EDIT 2016-10-19:
The original question was about an issue specific to VS2015 CTP6 with the XUnit test runner. It's clear from the answers that there is a much broader issue with unit test discovery in Visual Studio which may occur in many different situations. I have cleaned up my question to reflect that.
I have also included a script in my own answer that I still use to this day to solve similar problems when they appear.
Many other answers have also proven helpful in better understanding the intricacies of the VS test runner. I appreciate that people are still sharing their solutions!
Original question 2015-04-10:
Since yesterday, my Visual Studio Test Explorer won't discover tests for any of my projects. It does not show the green loading bar after building, either.
When I go to the Visual Studio Test Explorer and click "Run All", or when I right-click any test method and select "Run Tests", I get the following in my output window:
Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.ProjectSystem, Version=14.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.
I am running Visual Studio 2015 CTP 6 on Windows 10 Pro Technical Preview, build 10041. The .NET Framework version does not seem to matter - it happens on 4.0, 4.5.2 and 4.6.
I tried with the following testing frameworks and all of them give the same behavior:
Microsoft.VisualStudio.QualityTools.UnitTestFramework v14.0.22609.0
xunit v2.1.0-beta1-build2945 with xunit.runner.visualstudio v2.1.0-beta1-build1051
NUnit v2.6.4 with NUnitTestAdapter v2.0.0
I found an issue on GitHub (xunit) that appeared to be similar: Cannot get tests discovered #295, with this comment from the xunit team:
Be aware that Visual Studio 2015 CTP 5 has been reported to be broken
by many people with unit testing in general (not just xUnit.net), so
don't expect that to work.
Also, please make sure you've cleaned out Visual Studio's runner
cache. If it gets corrupted, Visual Studio will permanently misbehave
until it's deleted. To clear the cache, shut down all instances of
Visual Studio, then delete the folder
%TEMP%\VisualStudioTestExplorerExtensions (honestly, it probably
wouldn't hurt to delete everything in %TEMP% that can be deleted).
I tried their suggestion to delete the folder %TEMP%\VisualStudioTestExplorerExtensions. Unfortunately that did not fix the problem.
I noticed that ReSharper actually is able to discover some tests. It only works for the VS and NUnit tests, not for xunit.
There has to be some sort of temp or cache folder I need to clear, but I know Visual Studio has many of them and not all of them can be deleted without unwanted side-effects.
To my surprise, clearing temp files located in the %TEMP% directory resolved the issue for me.
Note: This path is generally at C:\Users\(yourusername)\AppData\Local\Temp
As #Warren-P included, you can navigate to the temp folder by putting in %temp% in Start Menu, or launch "File Explorer" and enter %temp% in the address bar.
It could be that your code is compiled with x64 therefore have to enable the Default Processor Architecture as X64.
Test > Test Settings > Default Processor Architecture > X64
Check out, if NUnit Test Adapter 2/3 is installed in VisualStudio.
(Tools>Extensions and Updates )
Make sure that correct processor architecture is chosen:
(Test>Test Settings>Default Processor Architecture)
EDIT 2016-10-19 (PowerShell script)
This issue still returns every now and then. I wrote a small PowerShell snippet to automate clearing the relevant cache/temp folder/files for me. I'm sharing it here for future readers:
#(
"$env:TEMP"
"$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Microsoft\UnitTest"
"$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Microsoft\VisualStudio\14.0\1033\SpecificFolderCache.xml"
"$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Microsoft\VisualStudio\14.0\1033\ProjectTemplateMRU.xml"
"$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Microsoft\VisualStudio\14.0\ComponentModelCache"
"$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Microsoft\VisualStudio\14.0\Designer\ShadowCache"
"$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Microsoft\VisualStudio\14.0\ImageLibrary\cache"
"$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Microsoft\VisualStudio Services\6.0\Cache"
"$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Microsoft\WebsiteCache"
"$env:LOCALAPPDATA\NuGet\Cache"
) |% { Remove-Item -Path $_ -Recurse -Force }
Make sure to close Visual Studio beforehand and it's probably a good idea to reboot afterwards.
Deleting the TEMP folder may not be necessary and may in some cases even be undesirable, so I would recommend trying without clearing the TEMP folder first. Just omit the "$env:TEMP".
Original answer 2015-04-12
The problem was "solved" after a thorough cleaning of Visual Studio-related temp/cache folders.
Since I did not have the time to go through everything one-by-one and then test in-between, I unfortunately don't know which one actually caused the problem.
These are the exact steps I've taken:
Closed Visual Studio
Used CCleaner to clear system and browser temp files/folders
Manually cleared/deleted the following files/folders:
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\assembly
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\UnitTest
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\VisualStudio\14.0\1033\SpecificFolderCache.xml
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\VisualStudio\14.0\1033\ProjectTemplateMRU.xml
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\VisualStudio\14.0\ComponentModelCache
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\VisualStudio\14.0\Designer\ShadowCache
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\VisualStudio\14.0\ImageLibrary\cache
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\VisualStudio Services\6.0\Cache
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WebsiteCache
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\NuGet\Cache
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Temp
One reason for this problem is that your test class is not public. MSTest only discovers tests from public classes.
In Visual Studio 2015(Update 3) if you want to attach the tests in the test explorer then have to install the NUnit Test Adapter.Download the adapter from Tools->Extension And Updates->Online tab(you have to search for the adapter)->Download.
By restarting the Visual Studio you can see the change for the test framework.
I don't have a complete answer to this, but I have determined some things by playing with a test project:
The xunit.runner.aspnet : 2.0.0-aspnet-beta4 that appears to be part of the official beta4 aspnet5 release does not work in Visual Studio.
Instead, using "xunit": "2.1.0-*" and "xunit-runner.dnx": "2.1.0-*" packages DO work in Visual Studio.
In order for VS to discover the tests, your project MUST have a SINGLE command named "test" that runs "xunit.runner.dnx". Adding additional commands may break it.
If your Test Explorer window still ends up empty, REMOVE the "test" command from your project, then re-build the solution, then add the "test" command back to the project.json.
Clearing all your caches as per #Fred-Kleuver 's suggestion may help, but I haven't done all the steps in isolation, so I'm not sure.
This is current as per VS 2015 CTP 6, using the beta4 releases, not the dailies.
I had an instance where some tests would not be picked up because I had made them async like the following:
public async void This_IsMy_UnitTest()
The problem was I forgot to make them return a Task and not void when I did the switch-over. One would think this would cause an error or failed test but nope. The unit tests in that class were fully ignored and acted like they didn't exist.
It wasn't after about 3 clean and builds + restarting VS.NET that I saw the test run and fail indicating I forgot to add the Task return type:
public async Task This_IsMy_UnitTest()
After the update, the unit tests were found and worked correctly. This might be an edge case, but having async tests for using await within but not having the signature correct can cause this same issue and it's not the 1st time I've done this.
Go to Nuget package manager and download Nunit Adapter as follow.
I had the same pronlem but the folder "%TEMP%\VisualStudioTestExplorerExtensions" did not exist on my machine so as i read the posts i had the idea to create it and it works. The test explorer is now able to show all my tests.
Thanks.
Just restart Visual Studio and in Test Explorer do "Run All" ... All my tests are discovered then.
In my case (Visual Studio Enterprise 2015 14.0.25425.01 Update 3, Resharper 2016.2) I just needed to do a clean solution from the Build menu. Rebuilding the solution then cause the test explorer to "wake up" and find all the tests again.
The solution in my case was just to install the NUnit 3 Test Adapter extension to my Visual Studio 2015.
In my case, the problem was "between the chair and keyboard". I had switched to a configuration in the Configuration Manager which did not include my unit test projects on build. Switching back to a configuration (e.g. Debug) which includes all projects fixed the issue.
In my case, MSTest under VS 2015 was ignoring tests with test (i.e. method) names that were longer than 174 characters. Shortening the name allowed the test to be visible. This was determined via guess-and-check by manipulating the test name.
This probably won't help most people, but someone inexperienced at unit testing had written a test method that returned bool instead of void:
[TestMethod]
public bool TestSomething()
Changing the return type to void fixed the problem.
Ensure you have xunit.runner.visualstudio package in your test project packages.config and also that was correctly restored.
I know this was not the case of the original question however it could save time for someone like me.
I would just like to add that I found an entirely different solution to the ones above.
I had declared my test class as below:
[TestClass]
class ClassificationTests
{
//unit tests
}
As soon as I added the public modifier to the class, it worked as expected!
This topic is somewhat outdated, but my solution to the missing Test status in VS2015:
The task-status only shows up on the Debug buildconfiguration. Ofcourse this also makes it impossible to debug your test through the test-explorer.
Somehow my project was set to compile as a Static Library (.lib). After changing this to a Dynamic Library (.dll), tests where discovered correctly by Visual Studio 2012.
My Unit Test Project ->
Properties ->
Configuration Properties ->
General ->
Configuration Type
If you're targetting .NET Standard or .NET Core, you need to use the NuGet package for NUnit Test Adapter and not the extension.
It is recommended to install the adapter from NuGet if you are testing .NET Core or .NET Standard projects. The VSIX adapter does not, and will not, support .NET Core because VSIX packages cannot target multiple platforms.
Source: NUnit GitHub Wiki
.
Also check the FAQ there:
My tests aren't showing up in Visual Studio 2017?
Are you using the NuGet package?
Are you using version 3.8.0 or newer of the NuGet package?
Do your tests target .NET Core or the full .NET Framework? (see above)
Have you added a Package Reference to Microsoft.NET.Test.Sdk?
Have you restarted Visual Studio? It is still a bit tempermental.
Source: NUnit GitHub Wiki
This happened to me because my test project contained an app.config.
It was automatically added by NuGet packages for assembly redirection, but my tests seemed to run fine without it.
See: https://developercommunity.visualstudio.com/comments/42858/view.html.
I had the same problem. I just cleaned and rebuilt the project and I was able to see the tests that were missing.
Popping in to share my solution. I was on Windows 10, Visual Studio 2015, NUnit 3.5, NUnit Test Adapter 3.6 (via NuGet, not the VISX extension) and none of my tests were being discovered. My problem was that in the Tests project of my solution, somehow a shortcut to my "Documents" folder had been created within the project folder. I'm guessing the test adapter was seeing the shortcut and getting hung up trying to figure out what to do with it, resulting in the failure to display unit tests.
Deleting the file \AppData\Local\Microsoft\VisualStudio\14.0\1033\SpecificFolderCache.xml solved the issue for me.
I was also bitten by this wonderful little feature and nothing described here worked for me. It wasn't until I double-checked the build output and noticed that the pertinent projects weren't being built. A visit to configuration manager confirmed my suspicions.
Visual Studio 2015 had happily allowed me to add new projects but decided that it wasn't worth building them. Once I added the projects to the build it started playing nicely.
I resolved it by changing X64 to :
Right click on project -> Properties -> Build -> Platform target -> Any CPU
It was so easy for me to fix the issue as:
Select your Unit Test Project
Click on 'Show All Files' button in the Solution Explorer and new temporary files appeared in the file tree of the Solution Explorer within 'obj\x86\Debug'.
Delete these temporary files and rebuild project.
Retried to run tests and worked!.
We had the same problem. We have a big VS 2015 solution with multiple C# projects in it and even more test projects.
Resharper's test discovery worked just fine, but VS Test Explorer failed miserably.
Turns out that the projects didn't have the same version of MsTest TestFramework and TestAdapter, and that sometimes they used NuGets and other times good old references, and that is not supported apparently (so much for such an expensive IDE).
Removing all Microsoft.VisualStudio.Test* references and then adding / updating the two MSTest NuGets fixed the problem.
I solved this problem by realizing that the Target Framework for my test project was different than the project under test. Yes, I caused this problem by changing the target framework from the default (Project>Properties>Application), but failed to this this for the test project, which was created several weeks later. The mismatch did not cause a compiler error, but it did result in a warning in the Error List window. Once I selected the option to display warnings, the solution was obvious.
I have a Windows 8 Store App with two projects within the solution - one project exclusively for tests. I have added NUnit and NUnit Test Adapter (https://www.nuget.org/packages/NUnitTestAdapter/1.0.0) for this through nuget.
My tests are detected - but I cannot run or debug them. Looking at the test output window, I get the following error:
Could not find test executor with URI 'executor://nunittestexecutor/'. Make sure that the test executor is installed and supports .net runtime version 4.0.30319.34003.
I am not using resharper and I am using Visual Studio Professional 2012 Update 3 on Windows 8.1. References for the test project are as follows:
Based on my comments above, below is a workaround. Unfortunately at this stage, Windows 8.1 store Unit Test project types, using NUnit extension wouldn't work due to the different .NET targets. I tried with different Test Unit Adapters including an NUnitTestAdapterWithFramework.
It seems that the issue you haveing was occurring with standard .NET libraries targeting NUnit test adapter but the above NUnitTestAdapterWithFramework must have fixed those issue. See the Q & A section of the NUnitTestExtension
But unfortunatly it seems that this still of an issue that hasn't been fixed for Win8 Store App type Unit Testing. Pretty sure xUnit.NET also not compatible yet with different .NET target types (i,e WinRT)
So what are the options?
a. For your group, you can change them to use MSTest framework. Outcome - Problem Solved no issues.
b. Workaround "linked project". Outcome - Can't *guarantee** but this should also work.
With option 'b'
In your comment you mentioned.
but I'm still not sure what it does or how to implement a 'linked
project', do you have any more information on this? Also, as this is
for a group university project, I was hoping i wouldn't have to force
too many workarounds
When you think about it, it is not really hard work around. It is simple and I'm sure your group would be able to apply this workaround easily.
Please follow the below steps.
Create a separate class library in your solution (you can target .NET framework 4).
Then add NUnit assemblies and the NUnit test adapter as usual.
Right click on this project and select 'Add' then 'Existing Item'
Select the Win8 Store Unit Test project and locate the Unit Test file you want to add. When you add the file, make sure you select 'Add As a Link' button. Please see below.
Now rebuild the solution, close and re-open the UnitTest explorer and you should be able to run those tests.
*The reason I said can't guaranteed. I haven't really written Unit tests against Win8 App. So if your SUT (System Under Test) require special configuration it might cause issues. But I'm not sure.
Finally creating a link files are not that hard if everything works you can continue to do this until NUnit has the support for Win8 Unit Testing. Or the other option is simply change all your Unit Tests to use MSTest framework if possible.
In our solution we have several test projects. Most of them contain unit tests that run fast but some are for integration, acceptance and UI tests which take quite some time to finish.
Now I'd like to have a convenient way of running only the unit tests. Either by using the hotkey to run all or using the new feature to run tests after each build.
Unfortunately VS also runs all the slow tests as well. In VS10 I grouped the tests in Test View by project and selected only the ones containing unit tests. It's not as easy as I wished it to be but at least it was possible. Now there doesn't seem to be a way around running all tests in a solution.
The only alternative that I see at the moment is to remove all but the unit tests from the solution but this would limit the refactoring capabilities.
So does anyone know how to easily group and run only unit tests in the new VS?
In Visual Studio 2012 Update 1 CTP, Test Explorer has added the option to group tests by Project or Traits (Categories).
Please go to this link to see what's new there.
You can use the search filter in Unit Text Explorer.
In the new Test Exlorer shipped with 2012, you can group tests by 'Test Results', 'FileName',... etc but in RTM build group/search by 'TestCategory' is not present from Test Explorer. However there is a filter in commandline and TeamBuild based on TestCategory (Running selective unit tests in VS 2012 RC using TestCaseFilter) in VS2012.
From a member of VS dev Team, they understood the importance of this missing feature. It is in the backlog, and it should be available in furutre builds/updates.
The following blog provides more details: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/vikramagrawal/archive/2012/07/23/running-selective-unit-tests-in-vs-2012-rc-using-testcasefilter.aspx
As of Visual Studio 2012 Update 2 (currently on CTP) now we are able to run a subset of unit test using "Playlists" or based on "Lists & Classes". More information here: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudioalm/archive/2013/01/30/first-ctp-for-visual-studio-update-2.aspx#playlists
Original Answer:
AFAIK, The new unit testing framework in VS2012 "supports selective execution based on filtering condition through TestCaseFilter". Unfortunately, currently there is not support to do this through the user interface but it is in the product group's backlog. You can use this approach through Test Build or command line. Please refer to the following blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/vikramagrawal/archive/2012/07/23/running-selective-unit-tests-in-vs-2012-rc-using-testcasefilter.aspx
EDIT: Following the MSDN documentation to use test categories to group tests.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd286595.aspx
Also, refer to this question: How to exclude certain tests in the Visual Studio 2012 Test Runner?
It shows an example of filtering based on the test path.
I'd recommend using TestDriven.Net. Group all Unit Testing projects in one solution folder, and all other tests in another. Then just right click the "Unit Tests" folder and choose "Run All Tests". I always favor this great test runner of the VS native testing tools.
Another approach is using NCrunch - It runs all you tests in the background while you code. It handles integration tests pretty well, as they run in parallel, in the background so it doesn't block you (you also choose which test projects are run). One catch though - I believe it doesn't support VS2012 yet, but probably soon.
I was also missing this feature... (We did the same as you did: grouping by project or sometimes by namespace). But I found that I could somehow workaround this using the test explorer search capabilities:
https://msmvps.com/blogs/deborahk/archive/2012/09/16/searching-and-grouping-in-vs-2012-test-explorer.aspx
In my case I could identify the specific tests I needed to run using the search filter on FullName (use dropdown on search box, or type FullName:"UnitTest")
Its not the same, but it works for me
I have 80+ VS2010 solutions, each contains some unit test projects.
All solutions are merged into one big solution before build process.
All tests (or some test subset) are executed after the successful build.
I want to enable test code coverage for all tests to get exact code coverage for all output assemblies.
My question is: how to enable code coverage without using Visual Studio?
Note: I'm using TFS2010 (MSBuild) to build merged solution. VS 2010 Premium is installed on the build server. MSTest is used for test execution.
You can use JetBrain's TeamCity Professional. It is a CI server that supports executing unit tests and calculating code coverage. It is free for small installations.
I think you need to consider deploying a code coverage tool, see here for a comparison (provided you implement .net).We use NCover, which integrated in our TFS-Build in it's console variant and, although it's not trivial to set it up, we 're very satisfied with it.In this post I had briefly described how we inserted NCoverin our build, this might we useful to you even if you go with another tool.
If you create a Vsmdi file in your large solution (ms test will usually do this for you) you can use this to tell the build which assemblies you want to instrument.
This will only provide code coverage for assemblies that have tests run against them. If you're using testrun.config files to decide which tests you want to run, this should be all you need. The code coverage results should then be published to the build drop location
Edit:
This blog post looks like it covers setting up code coverage