Add tutorial on integration testing (#4881)

* tutorial/integration_testing: first draft

Signed-off-by: Arne Baeyens <[email protected]>
Co-authored-by: Chris Lalancette <[email protected]>
Co-authored-by: Tomoya Fujita <[email protected]>
Co-authored-by: Katherine Scott <[email protected]>

Author: 4 people

source/Tutorials/Intermediate/Testing/Integration.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,273 @@
+Writing Basic Integration Tests with launch_testing
+===================================================
+
+**Goal:** Create and run integration tests on the ROS 2 turtlesim node.
+
+**Tutorial level:** Intermediate
+
+**Time:** 20 minutes
+
+.. contents:: Contents
+   :depth: 2
+   :local:
+
+Prerequisites
+-------------
+
+Before starting this tutorial, it is recommended to have completed the following tutorials on launching nodes:
+
+* :doc:`Launching Multiple Nodes <../../Beginner-CLI-Tools/Launching-Multiple-Nodes/Launching-Multiple-Nodes>`
+* :doc:`Creating Launch files <../../Intermediate/Launch/Creating-Launch-Files>`
+
+Background
+----------
+
+Where unit tests focus on validating a very specific piece of functionality, integration tests focus on validating the interaction between pieces of code.
+In ROS 2 this is often accomplished by launching a system of one or several nodes, for example the `Gazebo simulator <https://gazebosim.org/home>`__ and the `Nav2 navigation <https://github.com/ros-planning/navigation2.git>`__ stack.
+As a result, these tests are more complex both to set up and to run.
+
+A key aspect of ROS 2 integration testing is that nodes that are part of different tests shouldn't communicate with each other, even when run in parallel.
+This will be achieved here using a specific test runner that picks unique :doc:`ROS domain IDs <../../../Concepts/Intermediate/About-Domain-ID>`.
+In addition, integration tests have to fit in the overall testing workflow.
+A standardized approach is to ensure each test outputs an XUnit file, which are easily parsed using common test tooling.
+
+Overview
+--------
+
+The main tool in use here is the `launch_testing <https://docs.ros.org/en/{DISTRO}/p/launch_testing/index.html>`_ package
+(`launch_testing repository <https://github.com/ros2/launch/tree/{REPOS_FILE_BRANCH}/launch_testing>`_).
+This ROS-agnostic functionality can extend a Python launch file with both active tests (that run while the nodes are also running) and post-shutdown tests (which run once after all nodes have exited).
+``launch_testing`` relies on the Python standard module `unittest <https://docs.python.org/3/library/unittest.html>`_ for the actual testing.
+To get our integration tests run as part of ``colcon test``, we register the launch file in the ``CMakeLists.txt``.
+
+Steps
+-----
+
+1 Describe the test in the test launch file
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+Both the nodes under test and the tests themselves are launched using a Python launch file, which resembles a ROS 2 Python launch file.
+It is customary to make the integration test launch file names follow the pattern ``test/test_*.py``.
+
+There are two common types of tests in integration testing: active tests, which run while the nodes under test are running, and post-shutdown tests, which are run after exiting the nodes.
+We will cover both in this tutorial.
+
+1.1 Imports
+~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+We first start by importing the Python modules we will be using.
+Only two modules are specific to testing: the general-purpose ``unittest``, and ``launch_testing``.
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+  import os
+  import sys
+  import time
+  import unittest
+
+  import launch
+  import launch_ros
+  import launch_testing.actions
+  import rclpy
+  from turtlesim.msg import Pose
+
+1.2 Generate the test description
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+The function ``generate_test_description`` describes what to launch, similar to ``generate_launch_description`` in a ROS 2 Python launch file.
+In the example below, we launch the turtlesim node and half a second later our tests.
+
+In more complex integration test setups, you will probably want to launch a system of several nodes, together with additional nodes that perform mocking or must otherwise interact with the nodes under test.
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+  def generate_test_description():
+      return (
+          launch.LaunchDescription(
+              [
+                  # Nodes under test
+                  launch_ros.actions.Node(
+                      package='turtlesim',
+                      namespace='',
+                      executable='turtlesim_node',
+                      name='turtle1',
+                  ),
+                  # Launch tests 0.5 s later
+                  launch.actions.TimerAction(
+                      period=0.5, actions=[launch_testing.actions.ReadyToTest()]),
+              ]
+          ), {},
+      )
+
+1.3 Active tests
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+The active tests interact with the running nodes.
+In this tutorial, we will check whether the turtlesim node publishes pose messages (by listening to the node's 'turtle1/pose' topic) and whether it logs that it spawned the turtle (by listening to stderr).
+
+The active tests are defined as methods of a class inheriting from `unittest.TestCase <https://docs.python.org/3/library/unittest.html#unittest.TestCase>`_.
+The child class, here ``TestTurtleSim``, contains the following methods:
+
+- ``test_*``: the test methods, each performing some ROS communication with the nodes under test and/or listening to the process output (passed in through ``proc_output``).
+  They are executed sequentially.
+- ``setUp``, ``tearDown``: respectively run before (to prepare the test fixture) and after executing each test method.
+  By creating the node in the ``setUp`` method, we use a different node instance for each test to reduce the risk of tests communicating with each other.
+- ``setUpClass``, ``tearDownClass``: these class methods respectively run once before and after executing all the test methods.
+
+It's highly recommended to go through `launch_testing's detailed documentation on this topic <https://docs.ros.org/en/{DISTRO}/p/launch_testing/index.html>`_.
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+  # Active tests
+  class TestTurtleSim(unittest.TestCase):
+      @classmethod
+      def setUpClass(cls):
+          rclpy.init()
+
+      @classmethod
+      def tearDownClass(cls):
+          rclpy.shutdown()
+
+      def setUp(self):
+          self.node = rclpy.create_node('test_turtlesim')
+
+      def tearDown(self):
+          self.node.destroy_node()
+
+      def test_publishes_pose(self, proc_output):
+          """Check whether pose messages published"""
+          msgs_rx = []
+          sub = self.node.create_subscription(
+              Pose, 'turtle1/pose',
+              lambda msg: msgs_rx.append(msg), 100)
+          try:
+              # Listen to the pose topic for 10 s
+              end_time = time.time() + 10
+              while time.time() < end_time:
+                  # spin to get subscriber callback executed
+                  rclpy.spin_once(self.node, timeout_sec=1)
+              # There should have been 100 messages received
+              assert len(msgs_rx) > 100
+          finally:
+              self.node.destroy_subscription(sub)
+
+      def test_logs_spawning(self, proc_output):
+          """Check whether logging properly"""
+          proc_output.assertWaitFor(
+              'Spawning turtle [turtle1] at x=',
+              timeout=5, stream='stderr')
+
+Note that the way we listen to the 'turtle1/pose' topic in ``test_publishes_pose`` differs from :doc:`the usual approach <../../Beginner-Client-Libraries/Writing-A-Simple-Py-Publisher-And-Subscriber>`.
+Instead of calling the blocking ``rclpy.spin``, we trigger the ``spin_once`` method - which executes the first available callback (our subscriber callback if a message arrived within 1 second) - until we have gathered all messages published over the last 10 seconds.
+The package `launch_testing_ros <https://docs.ros.org/en/{DISTRO}/p/launch_testing_ros/index.html>`_ provides some convenience functions to achieve similar behavior,
+such as `WaitForTopics <https://docs.ros.org/en/{DISTRO}/p/launch_testing_ros/launch_testing_ros.wait_for_topics.html>`_.
+
+If you want to go further, you can implement a third test that publishes a twist message, asking the turtle to move, and subsequently checks that it moved by asserting that the pose message changed.
+This effectively automates part of the `Turtlesim introduction tutorial <../../Beginner-CLI-Tools/Introducing-Turtlesim/Introducing-Turtlesim>`.
+
+1.4 Post-shutdown tests
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+The classes marked with the ``launch_testing.post_shutdown_test`` decorator are run after letting the nodes under test exit.
+A typical test here is whether the nodes exited cleanly, for which ``launch_testing`` provides the method
+`asserts.assertExitCodes <https://docs.ros.org/en/{DISTRO}/p/launch_testing/launch_testing.asserts.html#launch_testing.asserts.assertExitCodes>`_.
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+  # Post-shutdown tests
+  @launch_testing.post_shutdown_test()
+  class TestTurtleSimShutdown(unittest.TestCase):
+      def test_exit_codes(self, proc_info):
+          """Check if the processes exited normally."""
+          launch_testing.asserts.assertExitCodes(proc_info)
+
+2 Register the test in the CMakeLists.txt
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+Registering the test in the ``CMakeLists.txt`` fulfills two functions:
+
+- it integrates it in the ``CTest`` framework ROS 2 CMake-based packages rely on
+  (and hence it will be called when running ``colcon test``).
+- it allows to specify *how* the test is to be run -
+  in this case, with a unique domain id to ensure test isolation.
+
+This latter aspect is realized using the special test runner `run_test_isolated.py <https://github.com/ros2/ament_cmake_ros/blob/{REPOS_FILE_BRANCH}/ament_cmake_ros/cmake/run_test_isolated.py>`_.
+To ease adding several integration tests, we define the CMake function ``add_ros_isolated_launch_test`` such that each additional test requires only a single line.
+
+.. code-block:: cmake
+
+  cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.8)
+  project(app)
+
+  ########
+  # test #
+  ########
+
+  if(BUILD_TESTING)
+    # Integration tests
+    find_package(ament_cmake_ros REQUIRED)
+    find_package(launch_testing_ament_cmake REQUIRED)
+    function(add_ros_isolated_launch_test path)
+      set(RUNNER "${ament_cmake_ros_DIR}/run_test_isolated.py")
+      add_launch_test("${path}" RUNNER "${RUNNER}" ${ARGN})
+    endfunction()
+    add_ros_isolated_launch_test(test/test_integration.py)
+  endif()
+
+3 Dependencies and package organization
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+Finally, add the following dependencies to your ``package.xml``:
+
+.. code-block:: XML
+
+  <test_depend>ament_cmake_ros</test_depend>
+  <test_depend>launch</test_depend>
+  <test_depend>launch_ros</test_depend>
+  <test_depend>launch_testing</test_depend>
+  <test_depend>launch_testing_ament_cmake</test_depend>
+  <test_depend>rclpy</test_depend>
+  <test_depend>turtlesim</test_depend>
+
+After following the above steps, your package (here named 'app') ought to look as follows:
+
+.. code-block::
+
+  app/
+    CMakeLists.txt
+    package.xml
+    tests/
+        test_integration.py
+
+Integration tests can be part of any ROS package.
+One can dedicate one or more packages to just integration testing, or alternatively add them to the package of which they test the functionality.
+In this tutorial, we go with the first option as we will test the existing turtlesim node.
+
+4 Running tests and report generation
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+For running the integration test and examining the results, see the tutorial :doc:`Running Tests in ROS 2 from the Command Line<../../Intermediate/Testing/CLI>`.
+
+Summary
+-------
+
+In this tutorial, we explored the process of creating and running integration tests on the ROS 2 turtlesim node.
+We discussed the integration test launch file and covered writing active tests and post-shutdown tests.
+To recap, the four key elements of the integration test launch file are:
+
+* The function ``generate_test_description``: This launches our nodes under tests as well as our tests.
+* ``launch_testing.actions.ReadyToTest()``: This alerts the test framework that the tests should be run, and ensures that the active tests and the nodes are run together.
+* An undecorated class inheriting from ``unittest.TestCase``: This houses the active tests, including set up and teardown, and gives access to ROS logging through ``proc_output``.
+* A second class inheriting from ``unittest.TestCase`` decorated with ``@launch_testing.post_shutdown_test()``: These are tests that run after all nodes have shutdown; it is common to assert that the nodes exited cleanly.
+
+The launch test is subsequently registered in the ``CMakeLists.txt`` using the custom cmake macro ``add_ros_isolated_launch_test`` which ensures that each launch test runs with a unique ``ROS_DOMAIN_ID``,
+avoiding undesired cross communication.
+
+Related content
+---------------
+
+* :doc:`Why automatic tests? <../../Intermediate/Testing/Testing-Main>`
+* :doc:`C++ unit testing with GTest <../../Intermediate/Testing/Cpp>`
+  and :doc:`Python unit testing with Pytest <../../Intermediate/Testing/Python>`
+* `launch_pytest documentation <https://docs.ros.org/en/{DISTRO}/p/launch_pytest/index.html>`_,
+  an alternative launch integration testing package to ``launch_testing``

source/Tutorials/Intermediate/Testing/Testing-Main.rst

@@ -41,4 +41,5 @@ Available Tutorials:
    CLI
    Cpp
    Python
+   Integration
    BuildFarmTesting