Using fixtures in Boost.Test

The larger a test module is and the more similar test cases are, the more likely it is to have test cases that require the same setup, cleanup, and maybe the same data. A component that contains these is called a test fixture or test context. Boost.Test provides several ways to define test fixtures for a test case, test suite, or a module (globally). In this recipe, we will look at how fixtures work.

Getting ready

The examples in this recipe use the following classes and functions for specifying test unit fixtures:

    struct standard_fixture
    {
      standard_fixture()  {BOOST_TEST_MESSAGE("setup");}
      ~standard_fixture() {BOOST_TEST_MESSAGE("cleanup");}
      int n {42};
    };

    struct extended_fixture
    {
      std::string name;
      int data;

      extended_fixture(std::string const & n = "") : name(n), data(0) 
      {
        BOOST_TEST_MESSAGE("setup "+ name);
      }

      ~extended_fixture()
      {
        BOOST_TEST_MESSAGE("cleanup...