WinForms testing using NUnitForms

I've been spending a lot of time lately coding screens for a WinForms application. Although I've written unit tests for the server components, the client side is somewhat lacking. Each time I change a screen I have to manually test those changes and verify I didn't break anything. In an attempt at automating the process, I've started looking at NUnitForms, an extension to NUnit.

Setup

1) Install NUnitForms
2) Create a project for your NUnit tests. Configure NUnit as normal.
3) Add references to your application project, NUnitForms, System.Windows.Forms, and any third-party controls you use on your application's forms.
4) In the test fixtures, add 'using NUnit.Extensions.Forms'

Basic forms testing

Let's say my application under test (AUT) contains a form, Form1. The first step is to create and display an instance of that form

    Form1 testForm = new Form1();
    testForm.Show();

Say the form has a button - btnOne. Pressing the button programatically looks like this

    ButtonTester btnOneTester = new ButtonTester("btnOne");
    btnOneTester.Click();

Upon clicking this button, a label was updated with the everyone's favorite power tool. To verify

    LabelTester labelOneTester = new LabelTester("labelOne");
    Assert.AreEqual("Chainsaw", labelOneTester.Text, "Label text doesn't match expected");

Though it's not required, it's probably a good idea to close the form instead of letting it fall out of scope

    testForm.Close();

Using the hidden desktop

Running these tests on your local machine doesn't pose any issues. If you run them on a build server, however, you'll likely find that they fail - there's no window for the forms to be displayed in. Fortunately, you can send them to a hidden desktop.

To do so, your test fixture must inherit from NUnitFormTest. Then, add the following property to the class

    public override bool UseHidden
    {
        get { return true; }
    }

One warning - In most of my test fixtures, I tend to put common code in a [Setup] method. I'm finding that when I have this defined, forms are not being sent to the hidden desktop. I've not spent much time on it, so I'm not sure if it's something I'm doing wrong, or if it's a bug in the tool. I'll post more info if/when I figure it out.