() => Method(null));
AssertNoThrow(() => Method(validArg));
AssertCompletesWithin(() => LongOperation(), TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5));

📂 File Management

BaseTest - Temporary Files

// Automatic TestDirectory created/cleaned up
string file = CreateTempFile("test.txt", "content");
string dir = CreateTempDirectory("subdir");

TestWorkspace - Integration Tests

using (var workspace = new TestWorkspace("TestName"))
{
    // Create
    workspace.CreateDirectory("configs");
    workspace.CreateFile("configs/settings.json", "{}");
    
    // Check
    bool exists = workspace.FileExists("configs/settings.json");
    
    // Read
    string content = workspace.ReadFile("configs/settings.json");
    
    // Get path
    string fullPath = workspace.GetPath("configs");
    
    // List files
    var files = workspace.GetFiles("*.json");
    
    // Auto cleanup on dispose
}

🔍 Test Context

Logging

WriteTestInfo("Important information");
WriteTestDebug("Debug details");
WriteTestWarning("Warning message");

Performance

// Stopwatch automatically started
var elapsed = Stopwatch.ElapsedMilliseconds;

// Measure specific operation
var duration = MeasureTime(() => Operation());

🏃 Running Tests

Command Line

# All tests
dotnet test

# Specific project
dotnet test Libraries/ACATCore.Tests.Logging/

# By category
dotnet test --filter "TestCategory=Unit"
dotnet test --filter "TestCategory=Integration"

# By name
dotnet test --filter "FullyQualifiedName~ActuatorSettings"

# Detailed output
dotnet test --logger "console;verbosity=detailed"

# Specific configuration
dotnet test --configuration Release

Visual Studio

Open Test Explorer: Test → Test Explorer (Ctrl+E, T)
Build solution: Ctrl+Shift+B
Run All: Click "Run All" button
Run Selected: Right-click → Run Selected Tests
Debug: Right-click → Debug Selected Tests

📝 Naming Conventions

Test Projects

Pattern: [Component].Tests.[Category]

ACATCore.Tests.Logging
ACATCore.Tests.Configuration
ACATCore.Tests.Integration

Test Classes

Pattern: [ComponentName]Tests

ActuatorSettingsTests
LoggingInfrastructureTests
ConfigurationServiceTests

Test Methods

Pattern: [Method]_[Scenario]_[ExpectedBehavior]

LoadConfiguration_ValidFile_ReturnsConfiguration
ValidateSettings_EmptyList_ThrowsException
SerializeJson_DefaultSettings_ProducesValidJson

🏷️ Test Categories

[TestCategory("Unit")]        // Fast, isolated unit tests
[TestCategory("Integration")] // Component interaction tests
[TestCategory("Performance")] // Performance validation tests
[TestCategory("Smoke")]       // Quick smoke tests

Filter by category:

dotnet test --filter "TestCategory=Unit"
dotnet test --filter "TestCategory=Integration"

🚫 Common Mistakes

❌ Don't

// Shared state between tests
private static Data _data;

// Tests depending on order
[TestMethod] public void Test1() { /* modifies state */ }
[TestMethod] public void Test2() { /* depends on Test1 */ }

// No assertions
[TestMethod] public void Test() { Method(); } // No assert!

// Testing multiple things
[TestMethod] public void TestEverything() { /* 20 assertions */ }

✅ Do

// Each test creates its own data
[TestMethod] public void Test1()
{
    var data = CreateTestData();
    // test code
}

// Independent tests
[TestMethod] public void Method_Scenario1_Behavior1() { }
[TestMethod] public void Method_Scenario2_Behavior2() { }

// Clear assertions
[TestMethod]
public void Method_Scenario_ExpectedBehavior()
{
    var result = Method();
    Assert.AreEqual(expected, result, "Clear message");
}

// Test one thing
[TestMethod]
public void LoadConfig_ValidFile_ReturnsConfiguration()
{
    var config = loader.Load("valid.json");
    Assert.IsNotNull(config);
}

📚 Documentation

Comprehensive Guides:

TESTING_INFRASTRUCTURE.md - Full infrastructure guide
TESTING_MIGRATION_GUIDE.md - Migration guide
ACATCore.Tests.Shared README - Library docs

Examples:

ExampleTests.cs - Usage examples
TESTING_GUIDE.md - Configuration tests

Project Docs:

QUICK_START_INTEGRATION_TESTS.md - Quick start
INDEX.md - Consolidated documentation index

💡 Tips

Inherit BaseTest - Automatic setup/cleanup
Use TestWorkspace - Isolated file operations
Mock dependencies - Fast, reliable tests
Test one thing - Single responsibility
Clear names - Self-documenting tests
Add categories - Enable filtering
Write tests first - TDD approach
Keep tests fast - Quick feedback loop

🆘 Help

Questions? See comprehensive docs above or contact ACAT dev team.

Issues? Check Troubleshooting section.

Last Updated: February 2026 | Version: 1.0

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