Coffeescript unit test failing with Mocha, Should, Node.js

Question

I am trying to run a sample CoffeeScript unit test for a CoffeeScript sample class hierarchy, using Mocha. But I keep getting errors and it doesn't seem I can fix them without some help. This is my sample CoffeeScript file, in /src folder :

 #Animal.coffee
  class Animal
    constructor: (@name) ->

    move: (meters) ->
      console.log @name + " moved #{meters}m."

  class Snake extends Animal
    move: ->
      console.log "Slithering..."
      super 5

  class Horse extends Animal
    move: ->
      console.log "Galloping..."
      super 45

  #module.exports = new Snake()
  module.exports.Snake = Snake

And this is the CoffeeScript Unit Test in /Tests folder :

  #AnimalTest.coffee
  should  = require 'should'
  { Snake } = require "../src/Animal"

  describe 'sample', ->
     it 'should pass', ->
         snake = new Snake "Venomous python"
         snake.should.be.an.instanceOf(Snake)

I have installed all these libraries globally. So when I execute this command through command line (Windows 7) :

   Desktop>mocha --compilerscoffee:coffee-script/register Tests

It throws me this error:

    desktop\Tests\sampleTest.coffee:15
    snake.should.be.an.instanceOf(Snake);
    ^
    ReferenceError: snake is not defined
    at Object.<anonymous> (c:\users\ap\desktop\Tests\AnimalTest.coffee:8:3)
    at Object.<anonymous> (c:\users\ap\desktop\Tests\AnimalTest.coffee:2:1)
    at Module._compile (module.js:456:26)
    at Object.loadFile (C:\Users\ap\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\coffee-sc
    ript\lib\coffee-script\register.js:16:19)
    at Module.load (C:\Users\ap\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\coffee-script
    \lib\coffee-script\register.js:45:36)
    at Function.Module._load (module.js:312:12)
    at Module.require (module.js:364:17)
    at require (module.js:380:17)
    at C:\Users\ap\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\mocha\lib\mocha.js:172:27
    at Array.forEach (native)
    at Mocha.loadFiles (C:\Users\ap\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\mocha\lib
    \mocha.js:169:14)
    at Mocha.run (C:\Users\ap\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\mocha\lib\mocha
    .js:356:31)
    at Object.<anonymous> (C:\Users\ap\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\mocha\
    bin\_mocha:359:16)
    at Module._compile (module.js:456:26)
    at Object.Module._extensions..js (module.js:474:10)
    at Module.load (module.js:356:32)
    at Function.Module._load (module.js:312:12)
    at Function.Module.runMain (module.js:497:10)
    at startup (node.js:119:16)
    at node.js:902:3

I am using CoffeeScript version 1.7.1, Mocha version 1.18.2 and Node version 0.10.26. I have tried looking everywhere and tried all combinations between the tests, but I cannot figure out for my life how to make it create the objects successfully and run the test.

For reference, I tried these, of all other combinations : Requiring CoffeeScript file from within another CoffeeScript file with nodejs

How to check for class inheritance in Coffeescript Mocha Test?

Can someone point out what could possibly be wrong?

Update 1: Modified everything as pointed by dule, but now I get this error:

module.js:340
    throw err;
      ^
    Error: Cannot find module 'should'
     at Function.Module._resolveFilename (module.js:338:15)
     at Function.Module._load (module.js:280:25)
     at Module.require (module.js:364:17)
     at require (module.js:380:17)
     at Object.<anonymous> (C:\Users\ap\Desktop\Tests\AnimalTest.coffee:2:11)
     at Object.<anonymous> (C:\Users\ap\Desktop\Tests\AnimalTest.coffee:2:1)
     at Module._compile (module.js:456:26)
     at Object.loadFile (C:\Users\ap\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\coffee-sc
     ript\lib\coffee-script\register.js:16:19)
     at Module.load (C:\Users\ap\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\coffee-script
     \lib\coffee-script\register.js:45:36)
     at Function.Module._load (module.js:312:12)
     at Module.require (module.js:364:17)
     at require (module.js:380:17)
     at C:\Users\ap\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\mocha\lib\mocha.js:172:27
     at Array.forEach (native)
     at Mocha.loadFiles (C:\Users\ap\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\mocha\lib
     \mocha.js:169:14)
     at Mocha.run (C:\Users\ap\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\mocha\lib\mocha
     .js:356:31)
     at Object.<anonymous> (C:\Users\ap\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\mocha\
     bin\_mocha:359:16)
     at Module._compile (module.js:456:26)
     at Object.Module._extensions..js (module.js:474:10)
     at Module.load (module.js:356:32)
     at Function.Module._load (module.js:312:12)
     at Function.Module.runMain (module.js:497:10)
     at startup (node.js:119:16)
     at node.js:902:3

Update 2: I made the following changes to the AnimalTest script and the test passed.

  should  = require ("../npm/node_modules/should/should")
  { Snake } = require ("../src/Animal.coffee")

  describe 'sample', ->
     it 'should pass', ->
    console.log(new Snake "Venomous python")

However, for some reason, creating an object and saving it for use, still fails. And I get the same snake not defined error.

snake is not defined because you're not requiring the right file, requires are relative to the the current file, not relative to the project root (see my answer below), but that isn't your only problem... — dule
– dule, Commented Apr 14, 2014 at 21:17

dule · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-14 21:16:05Z

2

Looks like you have a number of issues. Try the following:

src/animal.coffee:

class Animal
    constructor: (@name) ->

    move: (meters) ->
        console.log @name + " moved #{meters}m."

class Snake extends Animal
    move: ->
        console.log "Slithering..."
        super 5

module.exports.Snake = Snake

tests/animalTest.coffee

should  = require "should"
{ Snake } = require "../src/animal"

describe 'sample', ->
    it 'should pass', ->
        snake = new Snake "Venomous python"
        snake.should.be.an.instanceOf(Snake)

Then run (from proj root):

mocha --compilers coffee:coffee-script/register tests

answered Apr 14, 2014 at 21:16

dule

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4 Comments

dule Over a year ago

Just to enumerate some of the issues with your original: (1) you do an instanceof check on Snake but import SnakeObj, (2) you dont need to do a full relative path when importing a node module like should, (3) don't know why you're exporting a snake object using new Snake(), (4) the compiler for coffee-script should be coffee-script not coffeescript

Setafire Over a year ago

1) I tried importing Snake as is, it didn't work. So next I tried importing SnakeObj, as was shown in one of the linked stack overflow questions. 2) I have tried importing the node module should as is, but it was not being able to find should. I have installed all the libraries globally so I thought that could be the reason its not being able to find them. 3) That's the same as mentioned in the linked question. 4) It was a copy-paste, but don't know how the hyphen got lost. I rechecked I have the hyphen on my command line.

dule Over a year ago

(1) It should be fine as either, as long as you're consistent in the file, (2) should should be installed local to the project (npm install --save should), (3) the linked question is answered by the same person asking the question, and just looks like a line he forgot to remove in the answer

Setafire Over a year ago

I made all the changes and got the error I updated above. Also did npm install --save should and then ran the command.

Setafire · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-15 16:32:48Z

1

So, this is totally weird. An explanation is more than welcome! This is what I did and the test passed :

 should  = require ("../npm/node_modules/should/should")
 { Snake } = require ("../src/Animal.coffee")

 describe 'sample', ->
    it 'should pass', ->
      (new Snake "Venomous python").should.be.an.instanceOf(Snake)

answered Apr 15, 2014 at 16:32

Setafire

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3 Comments

Setafire Over a year ago

This was silly, but let me explain. I am using Sublime Text 2 as my editor. For some reason, it was not being able to comprehend the indentation on the line where I use the snake object, although to me it looked properly aligned with the one where its being created. So, the next object was falling out of scope. A little erasing and rewriting did the trick. And it works now! Yucks! Indentation-based scoping!

dule Over a year ago

Could it be that you had tabs instead of spaces (or vice versa)?

Setafire Over a year ago

Could be, I am not sure. I am new to coffeescript and this whole Node environment. So, I thought the problem was something I don't know about and people assisting me kept telling there was something wrong with the require. I guess, otherwise, the question would not even have landed here, I would have figured it out eventually.

Andrew_1510 · Accepted Answer · 2014-12-13 08:11:33Z

-1

I got test case broken randomly when using CoffeeScript 1.8.0, mocha 1.21.4.

The test case can be approved by hand, but it failed in mocha with strange exceptions like "undefined function...". Too trivial to copy the long long fails, exceptions, stack traces...

To solve it:

Enjoy the trouble
Commented out all failed testing cases
Try to use more javascript directly
Try to use other unit test tools, such as nodeunit
It sounds stupid, but when debugging becomes terrible, all happens, at least to me.

edited Dec 13, 2014 at 8:11

answered Dec 11, 2014 at 5:48

Andrew_1510

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