Visual Assert Beta 2 Released
The Beta 2 release of Visual Assert (formerly named cfix studio) is now available for download. The release marks a major step in the development of Visual Assert for that it not only comprises a number of bugfixes but also introduces major new features. The two most important certainly are support for EXE targets and Wizard assistance.
Support for EXE Targets
As announced in a previous post and also discussed in the post about the cfix 1.5 release, Visual Assert now fully supports unit tets emedded in EXE modules.
Previous releases required all unit tests to be compiled and linked into DLLs. In fact, the usage of DLLs has many advantages and therefore remains the recommended practice. However, for certain projects, such a requirement can turn out to be a true obstacle: Whenever the code to be tested is not exported from a DLL or part of a static library (LIB), accessing this code from within such a test DLL could become quite a challenge.
The fact that Visual Assert Beta 2 now fully supports EXE modules means the following: You can now place your unit tests wherever you think they fit best. Whether they are part of a DLL or an EXE, whether you create separate “unit test” projects or intermingle your test code with other code – it is now all up to you. Wherever you placed your tests, Visual Assert will find them and will provide a consistent user experience.
And the best part of the support for EXE modules is that it is totally non-intrusive: You do not have to change your main/WinMain function, much less any other code or build settings. And when run “outside” Visual Assert, i.e. launched directly or in the Visual Studio Debugger, the application will behave as normal.
Needless to say, the cfix 1.5 command line test runners, cfix32.exe and cfix64.exe also have been updated to properly deal with EXE modules.
The Wizard
Although neither the WinUnit API nor the cfix C and C++ API require much boilerplate code to be written, there still is some amount of code that more or less all unit tests share. Thanks to the new Wizard, you can now have Visual Assert generate this code for you. This really helps creating new fixtures more quickly!
Download, Try it, Share Your Opinion
Of course, using the new Beta version is free. So whether you are a full time tester or a unit testing sceptic, download the new release and try it by yourself. And of course, your feedback, both positive and negative, is always welcome and can be posted here.