--explore - output to stdout/allow format option to be specified without specifying output file

[Osipion]

Currently the --explore option with no arguments will list the tests available in the assembly in a flat text list:

>nunit3-console SomeTests.dll --explore
NUnit Console Runner 3.5.0
Copyright (C) 2016 Charlie Poole

Runtime Environment
   OS Version: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.10586.0
  CLR Version: 4.0.30319.42000

Test Files
    SomeTests.dll

SomeTests.Class1.Test1

I want this list in the NUnit3 xml format, but when I try this

nunit3-console MHR.Test.Recruitment.Features.dll --explore;format=nunit3

An exception message is displayed.

I would prefer not to have to dump the results to a file to read them. Is there anyway I can get XML output from stdout using --explore?

[CharliePoole]

Your command-line is in error. The message indicates that "--explore;format" is not a valid option. That's because a semicolon has no special meaning where you are using it - it's just another character. Only space, colon or equal function to separate an option from it's value. IOW, you are trying to set "explore;format" equal to "nunit3".

Using, for example, "--explore:format=nunit3" (with a colon) works in a fairly perverse way: it saves the output in nunit3 format (the default) in a file named "format=nunit3"!

So you are correct: there is no way to cause the nunit3 format XML output to go to the console.

We will need to discuss this to decide whether to accept it as a possible enhancement of NUnit. Can you explain the use case? Why do you want the XML to go to the console?

[Osipion]

@CharliePoole - thanks for the quick response. I agree the command line is incorrect, it was an attempt at an example of what I wanted. I indeed ended up with quite a few files called "nunit3" or "=nunit3" etc, and I couldn't see any test cases in the console source code covering this use case.

The reason I'd like it is that I have a test execution script that reads the test fixtures available in an assembly and allocates them to available execution environments. At the moment I'm spewing a bunch of temp files into my build server's %TEMP% directory. It would be much nicer to simply read the info from stdout and act on it, without having to worry about managing temp files.

[CharliePoole]

@Osipion I figured you wanted to pipe the output... that makes sense.

@nunit/core-team What do you think?

[pavzaj]

I also would like to have option to print formatted output to cosnole to avoid creating temp files.
What do you think about such change:
pavzaj@88f4338

?

It has a drawback, because it is not clear where nunit technical headers end and where output starts, but it suits my needs.