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Use Microsoft.Testing.Platform with dotnet test

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This article describes how to use dotnet test to run tests when using Microsoft.Testing.Platform, and the various options that are available to configure the MSBuild output produced when running tests through Microsoft.Testing.Platform.

This article shows how to use dotnet test to run all tests in a solution (*.sln) that uses Microsoft.Testing.Platform.

dotnet test integration

The dotnet test command is a way to run tests from solutions, projects, or already built assemblies. Microsoft.Testing.Platform hooks up into this infrastructure to provide a unified way to run tests, especially when migrating from VSTest to Microsoft.Testing.Platform.

dotnet test integration - VSTest mode

Microsoft.Testing.Platform provides a compatibility layer (VSTest Bridge) to work with dotnet test seamlessly.

Tests can be run by running:

dotnet test

This layer runs test through VSTest and integrates with it on VSTest Test Framework Adapter level.

dotnet test - Microsoft.Testing.Platform mode

By default, VSTest is used to run Microsoft.Testing.Platform tests. You can enable a full Microsoft.Testing.Platform by specifying the <TestingPlatformDotnetTestSupport>true</TestingPlatformDotnetTestSupport> setting in your project file. This setting disables VSTest and, thanks to the transitive dependency to the Microsoft.Testing.Platform.MSBuild NuGet package, directly runs all Microsoft.Testing.Platform empowered test projects in your solution. It works seamlessly if you pass a direct Microsoft.Testing.Platform test project.

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">

  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
    <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
    <Nullable>enable</Nullable>

    <IsPackable>false</IsPackable>
    <IsTestProject>true</IsTestProject>

    <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
    <EnableMSTestRunner>true</EnableMSTestRunner>

    <!-- Add this to your project file. -->
    <TestingPlatformDotnetTestSupport>true</TestingPlatformDotnetTestSupport>

  </PropertyGroup>

  <!-- ... -->

</Project>

In this mode, you can supply extra parameters that are used to call the testing application in one of the following ways:

  • Beginning with Microsoft.Testing.Platform version 1.4 (included with MSTest version 3.6), you can options after the double dash -- on the command line:

    dotnet test -- --minimum-expected-tests 10

  • By using the TestingPlatformCommandLineArguments MSBuild property on the command line:

    dotnet test -p:TestingPlatformCommandLineArguments="--minimum-expected-tests 10"

    Or in the project file:

    <PropertyGroup>
  ...
  <TestingPlatformCommandLineArguments>--minimum-expected-tests 10</TestingPlatformCommandLineArguments>
</PropertyGroup>

Additional MSBuild options

The MSBuild integration provides options that can be specified in the project file or through global properties on the command line, such as -p:TestingPlatformShowTestsFailure=true.

These are the available options:

Show failure per test

By default, test failures are summarized into a .log file, and a single failure per test project is reported to MSBuild.

To show errors per failed test, specify -p:TestingPlatformShowTestsFailure=true on the command line, or add the <TestingPlatformShowTestsFailure>true</TestingPlatformShowTestsFailure> property to your project file.

On command line:

dotnet test -p:TestingPlatformShowTestsFailure=true

Or in project file:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">

  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
    <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
    <Nullable>enable</Nullable>

    <IsPackable>false</IsPackable>
    <IsTestProject>true</IsTestProject>

    <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
    <EnableMSTestRunner>true</EnableMSTestRunner>

    <TestingPlatformDotnetTestSupport>true</TestingPlatformDotnetTestSupport>

    <!-- Add this to your project file. -->
    <TestingPlatformShowTestsFailure>true</TestingPlatformShowTestsFailure>

  </PropertyGroup>

  <!-- ... -->

</Project>

Show complete platform output

By default, all console output that the underlying test executable writes is captured and hidden from the user. This includes the banner, version information, and formatted test information.

To show this information together with MSBuild output use<TestingPlatformCaptureOutput>false</TestingPlatformCaptureOutput>.

This option doesn't impact how the testing framework captures user output written by Console.WriteLine or other similar ways to write to the console.

On command line:

dotnet test -p:TestingPlatformCaptureOutput=false

Or in project file:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">

  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
    <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
    <Nullable>enable</Nullable>

    <IsPackable>false</IsPackable>
    <IsTestProject>true</IsTestProject>

    <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
    <EnableMSTestRunner>true</EnableMSTestRunner>

    <TestingPlatformDotnetTestSupport>true</TestingPlatformDotnetTestSupport>

    <!-- Add this to your project file. -->
    <TestingPlatformCaptureOutput>false</TestingPlatformCaptureOutput>

  </PropertyGroup>

  <!-- ... -->

</Project>