How to change database connection on the fly for PhpUnit tests.

Question

I am working on a Magento 1.4.1 project, and I want to use PhpUnit to test my models.

I am able to run my PhpUnit test using the default connection, but I want to use a different database connection than the one I use to test the interface.

What I would like to know (if its possible):

1. Is there a way to select a different connection for my models before I run all my tests;

2. Can I just add a connection in my local.xml like this:

       <phpunit_setup>
           <connection>
               <host><![CDATA[localhost]]></host>
               <username><![CDATA[username]]></username>
               <password><![CDATA[password]]></password>
               <dbname><![CDATA[dbname]]></dbname>
               <active>1</active>
           </connection>
       </phpunit_setup>
   

   if yes, how do I access it.

thanks.

Answer 1

Maybe there is another solution, but I found out that we can change the "etc_dir" when we lauch the application.

1. I copied the "app/etc/local.xml" and "app/etc/config.xml" to a newly created folder "tests/etc/";
2. I changed this database configuration to what I needed;
3. I made a symbolic link in "tests/etc/" to point to "app/etc/modules" (A copy is not recommended);
4. Finaly I passed the defaults parameters and the "etc_dir" to the "Mage::app()" method in a file "tests/helper.php" that is executed to setup my tests (include path, white list for code coverage).

It looked like this.

Before "tests/helper.php"

...
// Start Magento application
Mage::app();
...

After "tests/helper.php"

...
// Start Magento application
Mage::app('default', 'store', '/path/to/test/etc');
...

Here are some screen shot My app folder

My test folder

Hope this could help someone.