= FlexMock 0.5.0 Released

FlexMock is a flexible mocking library for use in Ruby's Test::Unit
test framework.  Version 0.5.0 adds the ability to automatically stub any
instance created by an existing class.

== New in 0.5.0

* flexstub(obj) will now accept a block argument in the same way that 
  flexmock() does.
  
* When stubbing Class objects, the any_instance method can be used to 
  automatically stub any instance object created by the class.  For 
  example, if you wish that any Connection object created during a test
  has a stubbed "send" method, you could do the following:
  
      def test_connections
        flexstub(Connection).any_instance do |new_con|
          new_con.should_receive(:send).and_return(0)
        end
        connection = Connection.new
        connection.send    # This calls the stubbed version of send.
      end

  Only objects created during the test will be automatically stubbed.  
  Existing objects are unaffected.

== What is FlexMock?

FlexMock is a flexible Ruby mocking library that works with Ruby's
Test::Unit framework to create easy to use mocks.

=== Features

* Easy integration with Test::Unit.  Mocks created with the flexmock
  method are automatically verified at the end of the test.

* A fluent interface that allows mock behavior to be specified very
  easily.

* A "record mode" where an existing implementation can record its
  interaction with a mock for later validation against a new
  implementation.

* Easy mocking of individual methods in existing, non-mock objects.

=== Example

Suppose you had a Dog object that wagged a tail when it was happy.
Something like this:

  class Dog
    def initialize(a_tail)
      @tail = a_tail
    end
    def happy
      @tail.wag
    end
  end

To test the +Dog+ class without a real +Tail+ object (perhaps because
real +Tail+ objects activate servos in some robotic equipment), you
can do something like this:

require 'test/unit'
require 'flexmock'

  class TestDog < Test::Unit::TestCase
    include FlexMock::TestCase

    def test_dog_wags_tail_when_happy
      tail = flexmock("tail")
      tail.should_receive(:wag).once
      dog = Dog.new(tail)
      dog.happy
    end
  end

FlexMock will automatically verify that the mocked tail object
received the message +wag+ exactly one time.  If it doesn't, the test
will not pass.

See the FlexMock documentation at
http://onestepback.org/software/flexmock for details on specifying
arguments and return values on mocked methods, as well as a simple
technique for mocking tail objects when the Dog class creates the tail
objects directly.

== Availability

You can make sure you have the latest version with a quick RubyGems command:

  gem install flexmock    (you may need root/admin privileges)

Otherwise, you can get it from the more traditional places:

Download::  http://rubyforge.org/project/showfiles.php?group_id=170

You will find documentation at:
http://onestepback.org/software/flexmock/

-- Jim Weirich

