QUnit + coffeescript reach

Question

Javascript polluting the global namespace is generally considered bad. This is why Coffeescript wraps all your Javascript in a wrapper (function() {}).call(this); .

However, I started writing QUnit tests for my Coffeescript code, and QUnit complains that it cannot find my functions.

 1. Died on test #1: getGoodNamePart is not defined getGoodNamePart is not defined at Object.<anonymous> (file:///Users/kevin/Documents/docs/code/chrome/tests.js:2:10) at Object.run 

I would like to test variables without polluting the global namespace. What a good way to do this?

Here is the generated Javascript that I want to check:

 (function() { getGoodNamePart = function(str) { if (str.charAt(0) === '"') { str.replace(/" <[^>]+>$"/g, ""); str.replace(/"/g, ""); return str; } else if (str.charAt(0) === '<') { str.replace(/<|>/g, ""); return str; } else { return str; } }; }).call(this); 

and my test.js file:

 test('getGoodNamePart()', function() { equals(getGoodNamePart("\"Kev Burke\" < [e-mail] >"), "Kev Burke", "\"name\" <email> works"); equals(getGoodNamePart("", "", "empty string works")); equals(getGoodNamePart(" [e-mail] ", " [e-mail] ", "raw email works")); return equals(getGoodNamePart("< [e-mail] >", " [e-mail] ", "email inside carets -> carets get stripped")); }); 

Thanks Kevin

Answer 1

So you say you want to test getGoodNamePart without polluting the global namespace. But CoffeeScript automatically modulates each file (with good reason - see my answer here ), which means that the only way to access functions through files is to attach them to some global object. (I assume that we are talking about the browser here, and not about the CommonJS environment, such as Node.js, where you use exports .)

This gives you three options:

• Attach getGoodNamePart to the window . This is easiest since the only change you need is the getGoodNamePart prefix using window. (or just @ ), but of course it maximizes namespace pollution.
• Attach getGoodNamePart to something else already attached to window or global .
• Move your tests inside the same file as getGoodNamePart (an unusual practice in the JS world, but worth considering, because it keeps the global namespace intact and makes it easy to switch between your code and your tests).

Say you want to go C # 2, exporting functions like getGoodNamePart exclusively for testing. Call them "test targets." At the top of each file for test purposes, add

 window.testTargets ?= {} 

and when you define getGoodNamePart write

 testTargets.getGoodNamePart = getGoodNamePart = (str) -> ... 

Then at the top of the QUnit test suite write

 {getGoodNamePart} = testTargets 

to get the function.

Answer 2

I am collecting a coffee file with the -bare flag for testing purposes

$ coffee -c -b your_file

this does not modulate compiled code