Getting Started with xUnit.

net
(desktop)
In this article, we will demonstrate getting started with xUnit.net, showing you how to write and
run your first set of unit tests.

Create a class library project

Add a reference to xUnit.net
Write your first tests
Add a reference to xUnit.net console runner
Run tests with the xUnit.net console runner
Write your first theory
Run tests with Visual Studio
Console runner return codes

Note: The examples were done with xUnit.net v2.1. The version numbers and paths may differ for
you, depending on which version you're using.

Create a class library project

Let's start by creating a class library project, targeting .NET 4.5 (or later). Open Visual Studio,
and choose File > New > Project :
Add a reference to xUnit.net
In Solution Explorer, right click the new project, and choose Manage NuGet Packages :

Now in the NuGet package manager window, take the following steps:

1. On the left side, ensure nuget.org is selected under Online

2. In the search box in the upper right corner, type xunit
3. Select the xUnit.net package, and click Install
 This package ( xunit ) is what's called a meta-package; that is, it's a package that exists just so
you can get references to several other packages. In particular, it brings packages that include
the core unit testing framework and the assertion framework. If you open packages.config ,
you'll see all the packages that get referenced:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<packages>
<package id="xunit" version="2.1.0" targetFramework="net45" />
<package id="xunit.abstractions" version="2.0.0" targetFramework="net45" />
<package id="xunit.assert" version="2.1.0" targetFramework="net45" />
<package id="xunit.core" version="2.1.0" targetFramework="net45" />
<package id="xunit.extensibility.core" version="2.1.0" targetFramework="net4
5" />
<package id="xunit.extensibility.execution" version="2.1.0" targetFramework="n
et45" />
</packages>

Write your first tests

When you created the project, Visual Studio automatically created a file named Class1.cs and
opened it for you. Inside this class, add a couple tests:
 using Xunit;

namespace MyFirstUnitTests
{
public class Class1
{
[Fact]
public void PassingTest()
{
Assert.Equal(4, Add(2, 2));
}

[Fact]
public void FailingTest()
{
Assert.Equal(5, Add(2, 2));
}

int Add(int x, int y)

{
return x + y;
}
}
}

Build the solution to ensure that the code compiles. Now that you've written the first test, we
need a way to run it. Let's install the NuGet package with the console runner.

Add a reference to xUnit.net console runner

Once again, right click on the project in Solution Explorer and choose Manage NuGet Packages .
This time, you're going to search for (and install) a package named xunit.runner.console :
 Unlike the previous package (which added references to the unit testing framework), this
package is what's known as a solution-level package. Instead of having assemblies to reference,
it adds some tools in your solution folder. We will use one of these toolsthe console
runnerto run your unit tests.

Run tests with the xUnit.net console runner

Open a command prompt or PowerShell command window. In the window, navigate to the
root folder of your solution.

To run the console runner, use a command like the one hightlighted below. You should see
output similar to this:
 > packages\xunit.runner.console.2.1.0\tools\xunit.console MyFirstUnitTests\bin\D
ebug\MyFirstUnitTests.dll
xUnit.net console test runner (64-bit .NET 4.0.30319.34014)
Copyright (C) 2016 .NET Foundation.

Starting: MyFirstUnitTests.dll
MyFirstUnitTests.Class1.FailingTest [FAIL]
Assert.Equal() Failure
Expected: 5
Actual: 4
Stack Trace:
MyFirstUnitTests\Class1.cs(16,0): at MyFirstUnitTests.Class1.FailingTes
t()
Finished: MyFirstUnitTests.dll

=== TEST EXECUTION SUMMARY ===

MyFirstUnitTests.DLL Total: 2, Failed: 1, Skipped: 0, Time: 0.165s, Errors:
0

Note: your path names my vary, depending on what name you chose for your project and which
version of xUnit.net you installed.

The console runner has several command line options, which include options for parallelization, test
filtering, and result reporting. To learn more about the console runner options, run the console
runner with no command line options.

Now that we've gotten your first unit tests to run, let's introduce one more way to write tests:
using theories.

Write your first theory

You may have wondered why your first unit tests use an attribute named [Fact] rather than
one with a more traditional name like Test. xUnit.net includes support for two different major
types of unit tests: facts and theories. When describing the difference between facts and
theories, we like to say:

Facts are tests which are always true. They test invariant conditions.

Theories are tests which are only true for a particular set of data.

A good example of this testing numeric algorithms. Let's say you want to test an algorithm
which determines whether a number is odd or not. If you're writing the positive-side tests (odd
numbers), then feeding even numbers into the test would cause it fail, and not because the test
or algorithm is wrong.
Let's add a theory to our existing facts (including a bit of bad data, so we can see it fail):

[Theory]
[InlineData(3)]
[InlineData(5)]
[InlineData(6)]
public void MyFirstTheory(int value)
{
Assert.True(IsOdd(value));
}

bool IsOdd(int value)

{
return value % 2 == 1;
}

This time when we compile and run our tests, we see a second failure, for our theory that was
given 6:

xUnit.net console test runner (64-bit .NET 4.0.30319.34014)

Copyright (C) 2016 .NET Foundation.

Starting: MyFirstUnitTests.dll
MyFirstUnitTests.Class1.FailingTest [FAIL]
Assert.Equal() Failure
Expected: 5
Actual: 4
Stack Trace:
MyFirstUnitTests\Class1.cs(16,0): at MyFirstUnitTests.Class1.FailingTes
t()
MyFirstUnitTests.Class1.MyFirstTheory(value: 6) [FAIL]
Assert.True() Failure
Stack Trace:
MyFirstUnitTests\Class1.cs(30,0): at MyFirstUnitTests.Class1.MyFirstThe
ory(Int32 value)
Finished: MyFirstUnitTests.dll

=== TEST EXECUTION SUMMARY ===

MyFirstUnitTests.DLL Total: 5, Failed: 2, Skipped: 0, Time: 0.176s, Errors:
0
 Although we've only written 3 test methods, the console runner actually ran 5 tests; that's
because each theory with its data set is a separate test. Note also that the runner tells you
exactly which set of data failed, because it includes the parameter values in the name of the
test.

Running tests with Visual Studio

Important note: If you've previously installed the xUnit.net Visual Studio Runner VSIX
(Extension), you must uninstall it first. The Visual Studio runner is only distributed via NuGet
now. To remove it, to go Tools > Extensions and Updates . Scroll to the bottom of the list,
and if xUnit.net is installed, uninstall it. This will force you to restart Visual Studio.

If you're having problems discovering or running tests, you may be a victim of a corrupted
runner cache inside Visual Studio. To clear this cache, shut down all instances of Visual
Studio, then delete the folder %TEMP%\VisualStudioTestExplorerExtensions . Also make
sure your project is only linked against a single version of the Visual Studio runner NuGet
package ( xunit.runner.visualstudio ).

If you have Visual Studio Community (or a paid-for version of Visual Studio), you can run your
xUnit.net tests within Visual Studio's built-in test runner (named Test Explorer). Unfortunately,
this does not include Express editions of Visual Studio (you should upgrade to the free
Community Edition (http://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/news/vs2013-community-vs.aspx)
instead).

Right click on the project in Solution Explorer and choose Manage NuGet Packages . Search for
(and install) a package named xunit.runner.visualstudio :
Make sure Test Explorer is visible (go to Test > Windows > Test Explorer ). Every time you
build your project, the runner will discover unit tests in your project. After a moment of
discovery, you should see the list of discovered tests:

Click the Run All link in the Test Explorer window, and you should see the results update in
the Test Explorer window as the tests are run:

You can click on a failed test to see the failure message, and the stack trace. You can click on
the stack trace lines to take you directly to the failing line of code.

If you have Visual Studio Ultimate and you have the CodeLens feature turned on, your source
 code will now show icons and text related to your tests:

CodeLens not only shows you the last run status of your unit tests, it also offers a convenient
place to click to run an individual test.

Note: Only xUnit.net v2 supports pre-enumeration of theories; when discovering theories with v1, it
will only show a single test method for the theory.

Note: CodeLens does not support icons for pre-enumerated theories; this is a limitation of the Visual
Studio test runner. In a future release, we will enable the ability to turn off theory pre-enumeration of
theory data for users who would prefer to have the CodeLens icons rather than individually runnable
tests.

Console runner return codes

Starting with version 2.2, the following return codes are used by the console runner:

Return Meaning
code

0 The tests ran successfully.

1 One or more of the tests failed.

The help page was shown, either because it was requested, or because the
2
user did not provide any command line arguments.

There was a problem with one of the command line options passed to the
3
runner.
 There was a problem loading one or more of the test assemblies (for
4
example, if a 64-bit only assembly is run with the 32-bit test runner).

Copyright 2016 .NET Foundation. Contributions welcomed at https://github.com/xunit/xunit.github.io

(https://github.com/xunit/xunit.github.io).