CODEWITHSUNDEEP
node.jsjasminegulp
Pavel Horal
Pavel Horal

Reputation: 18224

How to run NodeJS unit tests with a different NODE_PATH

The question

Can I run unit tests from within Node/Gulp which have a different NODE_PATH than what has been inherited from the environment?

The issue

I have a project which is being run from within a Rhino based application, where require loads scripts from a set of defined locations.

I want to have unit tests for my components. In order to run those tests I need to be able to call my scripts from the Node environment. But that ends with error similar to this:

Error: Cannot find module 'lib/foo/foo.js'

This is because my scripts contain require(foo/foo)... that would be fine if NODE_PATH would have contained lib. The issue here is that I only want this folder to be present for unit tests, not for other gulp tasks.

I guess the issue I am facing is that all test runners I came across (e.g. karma) are browser based. So my question might as well be: Is there a test runner which runs pure NodeJS tests?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 998

Answers (2)

Pavel Horal
Pavel Horal

Reputation: 18224

I have invested a few hours into finding answer to my question. Node is quite hostile when it comes to manipulating NODE_PATH during runtime.

So the answer to my own question is: No, gulp-based tests can not run with a different NODE_PATH, unless those tests spawn a new process.

I was not able to find convenient test runner which is able to spawn node with a different environment. I was able to write my own code to run unit tests in a new process, but that had far too many "rough edges".

In the end I went for app-module-path module to keep things simple (I didn't want a special wrapper shell script). That is not exactly what I was looking for, but it is pretty close.

Upvotes: 3

Zia Ur Rehman
Zia Ur Rehman

Reputation: 1181

Well you can always do something along the lines of 

NODE_PATH=NODE_PATH:/path/to/lib npm test`.

NODE_PATH is just an environment variable. Usually you rely on the value that persists through login shell profile. But you can set/unset/change it as it suits you.

To set an environment variable just for the duration of execution of this one command...

VARIABLE=VALUE command <args...>

To set an environment variable for the duration of your shell session i.e. until you exit/logout or reset the shell...

export VARIABLE=VALUE
command <args...>

To make it persist through shell sessions, you will have to add export VARIBALE=VALUE to your

.bashrc or
.bash_profile or
/etc/profile or
a file inside /etc/profile.d/

depending on your preference and your environment.

Edit: I have made an unfair assumption that you are using Linux or Mac. I apologize if that is not the case. For Windows, you can do something like

%NODE_PATH%=%NODE_PATH%;\path\to\lib\

or something. You can also go to System Properties -> Advanced Settings -> Environment Variables and set/unset/change globally persistent environment variables there.

Edit #2: Refactored for clarity.

Upvotes: 2

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