QUnit 2.0 Upgrade Guide

This guide will assist you in upgrading from QUnit 1 to QUnit 2.

Overview

The QUnit 2 release only removes old methods. The “QUnit 2” methods were introduced as part of QUnit 1.x releases. If you are on QUnit 1.23, you can already migrate gradually, before making the jump.

The old methods are removed in QUnit 2.0 and replaced with placeholder methods that throw descriptive errors to simplify migration ("Global 'test()' method is removed, use 'QUnit.test() instead"). QUnit 2.1 removes that layer and would instead throw native errors like "ReferenceError: test is not defined".

QUnit 1.x QUnit 2.x
module() QUnit.module()
test() QUnit.test()
asyncTest() QUnit.test() with assert.async()
stop()/start() assert.async()
expect() assert.expect()
ok(), equal(), deepEqual(), … assert
setup/teardown options beforeEach and afterEach hooks

For plugins and other integrations:

QUnit 1.x QUnit 2.x
QUnit.log = …
QUnit.begin = …
QUnit.log(…),
QUnit.begin(…),
QUnit.push() assert.pushResult()
QUnit.jsDump.parse() QUnit.dump.parse()

Changes

The qunit-migrate tool can automate the transition to QUnit 2.

Removed global functions

QUnit 2 no longer uses global functions. The main methods are now part of the QUnit interface, and the assertion methods are exposed through a new assert object that is bound to each test.

Before:

module('example');

test('add', function () {
	equal(add(2, 3), 5);
});

After:

QUnit.module('example');

QUnit.test('add', assert => {
	assert.equal(add(2, 3), 5);
});

Introducing assert.async()

Use assert.async() instead of the stop() and start() functions. Calling assert.async() returns a done function that should be called once the asynchronous operation is finished.

Similarly, if you were using asyncTest(), use the regular QUnit.test() with assert.async() instead.

Before:

QUnit.test('navigates to new page', function () {
	stop();
	router.navigate(function (newPage) {
		equal(newPage.id, 1);
		start();
	});
});

// Or

asyncTest('navigates to new page', function () {
	router.navigate(function (newPage) {
		equal(newPage.id, 1);
		start();
	});
});

After:

QUnit.test('navigates to new page', assert => {
	const done = assert.async();
	router.navigate(newPage => {
		assert.equal(newPage.id, 1);
		done();
	});
});

Renamed module hooks

The module hooks setup and teardown have been renamed to beforeEach and afterEach. The new names were first introduced in QUnit 1.16, and removed in QUnit 2.0.

Before:

QUnit.module('router', {
	setup: function () {
		this.router = new Router();
	},
	teardown: function () {
		this.router.destroy();
	}
});

After:

QUnit.module('router', {
	beforeEach: () => {
		this.router = new Router();
	},
	afterEach: () => {
		this.router.destroy();
	}
});

You can also use a nested scope as of QUnit 1.20, which makes for simpler sharing of variables and associating of tests with modules.

Example:

QUnit.module('router', hooks => {
	let router;

	hooks.beforeEach(() => {
		router = new Router();
	});
	hooks.afterEach(() => {
		router.destroy();
	});

	QUnit.test('add', assert => {
		assert.true(router.add('/about'));
	});
});

Removed legacy callback properties

Early alpha releases of QUnit 0.x required property assignments to register callback events. In QUnit 1.0, these were deprecated in favour of more modern event registration methods. The ability to use assignments as way to register callbacks was removed in QUnit 2.0.

See also QUnit.on(), which implements the js-reporters spec since QUnit 2.2.

Before:

QUnit.log = function (results) {
	console.log(results);
};

After:

QUnit.log(function (results) {
	console.log(results);
});

This applies to all reporting callbacks, specifically: begin, done, log, moduleDone, moduleStart, testDone, and testStart.

Replace QUnit.push() with assert.pushResult()

To implement custom assertions, assign functions to QUnit.assert, and inside use this.pushResult() instead of QUnit.push. This allows assertions to be directly associated with its test context, preventing asynchronous tests from leaking into other tests.

Before:

QUnit.assert.mod2 = function (value, expected, message) {
    const actual = value % 2;
    QUnit.push(actual === expected, actual, expected, message);
};

After:

QUnit.assert.mod2 = function (value, expected, message) {
    const actual = value % 2;
    this.pushResult({ result: actual === expected, actual, expected, message });
};

Removed QUnit.init without replacement

This method used to reinitialize the test runner. It should never have been exposed as a public method and is now gone, without replacement. If you’ve built an integration or runner framework that requires the use of QUnit.init, reach out in our Chat room, or contact us in the issue tracker to help find a replacement.

Removed QUnit.reset

This method accessed QUnit’s internal fixture reset. This is now gone, without replacement. If your code is using it, you may need to split affected tests into separate tests.

Before:

QUnit.test('currentPage', assert => {
	router.refresh();
	assert.equal(router.currentPage.id, 1);

	QUnit.reset();

	history.replaceState('/about');
	router.refresh();
	assert.equal(router.currentPage.id, 42);
});

After:

QUnit.test('currentPage default', assert => {
	router.refresh();
	assert.equal(router.currentPage.id, 1);
});

QUnit.test('currentPage after replaceState', assert => {
	history.replaceState('/about');
	router.refresh();
	assert.equal(router.currentPage.id, 42);
});

Renamed QUnit.jsDump to QUnit.dump

Originally jsDump was a standalone library imported into QUnit. It has since evolved further within the library. To reflect that, the property was renamed to QUnit.dump.parse. This should only affect custom reporter code, not regular testsuites.

Before:

QUnit.log(obj => {
  const actual = QUnit.jsDump.parse(obj.actual);
  const expected = QUnit.jsDump.parse(obj.expected);
  sendMessage(obj.result, actual, expected);
});

After:

QUnit.log(obj => {
  const actual = QUnit.dump.parse(obj.actual);
  const expected = QUnit.dump.parse(obj.expected);
  sendMessage(obj.result, actual, expected);
});

Replace expected number argument of QUnit.test

The optional expected argument to QUnit.test for specifying the expected number of assertions, was removed. Call assert.expect() instead.

Before:

QUnit.test('addition', 1, assert => {
    assert.equal(add(2, 3), 5);
});

After:

QUnit.test('addition', assert => {
    assert.expect(1);
    assert.equal(add(2, 3), 5);
});

Replace assert.throws(Function, string, message) signature

The signature of assert.throws() that accepted an error string as second parameter has been removed. This avoids ambiguity with the assertion message, as both parameters were optional.

It is recommended to use a regular expression or error object as the expected value instead.

For example, to test the following code:

function add(a, b) {
	if (a === undefined) {
		throw new Error('This is an error');
	}
}

Before:

QUnit.test('add', assert => {
	assert.throws(() => {
		add();
	}, 'This is an error', 'Fail if A is undefined');
});

After:

QUnit.test('add', assert => {
	assert.throws(() => {
		add();
	}, /This is an error/, 'Fail if A is undefined');
});

// Or

QUnit.test('add', assert => {
	assert.throws(() => {
		add();
	}, new Error('This is an error'), 'Fail if A is undefined');
});

See assert.throws() for an overview of the supported signatures.

Note that in the two-argument signature assert.throws(Function, string) has always been interpreted as asserting anything is thrown, with the string argument being the assertion message. This continues to be supported.