underlying-test-case.md

title	Underlying Test Case
description	Underlying Test Case

Underlying Test Case

• Overview

Overview

The closure you provide to your test function is always bound to a specific test case class. By default, that class is PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase:

<?php

it('has home', function () {
    $this->assertTrue(true);

    // \PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase
    echo get_class($this); 
});

In real-world applications, you may have to change it, and for that, you can call the uses function:

uses()

The uses function binds a class and/or trait to your test files. This is how you would bind a trait to your current file:

<?php

use Illuminate\Foundation\Testing\RefreshDatabase;

// Uses the given trait in the current file
uses(RefreshDatabase::class);

The in() function lets you use the given class and/or trait recursively inside the specified folder:

<?php

use Tests\TestCase;

// Uses the given test case in the "Feature" folder recursively
uses(TestCase::class)->in('Feature');

You can use multiple uses() calls if they target different folders:

<?php

use Tests\TestCase;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Testing\RefreshDatabase;

// Uses the given test case in the "Feature" folder recursively
uses(TestCase::class)->in('Feature');

// Uses the given trait in the "Unit" folder recursively
uses(RefreshDatabase::class)->in('Unit');

To bind multiple classes and/or traits at once, group them in your uses() call like so:

<?php

use Tests\TestCase;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Testing\RefreshDatabase;

// Uses the given test case and trait in the current folder recursively
uses(TestCase::class, RefreshDatabase::class)->in(__DIR__);

tests/Pest.php

Please consider creating a file with the name tests/Pest.php on the root directory of your tests folder. No worries, that file is autoloaded automatically. It's an ideal place to recursively bind traits and classes to your tests with the uses() function.

tests
    - Unit/ComponentTest.php
    - Feature/HomeTest.php
    - Pest.php <--
phpunit.xml

Next section: Assertions →