Used to specify deployment items such as files or directories for per-test deployment. This class cannot be inherited.
System.Attribute
Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting.DeploymentItemAttribute
Namespace: Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting
Assembly: Microsoft.VisualStudio.QualityTools.UnitTestFramework (in Microsoft.VisualStudio.QualityTools.UnitTestFramework.dll)
<AttributeUsageAttribute(AttributeTargets.Class Or AttributeTargets.Method, AllowMultiple := True)> _ Public NotInheritable Class DeploymentItemAttribute _ Inherits Attribute
[AttributeUsageAttribute(AttributeTargets.Class|AttributeTargets.Method, AllowMultiple = true)] public sealed class DeploymentItemAttribute : Attribute
[AttributeUsageAttribute(AttributeTargets::Class|AttributeTargets::Method, AllowMultiple = true)] public ref class DeploymentItemAttribute sealed : public Attribute
[<Sealed>] [<AttributeUsageAttribute(AttributeTargets.Class|AttributeTargets.Method, AllowMultiple = true)>] type DeploymentItemAttribute = class inherit Attribute end
public final class DeploymentItemAttribute extends Attribute
The DeploymentItemAttribute type exposes the following members.
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
|
DeploymentItemAttribute(String) | Initializes a new instance of the DeploymentItemAttribute class. An object that is created with this constructor will be initialized with a path to a deployment item or directory. |
|
DeploymentItemAttribute(String, String) | Initializes a new instance of the DeploymentItemAttribute class. An object that is created with this constructor will be initialized with a path to a deployment item and an output directory. |
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
|
OutputDirectory | Gets a value that represents the path to the output directory. |
|
Path | Gets a value that represents the path to the deployment item. |
|
TypeId | When implemented in a derived class, gets a unique identifier for this Attribute. (Inherited from Attribute.) |
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
|
Equals | Infrastructure. Returns a value that indicates whether this instance is equal to a specified object. (Inherited from Attribute.) |
|
Finalize | Allows an object to try to free resources and perform other cleanup operations before it is reclaimed by garbage collection. (Inherited from Object.) |
|
GetHashCode | Returns the hash code for this instance. (Inherited from Attribute.) |
|
GetType | Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object.) |
|
IsDefaultAttribute | When overridden in a derived class, indicates whether the value of this instance is the default value for the derived class. (Inherited from Attribute.) |
|
Match | When overridden in a derived class, returns a value that indicates whether this instance equals a specified object. (Inherited from Attribute.) |
|
MemberwiseClone | Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object.) |
|
ToString | Returns a string that represents the current object. (Inherited from Object.) |
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
|
_Attribute.GetIDsOfNames | Maps a set of names to a corresponding set of dispatch identifiers. (Inherited from Attribute.) |
|
_Attribute.GetTypeInfo | Retrieves the type information for an object, which can be used to get the type information for an interface. (Inherited from Attribute.) |
|
_Attribute.GetTypeInfoCount | Retrieves the number of type information interfaces that an object provides (either 0 or 1). (Inherited from Attribute.) |
|
_Attribute.Invoke | Provides access to properties and methods exposed by an object. (Inherited from Attribute.) |
Depending on your test settings, Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 runs tests either in the folder in which you have created them or in a separate "deployment" folder. For more information about test settings, see Create Test Settings to Run Automated Tests from Visual Studio.
This section discusses the case in which Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 runs tests in a different folder than the folder that holds the built assemblies.
When a test is run in this manner, the test and code-under-test assemblies, and the deployment items are placed in a test deployment folder unique to that test run. This attribute identifies files and directories that contain files that are used by the deployed test to run. The test engine makes a copy of the deployment items and places them in test deployment directory based on the OutputDirectory specified or the default directory.
This attribute can be specified on a test method or on a test class. However, this attribute is not inherited by derived classes.
There can be multiple instances of this attribute to specify more than one item. The item path can be absolute or relative. Relative paths are relative to the project path.
The following examples demonstrate different usage of the DeploymentItemAttribute:
-
[DeploymentItem("file1.xml")] Deploys an item named file1.xml located at the project path. The file is deployed to the deployment root directory.
-
[DeploymentItem("file2.xml", "DataFiles")] Deploys an item named file2.xml located at the project path. The file is deployed to the DataFiles subdirectory of the deployment root directory.
-
[DeploymentItem("C:\\MyDataFiles\\")] Deploys all items and directories found within the MyDataFiles directory. This does not create the MyDataFiles directory underneath the deployment directory. All files and directories within MyDataFiles will be deployed to the deployment root directory. To copy the entire MyDataFiles directory structure, you must specify MyDataFiles as an output directory.
-
[DeploymentItem("%myDir%\myFile.txt")] Deploys the file myFile.txt if that file exists in the directory to which %myDir% resolves.
For more information about how to use attributes, see Extending Metadata Using Attributes.
The following class creates a file that will be used by the test method.
using System; using System.IO; namespace CarMaker { public class Car { private static string make = "myMake"; private static string model = "myModel"; public static void CarInfo() { using (StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter("testFile1.txt")) { sw.WriteLine(make); sw.WriteLine(model); } } } }
Imports System Imports System.IO Namespace CarMaker Public Class Car Private Shared make As String = "myMake" Private Shared model As String = "myModel" Public Shared Sub CarInfo() Dim sw As New StreamWriter("testFile1.txt") Try sw.WriteLine(make) sw.WriteLine(model) Finally sw.Close() End Try End Sub End Class End Namespace
The following test class contains a test method that will instantiate the Car class which will create a file that is named "testFile1.txt". This file will be deployed as identified in the DeploymentItemAttribute. Then, the test method will test if the file exists in the same directory as the test assembly.
using System; using System.IO; using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting; using CarMaker; namespace DeploymentTest { [TestClass] public class UnitTest1 { [TestMethod()] [DeploymentItem("testFile1.txt")] public void ConstructorTest() { // Create the file to deploy Car.CarInfo(); string file = "testFile1.txt"; // Check if the created file exists in the deployment directory Assert.IsTrue(File.Exists(file), "deployment failed: " + file + " did not get deployed"); } } }
Imports System Imports System.IO Imports Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting Imports MyVBProject.CarMaker Namespace DeploymentTest <TestClass()> _ Public Class UnitTest1 <TestMethod()> _ <DeploymentItem("testFile1.txt")> _ Sub ConstructorTest() Car.CarInfo() Dim file As String = "testFile1.txt" Assert.IsTrue(IO.File.Exists(file), "deployment failed: " + file + _ " did not get deployed") End Sub End Class End Namespace
Reference
While the docs say that
[DeploymentItem( @"file.txt" )]
will copy file.txt from the project folder, it is in fact being copied from the project output folder. in other words, you have to make sure that any file you want DeploymentItem to pick up are also copied to the output folder when you're building the test project.
Also, it seems like it looks for the file in different places. if its not found in the project output folder, it appears that it tries to find the file relative to the solution folder
The docs should really be updated to make this more clear
Restart VS if you have enabled deployment and it does not take. VS doesn't always detect this change.
[DeploymentItem(@"Foo\Bar\TestFile.txt")]
But when you reference that file within the unit test, the "Foo" and "Bar" folders won't exist in the output directory, so you need to just reference the file as such:
var stream = new FileStream(@"TestFile.txt", FileMode.Open)
- Add your data as files (optionally within folders) in your project directory.
- Attribute the file's deployment behavior as, Copy If Newer or Copy
Always. - Configure your test method to reference the deployed file as
follows:
const string test_method_datafile = @"SubFolderInProjectDirectory\DataFile.Ext";
[TestMethod, DeploymentItem(test_method_datafile)]
public void test_method()
{
var deploymentFolder = Path.GetDirectoryName(this.GetType().Assembly.Location);
var deployedTestData = Path.Combine(deploymentFolder, test_method_datafile)
....
var data = File.ReadAllText(deployedTestData);
....
}