Rationale

Some functions that connect to the testing data locally and remotely are provided. These functions initialise some variables of the ds.test_env environment, disconnect some existing connections and connects to the relevant testing table of the virtual machine.

These functions have been written with the following purpose:

The name of the function inform the developer about their purpose
Each function should be easy to use.
Each function complete one task at a time.
Each function promotes some code re-use
Each function enhances the maintenance of the testing framework.
The functions are grouped together based on their purpose, to promote a high cohesion and low coupling.

/test/testthat/connection_to_datasets/login_details.R

This R script sets many of the variables of the ds.test_env environment (see The testing environment ). Any of the values should be edited with care; any changes to the configuration may stop the tests running.

/test/testthat/connection_to_datasets/local_settings.csv

This file contains the IP address used for connecting to a virtual machine, used for the testing. It a comma-separated file made of one line. The default value should be as shown below. This settings depends on the set up in virtual box.

Functions provided by /test/testthat/connection_to_datasets/init_all_datasets.R

This script includes some functions to initialise the testing dataset remotely and locally and connect to a number of server available from the virtual machine. The main function are described below.

Function name	Description
connect.all.datasets()	Disconnect to any Opal servers currently connected. The three local datasets referred as ds.test_env$local.values.[1-3] and ds.test_env$local.values are initialised. The three tables of the TESTING dataset are made available. This function is useful to complete some tests on split and combined datasets. No value is returned.
connect.dataset.1()	Disconnect to any Opal servers currently connected. The local dataset referred as ds.test_env$local.values.1 is initialised The table TESTING. DATASET1 is made available This function is useful to complete some tests one server. No value is returned
connect.dataset.2()	Disconnect to any Opal servers currently connected. The local dataset referred as ds.test_env$local.values.2 is initialised The table TESTING. DATASET2 is made available This function is useful to complete some tests one server. No value is returned
connect.dataset.3()	Disconnect to any Opal servers currently connected. The local dataset referred as ds.test_env$local.values.3 is initialised The table TESTING. DATASET3 is made available This function is useful to complete some tests one server. No value is returned
init.all.datasets	Helper function - to connect.all.datasets() Initialise the local values, information to connect to the three servers, and all the columns provided by the TESTING datasets.
init.dataset.1	Helper function - to connect.dataset.1() Initialise the local values, information to connect to the server, and all the columns provided by the TESTING.DATASET1.
init.all.datasets	Helper function - to connect.dataset.2() Initialise the local values, information to connect to the server, and all the columns provided by the TESTING.DATASET2.
init.all.datasets	Helper function - to connect.dataset.3() Initialise the local values, information to connect to the server, and all the columns provided by the TESTING.DATASET3.

Additional reading:

Functions provided by /test/testthat/connection_to_datasets/init_local_settings.R

This script provides two functions that determine the computer environment used to execute the tests; The latter can be a cloud platform (GitHub and Microsoft Azure) or a local environment (a DataSHIELD develop personally computer with a virtual machine).

Function name	Description
init.ip.address()	Initialise the local settings from the execution path Identifies the specified IP address of the virtual machine or the local host (that is 127.0.0.1) Returns the IP address
init.local.settings()	build the current path to the local_settings.csv file return the absolute path of local_settings.csv file

Installing the DataSHIELD testing framework

To install the testing framework, download the Template Testing R project from repository listed below.. Then copy the tests folder in an empty R project or existing DataSHIELD R project. https://github.com/patRyserWelch8/ds.TestingTemplateRProject/tree/master/tests/testthat

Connecting to the Testing dataset