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Update docs to include how to use lambdas within regular test cases?

Open robamu opened this issue 3 years ago • 2 comments

Hello,

The feature of nesting multiple sections into each other is really useful. Sometimes, I'd prefer something like functions though, where I can share the same code (which might include CHECKs and REQUIREs) across multiple sections. Maybe I missed something in the documentation, but I have found C++ lambdas to be extremely useful for this, and I can't use regular function definitions inside the TEST_CASE scope.

For example consider something like this

#include <catch2/catch_test_macros.hpp>

TEST_CASE("Test", "[test]") {
    uint32_t answer = 42;
    uint32_t foo = 10;

    auto sharedTestCode = [&](bool changeAnswer) {
        if(changeAnswer) {
            answer = foo;
        }
        CHECK(foo == 10);
    };

    SECTION("Section 0") {
        sharedTestCode(false);
        CHECK(answer == 42);
    }

    SECTION("Section 1") {
        sharedTestCode(true);
        CHECK(answer == 10);
    }

}

Do you think this is something worth mentioning in the doucmentation? Maybe this is also a case where a test fixture would be a better option in that case, but using lambdas has worked well enough for me to use the recommended way to use Catch2.

Kind Regards Robin Müller

robamu avatar Sep 06 '22 12:09 robamu

I do this all the time, isn't it just C++?

nandanvasudevan avatar Oct 04 '22 10:10 nandanvasudevan

One could argue it's just C++, but it is usually possible to do work in C++ without lambdas entirely, especially when coming from a C background. In the context of Catch2 I have not found a way to have something similar to functions inside a Catch2 test case without lambdas. That's why I though it might be a nice idea to mention/include it in the docs.

robamu avatar Oct 04 '22 17:10 robamu