Re: Excel::Template - request for comment

Hmm... I have it a once over when it hit CPAN. Read the POD for the main Excel::Template module. Couldn't get a firm idea of what it's function was. Discarded into my "look at in a few versions time" pile.

So my first suggestion would be a more complete example of what I would be using the darn thing for ;-) It might be there in the other docs - but as a reader I'm just too darn lazy. It needs pointers from the main POD file if they're elsewhere.

I also was at a loss as to how to write the tests. In my rewrite of PDF::Template, I wrote a mockup of pdflib_pl and tested my calls to that module, but there were only some 15 functions used. I'm using more in Spreadsheet::WriteExcel ... can the same method apply?

This may well be me being dim - but can you describe what the difficulty with the tests is? Can you give an example of a piece of behaviour that you're not sure how to test?

Comment on Re: Excel::Template - request for comment

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Re: Re: Excel::Template - request for comment by dragonchild (Archbishop) on Nov 24, 2003 at 14:20 UTC
I have a given template behavior I want to test. The result of the execution is an XLS file. How do I automate verification that the XLS create is correct? If I use Spreadsheet::ParseExcel, then I'm now requiring another three modules to be installed on your system. If I don't, then what do I do? ------ We are the carpenters and bricklayers of the Information Age. The idea is a little like C++ templates, except not quite so brain-meltingly complicated. -- TheDamian, Exegesis 6 ... strings and arrays will suffice. As they are easily available as native data types in any sane language, ... - blokhead, speaking on evolutionary algorithms Please remember that I'm crufty and crochety. All opinions are purely mine and all code is untested, unless otherwise specified.	[reply]
Re^3: Excel::Template - request for comment by christopheM (Beadle) on Nov 24, 2003 at 21:55 UTC
If I dare, I would suggest you reduce a little bit your "signature", as it seems larger than the reply.... But may be I should not dare as I am only a simple and humble accolyte.	[reply]
Re: Re: Re: Excel::Template - request for comment by barbie (Deacon) on Nov 28, 2003 at 14:54 UTC
Would it be possible to create the test files locally and obtain a checksum (MD5 for example) for each? Then when you create them via your tests you need only check whether the checksums match. Digest::MD5 is a core module, so you could use that quite safely, and not have to worry about unnecessarily adding to the download/install burden. That's the way I would go at least. -- Barbie \| Birmingham Perl Mongers \| http://birmingham.pm.org/	[reply]


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