A way to test without writing actual test cases The gist of snapshot testing is asserting that a set of data hasn’t changed compared to a previous version, which is a of the data, to prevent regressions. The difference between a classic and an is that you don't write the expectation yourself when snapshot testing. When a snapshot assertion happens for the first time, it creates a snapshot file with the actual output, and marks the test as incomplete. Every subsequent run will compare the output with the existing snapshot file to check for regressions. snapshot assertEquals assertMatchesSnapshot Snapshot testing is most useful larger datasets that can change over time, like serializing an object for an XML export or a JSON API endpoint. Our package, which exposes a trait to add snapshot testing capabilities to your tests, can be installed via and is available on . There’s also an example in composer GitHub I couldn’t find any formal origin of snapshot testing. The oldest library I found was one written by Facebook to snapshot test iOS user interfaces. Jest — a JavaScript testing framework which is also made by Facebook — recently popularised snapshot testing, since it provides and excellent workflow for testing user interfaces built with virtual dom libraries like React. Basic Example Let’s do a snapshot assertion for a simple string, “foo”. public function test_it_is_foo() {    $this->assertMatchesSnapshot('foo');} The first time the assertion runs, it doesn’t have a snapshot to compare the string with. The test runner generates a new snapshot and marks the test as incomplete. > ./vendor/bin/phpunitThere was 1 incomplete test:1) ExampleTest::test_it_matches_a_stringSnapshot created for ExampleTest__test_it_matches_a_string__1OK, but incomplete, skipped, or risky tests!Tests: 1, Assertions: 0, Incomplete: 1. Snapshot ids are generated based on the test and testcase’s names. Basic snapshots return a of the actual value. var_export <?php return 'foo'; Let’s rerun the test. The test runner will see that there’s already a snapshot for the assertion and do a comparison. > ./vendor/bin/phpunitOK (1 test, 1 assertion) If we change actual value to “bar”, the test will fail because the snapshot still returns “foo”. public function test_it_is_foo() {    $this->assertMatchesSnapshot('bar');}> ./vendor/bin/phpunit1) ExampleTest::test_it_matches_a_stringFailed asserting that two strings are equal.--- Expected+++ Actual@@ @@-'foo'+'bar'FAILURES!Tests: 1, Assertions: 1, Failures: 1. When we expect a changed value, we need to tell the test runner to update the existing snapshots instead of failing the test. This is possible by adding a flag to the command. -d --update-snapshots phpunit > ./vendor/bin/phpunit -d --update-snapshots1) ExampleTest::test_it_matches_a_stringSnapshot updated for ExampleTest__test_it_matches_a_string__1OK, but incomplete, skipped, or risky tests!Tests: 1, Assertions: 1, Incomplete: 1 As a result, our snapshot file contains “bar” instead of “foo”. <?php return 'bar'; Methods Assertions are done using the method. assertMatchesSnapshot public function it_matches_something(){    $something = new Something();    $this->assertMatchesSnapshot($something);} If you’re working with JSON or XML data, you’re better off using a dedicated or method, which will save snapshots as of files, and provide a better diff when the snapshot doesn't match. assertMatchesJsonSnapshot assertMatchesXmlSnapshot .json .xml public function it_matches_something_json(){    $something = new Something();    $this->assertMatchesJsonSnapshot($something->toJson());} Snapshot files Be default, snapshots are stored in a directory at the same level of the test class. __snapshots__ __snapshots__/    ExampleTest__test_it_matches_a_string.phpExampleTest.php Snapshot ids and the snapshot directory’s name can be changed in by overriding and . Take a look at for a more detailed explanation. getSnapshotId getSnapshotDirectory the readme Drivers Drivers make the package extendable, without the interface snapshot assertions would be limited to JSON, XML and generic values with . A driver handles serializing and matching snapshot data. For example, if your application would make extensive use of YAML files, you could write a to save snapshots as real YAML files and improve PHPUnit's diff output. Driver var_export YamlDriver Custom drivers can be applied by passing them to . assertMatchesSnapshot public function it_matches_yaml(){    $order = new Order();    $this->assertMatchesSnapshot(        $order->toYaml(),        new YamlDriver()    );} If you’re interested in a detailed explanation on writing custom drivers, they have in the readme. a dedicated section Road To v1.0 We’ve decided to tag v1.0 already since we’re using this package without issues in a few projects already. The missing features can be added in a a later release. Cleaning Up Unused Snapshots ( #17 ) At the moment, there’s no way to determine which snapshots aren’t used and can be deleted. Old snapshots need to be deleted manually, a “cleanup” task would be welcome to automate this. Hack-free Update Flag ( #22 ) The flag needs to be specified after , which is meant to set custom php.ini values. doesn't support custom CLI options, but it might be added in a release ( ) --update-snapshots -d PHPUnit future sebastianbergmann/phpunit#2271 Despite not having a stable version number, there most likely won’t be any large breaking changes anymore heading to v1.0. Thanks to for helping out with the integration tests for this package! @AlexVanderbist spatie/phpunit-snapshot-assertions on GitHub spatie/phpunit-snapshot-assertions on Packagist An overview of our open source packages can be found on our website

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A Package for Snapshot Testing in PHPUnit

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A Package for Snapshot Testing in PHPUnit

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