Should I expect the dataprovider to run 3x if there are 3 tests?

[BrianJavaJazz]

I need to generate my data just once before 3 tests are run. Afterwards, I walk through the data and use each piece for the tests. For "this" entity type, test these things, then for the next entity type, test the same things, etc.

But as I increase the number of @Test-annotated tests which are run, the dataprovider will run additional times at startup. As it is getting the same data, this is unnecessary. It's possible I have this set up incorrectly.

Is this expected functionality? Is there a way to get the data a single time only?

I saw that issue #87 was similar, but not this exact issue.

Thank you!

Brian

JDK 1.8.0_121
JUnit 4.12.0
junit-dataprovider 1.12.0
eclipse STS 3.7.3

How about some code! Here is a simplified version of my test class and a secondary class which holds the data provider generator.

First, the test driver:

`
@RunWith(DataProviderRunner.class)
public class testdataprovider {

protected WebDriver driver;
protected NgWebDriver ngWebDriver;
public Map<String, String> createdDataMap;
public AddPageElements addPageElements;
public ListPageElements listPageElements;
private static boolean initialized = false;
public static LandingPageTestHandler testHandler;
public TestScriptHandler scriptHandler;
	
public static Object[][] actualData = null;

@DataProvider
public static Object[][] data() {		
	actualData = TestScriptHandler.getGenericsList(testHandler);
	return actualData;       
}


@Before
public void startup() {
	if (initialized == false) {
		scriptHandler = new TestScriptHandler();
		initialized = true;
	}
}

@Test
@UseDataProvider("data")
public void oOTestCreate(TypeDefinition typedef) {		
	System.out.println("\nTEST 1 " + typedef.getEntityType());
}


@Test
@UseDataProvider("data")
public void testUpdate(TypeDefinition typedef) {
	System.out.println("\nTEST 2  " + typedef.getEntityType());
}


@Test
@UseDataProvider("data")
public void testDeactivate(TypeDefinition typedef) {
	System.out.println("\nTEST 3 " + typedef.getEntityType());
}

}
`

Then, the secondary class which generates the Object[][]. This class logs in to an internal website, get a list of specific items, (the generic list, not a list of generics) then puts them into the typedefObjectArray. The array is then returned.

`public class TestScriptHandler {

public static Object[][] getGenericsList(LandingPageTestHandler testHandler) {
	
	BasePage basePage = new BasePage();
		LoginPage logginPage = basePage.getLoginPage();
	WebDriver driver = basePage.getDriver();
	NgWebDriver ngWebDriver = basePage.getNgWebDriver();

	logginPage.goTo()
	.loginAs(basePage.getUsername(), basePage.getPassword());

	testHandler = new LandingPageTestHandler(driver, ngWebDriver, basePage);
	ArrayList<TypeDefinition> genericList = testHandler.getGenericList();
	Object[][] typedefObjectArray = new Object[genericList.size()][1];
	
	for (int i=0; i < genericList.size();  i++) {
		typedefObjectArray[i][0] = (TypeDefinition)genericList.get(i);
	}
	driver.quit();
	return typedefObjectArray;		
}

}
`

[BrianJavaJazz]

Here is a simplified version of the code above. It will process just strings (so you can attempt locally).

`@RunWith(DataProviderRunner.class)
public class testdataprovider {
protected WebDriver driver;
protected NgWebDriver ngWebDriver;
public Map<String, String> createdDataMap;
public AddPageElements addPageElements;
public ListPageElements listPageElements;
private static boolean initialized = false;
public static LandingPageTestHandler testHandler;
public TestScriptHandler scriptHandler;

@DataProvider
public static Object[][] data() {		
	Object [][] actualData = (Object[][]) TestScriptHandler.getDataObject();
	return actualData;       		
}


@Before
public void startup() {
	System.out.println("startup in GenericTestDriverAutomated");
	if (initialized == false) {
		scriptHandler = new TestScriptHandler();
		initialized = true;
	}
}


@Test
@UseDataProvider("data")
public void oOTestCreate(String foo) {		
	System.out.println("\nTEST 1 " + foo);
}


@Test
@UseDataProvider("data")
public void testUpdate(String foo) {
	System.out.println("\nTEST 2  " + foo);
}


@Test
@UseDataProvider("data")
public void testDeactivate(String foo) {
	System.out.println("\nTEST 3 " + foo);
}

}`

The TestScriptHandler is an external class.

public class TestScriptHandler { public static Object getDataObject() { System.out.println("getting data object"); return new Object[][] { { "Entry One" }, { "Entry Two" }, { "Entry Three" }, }; } }

Stymied in Seattle.

[aaschmid]

Hi @BrianJavaJazz, sorry but I am currently on a business trip and maintaining this in my spare time. I will have a look as soon as possible (at latest on the weekend).
Is that ok?

Cheers,
Andreas

[janschaefer]

Maybe I can try to answer the question. I think there is currently no way to tell the JUnitDataProvider runner to not call the data provider method each time. However, you can easily fix this yourself by just storing the results in a static variable and returning the variable once it has been generated. Like in your first example, where you even store the values in a static variable. You could modify that as follows:

 public static Object[][] actualData = null;

 @DataProvider
 public static Object[][] data() {		
        if (actualData != null) {
      	    actualData = TestScriptHandler.getGenericsList(testHandler);
        }
        return actualData;       
 }

[BrianJavaJazz]

aaschmid and janschaefer,

Thank you both for your replies. janschaefer, that is pretty close to what I implemented just yesterday. In the external class which handles the data (where the dataprovider gets it's data) I have:

public static Object[][] preloadedData = null; ... if (preloadedData == null) { //go generate it }
In this scenario the data is generated once and returned as many times as needed without the extra logins and generation I had before. This shaved 15 seconds off of my testing! janschaefer, your solution is even better.

Thank you both. Cheers!

Brian

[aaschmid]

Hi @BrianJavaJazz,

you found an issue in the junit-dataprovider which needs to get fixed. Does the workaround provided by @janschaefer help so far. Unfortunately, I have no good idea for any better one ...

How urgent is it with the workaround in mind?

Cheers,
Andreas

[BrianJavaJazz]

Hello. Yes, the workaround is fine. I have no issues with it, and the urgency is no more than average. My main concern at the time was that a scan for the same data was costing my tests some extra time, but that was the only issue.

Thank you for your continued communication. I appreciate it.

Best regards,

Brian

[aaschmid]

Hi @BrianJavaJazz,

finally I released the new version v1.13.0 containing this fix.

Cheers,
Andreas

Edit: v1.13.1 contains the fix :-)