NAME

       Test::ClassAPI - Provides basic first-pass API testing for large class trees

VERSION

       version 1.07

DESCRIPTION

       For many APIs with large numbers of classes, it can be very useful to be able to do a quick once-over to
       make sure that classes, methods, and inheritance is correct, before doing more comprehensive testing.
       This module aims to provide such a capability.

   Using Test::ClassAPI
       Test::ClassAPI is used with a fairly standard looking test script, with the API description contained in
       a __DATA__ section at the end of the script.

         #!/usr/bin/perl

         # Test the API for Foo::Bar
         use strict;
         use Test::More 'tests' => 123; # Optional
         use Test::ClassAPI;

         # Load the API to test
         use Foo::Bar;

         # Execute the tests
         Test::ClassAPI->execute;

         __DATA__

         Foo::Bar::Thing=interface
         Foo::Bar::Object=abstract
         Foo::Bar::Planet=class

         [Foo::Bar::Thing]
         foo=method

         [Foo::Bar::Object]
         bar=method
         whatsit=method

         [Foo::Bar::Planet]
         Foo::Bar::Object=isa
         Foo::Bar::Thing=isa
         blow_up=method
         freeze=method
         thaw=method

       Looking at the test script, the code itself is fairly simple. We first load Test::More and
       Test::ClassAPI. The loading and specification of a test plan is optional, Test::ClassAPI will provide a
       plan automatically if needed.

       This is followed by a compulsory __DATA__ section, containing the API description. This description is in
       provided in the general form of a Windows style .ini file and is structured as follows.

   Class Manifest
       At the beginning of the file, in the root section of the config file, is a list of entries where the key
       represents a class name, and the value is one of either 'class', 'abstract', or 'interface'.

       The 'class' entry indicates a fully fledged class. That is, the class is tested to ensure it has been
       loaded, and the existance of every method listed in the section ( and its superclasses ) is tested for.

       The 'abstract' entry indicates an abstract class, one which is part of our class tree, and needs to
       exist, but is never instantiated directly, and thus does not have to itself implement all of the methods
       listed for it. Generally, many individual 'class' entries will inherit from an 'abstract', and thus a
       method listed in the abstract's section will be tested for in all the subclasses of it.

       The 'interface' entry indicates an external interface that is not part of our class tree, but is
       inherited from by one or more of our classes, and thus the methods listed in the interface's section are
       tested for in all the classes that inherit from it. For example, if a class inherits from, and
       implements, the File::Handle interface, a "File::Handle=interface" entry could be added, with the
       "[File::Handle]" section listing all the methods in File::Handle that our class tree actually cares
       about. No tests, for class or method existance, are done on the interface itself.

   Class Sections
       Every class listed in the class manifest MUST have an individual section, indicated by "[Class::Name]"
       and containing a set of entries where the key is the name of something to test, and the value is the type
       of test for it.

       The 'isa' test checks inheritance, to make sure that the class the section is for is (by some path) a
       sub-class of something else. This does not have to be an immediate sub-class. Any class refered to
       (recursively) in a 'isa' test will have its 'method' test entries applied to the class as well.

       The 'method' test is a simple method existance test, using "UNIVERSAL::can" to make sure that the method
       exists in the class.

METHODS

   execute
       The "Test::ClassAPI" has a single method, "execute" which is used to start the testing process. It
       accepts a single option argument, 'complete', which indicates to the testing process that the API listed
       should be considered a complete list of the entire API. This enables an additional test for each class to
       ensure that every public method in the class is detailed in the API description, and that nothing has
       been "missed".

SUPPORT

       Bugs may be submitted through the RT bug tracker <https://rt.cpan.org/Public/Dist/Display.html?Name=Test-
       ClassAPI> (or bug-Test-ClassAPI@rt.cpan.org <mailto:bug-Test-ClassAPI@rt.cpan.org>).

AUTHOR

       Adam Kennedy <adamk@cpan.org>

CONTRIBUTORS

       •   Adam Kennedy <adam@ali.as>

       •   Karen Etheridge <ether@cpan.org>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

       This software is copyright (c) 2003 by Adam Kennedy.

       This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as the Perl 5
       programming language system itself.