Test Laravel Package

Getting Started

Install joomla/test as a dev dependency with Composer:

composer require --dev joomla/test "^4.0"

Then import Joomla\Test\TestHelper in your test classes and start using its static methods to reduce boilerplate. Your first practical use case: accessing private/protected state in legacy classes during testing:

use Joomla\Test\TestHelper;

class UserServiceTest extends TestCase
{
    public function testCanReadHiddenConfig(): void
    {
        $user = new UserService();
        TestHelper::setValue($user, 'config', ['timezone' => 'UTC']);
        $this->assertEquals('UTC', $user->getTimezone());
    }
}

Implementation Patterns

• Bulk Mock Setup: Replace chains of ->willReturn() with a single call:

  $httpClient = $this->createMock(HttpClient::class);
  TestHelper::assignMockReturns($httpClient, $this, [
      'get' => '{"status":"ok"}',
      'post' => '{"id":123}',
  ]);
  

• Targeted Reflection for Legacy Code: When refactoring tightly-coupled classes where refactoring for test seams isn’t feasible, use TestHelper::invoke() for protected methods:

  $taxCalculator = new TaxCalculator();
  $amount = TestHelper::invoke($taxCalculator, 'calculateByRegion', 'CA', 100.0);
  $this->assertEquals(108.0, $amount);
  

• Base TestCase Extension: DRY up repeated access patterns:

  abstract class TestCase extends BaseTestCase
  {
      protected function getProtected(object $object, string $property): mixed
      {
          return TestHelper::getValue($object, $property);
      }
  }
  

Gotchas and Tips

• PHP Version Compatibility: v4+ requires PHP 8.3+ and PHPUnit 12. Using v3 on PHP 8.1–8.2 may break if you rely on deprecated setAccessible()—patch versions like 4.0.1 fix this. Always lock: "joomla/test": "^4.0"
• Reflection Overuse Alert: getValue()/setValue() indicate missing test seams. Use sparingly—prefer injecting dependencies or introducing protected hooks over poking internal state.
• No Modern DI Integration: This is a procedural helper, not DI-friendly. Don’t try to mock or extend TestHelper; it’s not designed for that.
• Minimal Maintenance Footprint: The package has 0 dependents and few contributors. Accept it as stable but static—expect only PHP compatibility patches (e.g., 4.0.1 for PHP 8.5 deprecations), not new features.
• Redundancy Check: If you’re on modern PHPUnit (≥9.5), many TestHelper functions have native equivalents (assertAttribute*, createStub() with willReturnMap). Use this package only if you already need bulk config helpers and have legacy Joomla code.