testharness.js Tests

testharness.js tests are the correct type of test to write in any situation where you are not specifically interested in the rendering of a page, and where human interaction isn’t required; these tests are written in JavaScript using a framework called testharness.js. It is documented in two sections:

See server features for advanced testing features that are commonly used with testharness.js. See also the general guidelines for all test types.

Variants

A test file can have multiple variants by including meta elements, for example:

<meta name="variant" content="">
<meta name="variant" content="?wss">

The test can then do different things based on the URL.

There are two utility scripts in that work well together with variants, /common/subset-tests.js and /common/subset-tests-by-key.js, where a test that would otherwise have too many tests to be useful can be split up in ranges of subtests. For example:

<!doctype html>
<title>Testing variants</title>
<meta name="variant" content="?1-1000">
<meta name="variant" content="?1001-2000">
<meta name="variant" content="?2001-last">
<script src="/resources/testharness.js">
<script src="/resources/testharnessreport.js">
<script src="/common/subset-tests.js">
<script>
 const tests = [
                 { fn: t => { ... }, name: "..." },
                 ... lots of tests ...
               ];
 for (const test of tests) {
   subsetTest(async_test, test.fn, test.name);
 }
</script>

With subsetTestByKey, the key is given as the first argument, and the query string can include or exclude a key (will be matched as a regular expression).

<!doctype html>
<title>Testing variants by key</title>
<meta name="variant" content="?include=Foo">
<meta name="variant" content="?include=Bar">
<meta name="variant" content="?exclude=(Foo|Bar)">
<script src="/resources/testharness.js">
<script src="/resources/testharnessreport.js">
<script src="/common/subset-tests-by-key.js">
<script>
   subsetTestByKey("Foo", async_test, () => { ... }, "Testing foo");
   ...
</script>

Auto-generated test boilerplate

While most JavaScript tests require a certain amount of HTML boilerplate to include the test library, etc., tests which are expressible purely in script (e.g. tests for workers) can have all the needed HTML and script boilerplate auto-generated.

Standalone window tests

Tests that only require a script file running in window scope can use standalone window tests. In this case the test is a javascript file with the extension .window.js. This is sourced from a generated document which sources testharness.js, testharnessreport.js and the test script. For a source script with the name example.window.js, the corresponding test resource will be example.window.html.

Standalone workers tests

Tests that only require assertions in a dedicated worker scope can use standalone workers tests. In this case, the test is a JavaScript file with extension .worker.js that imports testharness.js. The test can then use all the usual APIs, and can be run from the path to the JavaScript file with the .js removed.

For example, one could write a test for the FileReaderSync API by creating a FileAPI/FileReaderSync.worker.js as follows:

importScripts("/resources/testharness.js");
test(function () {
    var blob = new Blob(["Hello"]);
    var fr = new FileReaderSync();
    assert_equals(fr.readAsText(blob), "Hello");
}, "FileReaderSync#readAsText.");
done();

This test could then be run from FileAPI/FileReaderSync.worker.html.

Multi-global tests

Tests for features that exist in multiple global scopes can be written in a way that they are automatically run in several scopes. In this case, the test is a JavaScript file with extension .any.js, which can use all the usual APIs.

By default, the test runs in a window scope and a dedicated worker scope.

For example, one could write a test for the Blob constructor by creating a FileAPI/Blob-constructor.any.js as follows:

test(function () {
    var blob = new Blob();
    assert_equals(blob.size, 0);
    assert_equals(blob.type, "");
    assert_false(blob.isClosed);
}, "The Blob constructor.");

This test could then be run from FileAPI/Blob-constructor.any.worker.html as well as FileAPI/Blob-constructor.any.html.

It is possible to customize the set of scopes with a metadata comment, such as

// META: global=sharedworker
//       ==> would run in the default window and dedicated worker scopes,
//           as well as the shared worker scope
// META: global=!default,serviceworker
//       ==> would only run in the service worker scope
// META: global=!window
//       ==> would run in the default dedicated worker scope, but not the
//           window scope
// META: global=worker
//       ==> would run in the default window scope, as well as in the
//           dedicated, shared and service worker scopes

For a test file x.any.js, the available scope keywords are:

  • window (default): to be run at x.any.html
  • dedicatedworker (default): to be run at x.any.worker.html
  • serviceworker: to be run at x.any.serviceworker.html (.https is implied)
  • sharedworker: to be run at x.any.sharedworker.html
  • jsshell: to be run in a JavaScript shell, without access to the DOM (currently only supported in SpiderMonkey, and skipped in wptrunner)
  • default: shorthand for the default scopes
  • worker: shorthand for the dedicated, shared and service worker scopes

To check if your test is run from a window or worker you can use the following two methods that will be made available by the framework:

self.GLOBAL.isWindow()
self.GLOBAL.isWorker()

Specifying a test title in auto-generated boilerplate tests

Use // META: title=This is the title of the test at the beginning of the resource.

Including other JavaScript resources in auto-generated boilerplate tests

Use // META: script=link/to/resource.js at the beginning of the resource. For example,

// META: script=/common/utils.js
// META: script=resources/utils.js

can be used to include both the global and a local utils.js in a test.

Specifying a timeout of long in auto-generated boilerplate tests

Use // META: timeout=long at the beginning of the resource.

Specifying test variants in auto-generated boilerplate tests

Use // META: variant=url-suffix at the beginning of the resource. For example,

// META: variant=
// META: variant=?wss