Test data for Grails integration tests

When you write an integration test for a Grails app, you will likely want to have a clean situation with reproducible test data in your database before the test actually starts. Enter the Fixtures Plugin for Grails.

This plugin helps you to define a fixture, that is a defined set of data used for testing. The plugin defines a DSL in which you can express your need for data. Example:

fixture {     guillaume(Author) {         name = "Guillaume Laforge"     }     dierk(Author) {         name = "Dierk Koenig"     }     gina(Book) {         title = "Groovy In Action"         authors = [guillaume, dierk]     } }

Or a little shorter:

fixture {     guillaume(Author, name: "Guillaume Laforge")     dierk(Author, name: "Dierk Koenig")     gina(Book, title: "Groovy In Action", authors: [guillaume, dierk]) }

Then, in your test case, you will want to load that fixture, like this:

class GinaTests extends GroovyTestCase {     def fixtureLoader      void testFinderMethod() {         fixtureLoader.load("gina")         def gina = Book.findByTitle("Groovy In Action")         assertNotNull(gina)         assertEquals(2, gina.authors.size())     } }

Pretty simple, isn’t it? Find out more about how to install and use the Fixtures plugin on its plugin page at grails.org.