.net SmokeTest is a Windows application that presents an interactive interface into any .net Assembly allowing you to smoke-test an API via reflection. You Construct an instance, call a method, set a property or field of any class Type from a dialog then view or "drill-down" into the result without ever writing a single line code. An indispensible tool for anyone involved in developing, testing and managing software products for Windows.
You can of course load any Assembly for smoke-testing however the default on startup lists all the in-process assemblies. One of these is the SmokeTest application itself which I will use to demonstrate the power and flexibility of .net SmokeTest.
Start the SmokeTest.exe application.
In the namespace tree on the left Navigate to the com.wesleysteiner.smoketest namespace and highlight the AboutBox class. You should see the AboutBox Constructors tab like this:
AboutBox is the managed class that displays the About .net SmokeTest dialog. This tutorial will demonstrate how you can invoke that dialog interactively. The same procedures apply to any class in the .net hierarchy.
The main application screen displays only the static members and constructors of the class-under-test in the panels on the right. Click on the other tabs to see what static members are available. Under the Properties tab you will notice a single static property AssemblyCopyright that returns a string.
Note that Properties and Fields will always "get" the current value automatically when you select it and display the result in the preview panel at the bottom. Constructors and Methods require that you invoke the function explicitly. The results of the last invocation are always displayed in the preview panel as a call to ToString(). Also the number of ticks and milliseconds to invoke the function are displayed on each call. In this case the "Set" button is disabled since this is a read-only property. For writable properties and fields an editable control would appear in the center of the panel where you could explicitly set the value.
So now, back to the AboutBox constructor tab. Select the single constructor and click on the "Create" button to create an instance of the AboutBox class.
Notice the "drill-down" button at the bottom right lights up with the name of the class just created. The drill-down button is common to any return result including built-in types and even Exceptions. Selecting this button will drill-down into the instance just created.
Click the drill-down button now. This will pop-up a smoketest dialog that lists the Methods, Properties and Fields of this instance of the AboutBox class. Now navigate to the ShowDialog method and click the "Call" button.
This will actually call the ShowDialog method of this AboutBox instance popping up the AboutBox dialog as would occur inside an application.
And there it is. Amazing isn't it!
You can also enter arguments for member functions that require them. For example here is the SmokeTest panel for System.IO.FileStream:
The current implementation supports the built-in argument types directly (int, string, bool, etc.) and any concrete reference types. Arguments are listed in the order they appear in the member declaration. Each argument row consists of the identifier name, an editable value control and a Type button. For built-in types and enums you can enter the value directly in the edit control provided. For reference types the program will create an instance of the class by calling it's default constructor if it exists. You can edit this default instance before invoking the member by clicking the "Edit..." button.
That's all there is to it. Now try it out with other classes and methods from your own Assemblies or just browse the Microsoft libraries. Enjoy!
