spip-testing

name

spip-testing

description

Guides automated testing of SPIP plugins and squelettes using PHPUnit — the standard test tool for SPIP. Covers the full self-contained setup (composer, spip-cli), unit tests with lightweight mocks, and integration tests against a real SPIP instance. Use whenever the user wants to test, verify, or validate a SPIP plugin or squelette — even if they don't mention PHPUnit — including questions like "how do I test my plugin", "I want to make sure my filtre works", or "how do I write tests for my autorisation / CVT form /

SPIP testing

PHPUnit is the standard test tool for SPIP plugins and squelettes, used by SPIP core and the official plugin ecosystem.

Quick-start

composer install            # install PHPUnit, spip/tests, spip/spip-cli
composer tests-unit         # unit tests — no SPIP needed, uses mocked stubs
composer install-spip-test  # download + install SPIP into vendor/spip/spip/
composer tests-integration  # integration tests — real SPIP + SQLite3

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Two test tiers

Tier	Directory	Bootstrap	Needs SPIP?
Unit	tests/unit/	tests/bootstrap.php (mocks)	No — PHP only
Integration	tests/integration/	tests/bootstrap_integration.php	Yes — vendor/spip/spip/

Two base classes

Use case	Class
PHP functions (filtre, autorisation, inc…)	PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase
Squelettes, #BALISE, |filtre in templates	Spip\Test\SquelettesTestCase

SquelettesTestCase requires the integration tier (real SPIP loaded).

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Decision tree — I want to…

Goal	Read
Set up composer.json, phpunit.xml, scripts from scratch	references/howto-test.md §Setup
Write a unit test (filtre, autorisation — no real SPIP)	references/howto-test.md §Unit tests
Write a mock bootstrap (tests/bootstrap.php)	references/howto-test.md §Unit bootstrap
Write an integration test (SQL, CVT, pipelines)	references/howto-test.md §Integration tests
Configure scripts/install-spip-test.sh	references/howto-test.md §install-spip-test.sh template
Test a squelette or #BALISE (SquelettesTestCase)	references/howto-test.md §Testing squelettes
Verify the plugin is active in the integration environment	references/howto-test.md §Verify the plugin is active
Test a BOUCLE loop with DB fixtures (ordering, doublons, pagination)	references/squelettes-test.md
Analyse an erroneous squelette and generate structured error comments	references/fixture-with-errors-convention.md
Write failing tests for a *WithError*.html fixture (TDD RED)	references/fixture-with-errors-convention.md §Workflow
Test charger(), verifier(), or traiter() directly	references/formulaires-cvt-test.md
Test #FORMULAIRE_{nom} rendering or error display	references/formulaires-cvt-test.md §Testing the rendered template