Execution Orders

NSpec's Execution Order Demonstration. Visit http://nspec.org for full docs about NSpec. This wiki entry was created to help visualize the execution order of inherited and abstract classes, as well as that of before/afterAll methods and sub-contexts.

using NSpec;
using System;

namespace NSpecExecutionOrder
{
    abstract class parent_class : nspec // this can be either an abstract class, or just a class
    {
        public const int indentSize = 3;
        public static string order = "\n\n";
        public static int indent = 0;

        void Print(string s)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(s);
        }

        protected void Increase(string s)
        {
            Write(s);
            indent += indentSize;
        }

        protected void Decrease(string s)
        {
            indent -= indentSize;
            Write(s);
        }

        protected void Write(string s)
        {
            order += s.PadLeft(s.Length + indent);
        }

        void before_all()
        {
            Increase("parent: before all\n");
        }

        void before_each()
        {
            Write("parent: before each\n");
        }

        void act_each()
        {
            Write("parent: act each\n");
        }

        void it_works_parent_1()
        {
            Write("parent: it works 1\n");
        }

        void it_works_parent_2()
        {
            Write("parent: it works 2\n");
        }

        void after_each()
        {
            Write("parent: after each\n\n");
        }

        void after_all()
        {
            Decrease("parent: after all\n");
            Print(order);
        }
    }

    class child_class : parent_class
    {
        void before_all()
        {
            Increase("child: before all\n");
        }

        void before_each()
        {
            Write("child: before each\n");
        }

        void act_each()
        {
            Write("child: act each\n");
        }

        void it_works_child_3()
        {
            Write("child: it works 3\n");
        }

        void it_works_child_4()
        {
            Write("child: it works 4\n");
        }

        void after_each()
        {
            Write("child: after each\n");
        }

        void after_all()
        {
            Decrease("child: after all\n");
        }

        void method_level_context()
        {
            beforeAll = () => Increase("method: before all\n");

            before = () => Write("method: before each\n");

            act = () => Write("method: act each\n");

            it["it works method 5"] = () => Write("method: it works 5\n");

            it["it works method 6"] = () => Write("method: it works 6\n");

            after = () => Write("method: after each\n");

            afterAll = () => Decrease("method: after all\n");

            context["sub context"] = () =>
            {
                beforeAll = () => Increase("sub: before all\n");

                before = () => Write("sub: before each\n");

                act = () => Write("sub: act each\n");

                it["it works sub 7"] = () => Write("sub: it works 7 \n");

                it["it works sub 8"] = () => Write("sub: it works 8 \n");

                after = () => Write("sub: after each\n");

                afterAll = () => Decrease("sub: after all\n");
            };
        }
    }
}

And the output for the spec above. Take note, NSpec follows the RSpec convention of executing beforeAll blocks prior to executing beforeEach blocks when building a test context. This can be seen in the output where the child: before all block is executed prior to the parent: before each block.

parent: before all
   child: before all
      parent: before each
      child: before each
      parent: act each
      child: act each
      parent: it works 1
      child: after each
      parent: after each

      parent: before each
      child: before each
      parent: act each
      child: act each
      parent: it works 2
      child: after each
      parent: after each

      parent: before each
      child: before each
      parent: act each
      child: act each
      child: it works 3
      child: after each
      parent: after each

      parent: before each
      child: before each
      parent: act each
      child: act each
      child: it works 4
      child: after each
      parent: after each

      method: before all
         parent: before each
         child: before each
         method: before each
         parent: act each
         child: act each
         method: act each
         method: it works 5
         method: after each
         child: after each
         parent: after each

         parent: before each
         child: before each
         method: before each
         parent: act each
         child: act each
         method: act each
         method: it works 6
         method: after each
         child: after each
         parent: after each

         sub: before all
            parent: before each
            child: before each
            method: before each
            sub: before each
            parent: act each
            child: act each
            method: act each
            sub: act each
            sub: it works 7
            sub: after each
            method: after each
            child: after each
            parent: after each

            parent: before each
            child: before each
            method: before each
            sub: before each
            parent: act each
            child: act each
            method: act each
            sub: act each
            sub: it works 8
            sub: after each
            method: after each
            child: after each
            parent: after each

         sub: after all
      method: after all
   child: after all
parent: after all