dbtext 2.1.1

Database to text utility for approval testing

dbtext

Utility for storing a database as a directory of plain text files, and reading from those text files. Currently has implementations for MS SQL server, MySQL, Sqlite3 and MongoDB. The first 3 of these require "pyodbc" to be installed, and MongoDB requires "pymongo" to be installed.

installation

pip install dbtext pyodbc (for MSSQL, MySQL, Sqlite3)
pip install dbtext pymongo (for MongoDB)

usage

First, dump your test database to this format. For example, with MSSQL:

    from dbtext import MSSQL_DBText
    with pyodbc.connect(connStr) as conn:
        with dbtext.MSSQL_DBText("dump", conn) as testdb: # the name "dump" doesn't matter, just a temporary name
            testdb.write_data("db_tables", use_master_connection=True) # creates a directory called db_tables
    

For MongoDB:

    from dbtext import Mongo_DBText

    dbClient = Mongo_DBText(host=connStr) # as in pymongo, "host" can be a full connection string
    dbClient.dump_data_directory("mongodata") # creates a directory called mongodata

Then you create tests, probably with TextTest, that use this directory as test data ("copy_test_path")

A test harness script might do something like for MSSQL:

    import dbtext, os
    testdbname = "ttdb_" + str(os.getpid()) # some temporary name not to clash with other tests
    with dbtext.MSSQL_DBText(testdbname) as db: # the name you use here will be used for the directory name in the current working directory
        # You need a script 'create_empty.sql' that sets up the schema but no data
        # db.create will set up the schema and read the test data from a directory here called "db_tables"
        db.create(sqlfile="create_empty.sql")
         
        # Then it should take the testdbname and configure your system to start a server against the new database
        # ...
        do_some_setup() 

        # tell it the test is starting for real now. Only necessary if the database is changed by setup via the system
        db.update_start_rv() 

        # do whatever it is the test does

        db.dumptables("myext", "*") # dump changes in all the tables you're interested in. "myext" is whatever extension you want to use, probably the TextTest one 

For MongoDB, two classes are provided, Mongo_DBText and LocalMongo_DBText. For test usage, you generally want to use LocalMongo_DBText, which works like the MSSQL version above, i.e. it creates you a new MongoDB server running on any free port locally and populates it with the data in question. Mongo_DBText is used for connecting to already running instances, for example if you need to start it via Docker.

    import dbtext
    with dbtext.LocalMongo_DBText(testdbname) as db: # the name you use here will be used for the directory name in the current working directory
        if not db.setup_succeeded(): # could not start MongoDB, for example
            return False

        testConnStr = "mongodb://localhost:" + str(self.db.port) # provide to your system in some way

        # do whatever it is the test does
        # ...
        
        db.dump_changes("myext") # dump changes in all the tables you're interested in. "myext" is whatever extension you want to use, probably the TextTest one