Mocha tests with extra options or parameters

Question

I am writing test cases for my Node.js application using Mocha. The test cases need an API key as an extra input option or parameter. The API key is private, so I don\'t wan

Answer 1

A simple way, using process.argv that contain the command line args

$ mocha  -w test/*.js --KEY=YOUR_VALUE

Later, you can get YOUR_VALUE in your code:

let LAST_PARAM = process.argv[process.argv.length-1]

let PARAM_NAME  = LAST_PARAM.split("=")[0].replace("--","")
let PARAM_VALUE = LAST_PARAM.split("=")[1]

console.log("KEY: ", PARAM_VALUE)

To see all process.argv:

process.argv.forEach((value, index) => {
        console.log(`process.argv[${index}]: ${value}`);
})

Output:

$ mocha  -w test/*.js --KEY=YOUR_VALUE

KEY:  YOUR_VALUE
process.argv[0]: /usr/local/bin/node
process.argv[1]: /Users/pabloin/.npm-packages/lib/node_modules/mocha/bin/_mocha
process.argv[2]: -w
process.argv[3]: test/tt.js
process.argv[4]: test/tt2.js
process.argv[5]: --KEY=YOUR_VALUE

KEY:  YOUR_VALUE
process.argv[0]: /usr/local/bin/node
process.argv[1]: /Users/pabloin/.npm-packages/lib/node_modules/mocha/bin/_mocha
process.argv[2]: -w
process.argv[3]: test/tt.js
process.argv[4]: test/tt2.js
process.argv[5]: --KEY=YOUR_VALUE

Answer 2

I have been reading quite some answers, most of them more complex than the actual solution has to be.

Let's say I have config.yml or config.json. In my case it's a YAML file.

First of all I install the yamljs dependency. It has a function called load.

Basically what I do:

const YAML = require('yamljs'); const ymlConfig = YAML.load('./config.yml');

Then I go for:

process.env.setting1 = ymlConfig.setting1; process.env.setting2 = ymlConfig.setting2;

And of course - this is all done in your test file.

Answer 3

if you are debugging/testing with Mocha sidebar (VS Code extension), just put it:

{
    "mocha.env": {
        "KEY": "YOUR_KEY",
        "MY_VARIABLE": "MY VALUE"
    }
}

at .vscode/settings.json

Answer 4

One of the easiest ways to pass parameters similar to the process.argv[index] method mentioned in this thread is using the npm config variables. This allows you to see the variable name a little more clearly:

test command:

npm --somevariable=myvalue run mytest

package.json:

"scripts": {
"mytest": "mocha ./test.js" }

test.js

console.log(process.env.npm_config_somevariable) // should evaluate to "myvalue"