Best Practices

Place the “WTPLSQL_RUN” procedure at the end of the package body. This allows the procedure call any procedure/function in the package.

Place the ”–% WTPLSQL SET DBOUT” annotation next to the WTPLSQL_RUN procedure definition in the package body.

   procedure WTPLSQL_RUN  --% WTPLSQL SET DBOUT "MY_PACKAGE" %--
   is

Separate “setup” and “teardown” steps into their own Test Cases.**

Use words consistently in Test Case names.

Use the word “Setup” in Test Case names perform setup operations.
Use the word “Teardown” in Test Case names that perform tear-down operations.
Use the words “Happy Path” in Test Case names that perform “happy path” tests.
Use the words “Sad Path” in Test Case names that perform “sad path” tests.
- expected failure testing.
- fault insertion testing.

Include tests for boundary conditions

Largest and smallest values
Longest and shortest values
All combinations of default and non-default values

Create test procedures for each procedure/function in a DBOUT PACKAGE BODY.

Call all test procedures from the WTPLSQL_RUN procedure.
Embed the test procedure just after the procedure/function it tests.
Use a consistent prefix on all test procedure names, like “t_”.

Use conditional compilation select directive “WTPLSQL_ENABLE” in the Oracle database initialization parameter “PLSQL_CCFLAGS” to enable and disable embedded test code in all PACKAGE BODYs.

“WTPLSQL_ENABLE:TRUE” will enable test code.
“WTPLSQL_ENABLE:FALSE” will disable test code.

Use consistent begin and end test code markers for embedded tests. These examples will setup conditional compiling and annotate lines of code to be excluded from code coverage calculations.

$IF $$WTPLSQL_ENABLE  -------%WTPLSQL_begin_ignore_lines%-------
$THEN
 ...
$END  ----------------%WTPLSQL_end_ignore_lines%----------------

Keep embedded test code indented between the test code markers

Add WTPLSQL markers every 10 lines or less in an embedded procedure. This helps identify a long embedded test procedure while scrolling through source code. When in doubt, add more of these.

   --------------------------------------  WTPLSQL Testing --

Check and/or set NLS settings before testing. Many data types are implicitly converted to VARCHAR2 before comparison. The “wtplsql” package includes functions to check and set NLS settings. Note: Modifying these settings always includes a COMMIT.

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