Unit Test Sessions window

dotCover runs unit tests in the Unit Test Sessions window. The window appears automatically when you run tests from the current document or from the project or solution. For more information, refer to Unit test sessions.

The window is designed to help you run any number of unit test sessions, simultaneously and independently of each other. Sessions can be composed of any combination of tests. In the debugging mode, only one session can be run at a time.

The unit test tree shows the structure of tests belonging to a session, which you can filter to show only passed, failed or ignored unit tests. You can navigate to the code of any unit test by double-clicking it.

Status bar and progress bar

The progress bar and the status bar under the toolbar display the current progress.

On the status bar, you can see the total number of tests in the session as well as number of tests in different states:

By default, tests in all states are shown, but you can click the corresponding icons to filter tests by their state. You can also Ctrl-click several icons to display tests in several different states.

Control	Name	Description
	All Tests	Show all tests in the current test session.
	Passed Tests	Only show successful tests and hide all other tests.
	Failed Tests	Only show failed tests and hide all other tests.
	Ignored Tests	Only show ignored tests and hide all other tests. A test is ignored if it has the corresponding attribute, or if the whole category where it belongs is ignored.
	Unknown Tests	Only show tests that either were not executed or have changed since the last execution.
	Execution log	Lets you see either the number of test execution errors (related to the execution process, not tests themselves) or shows OK if there are no errors. You can click this icon to show or hide the execution log.

Window tabs

When unit test sessions open in the window, they are displayed in new tabs, which show up on the left. The previously open tabs move to the right if the width of the window allows, otherwise they unload themselves saving memory - but you can always restore them by clicking the arrow that appears to the right of the tabs and clicking the required tab:

To prevent a tab from unloading, click the pin icon next to the tab title.

Toolbar Controls

Control

Name

Description

Repeat Previous Run Control+T T

Repeats the previous test run.

Run Current Session Control+T Y

Runs all tests in the tree.

You can use the integrated drop-down selector for other actions

Cover Current Session Control+T I

Runs coverage analysis for all unit tests in the test session.

Profile Current Session

Starts performance profiling for all tests in the current session.

This button appears if JetBrains dotTrace is integrated with Visual Studio.

Run Current Session under dotMemory Unit

Runs all tests in the current tree with dotMemory Unit enabled. Use this button to run tests that use dotMemory Unit framework to check code for memory issues.

Run Unit Tests Control+T R

Runs selected tests. To select multiple tests, click them holding the Ctrl key.

You can use the integrated drop-down selector for other actions on the selected tests:

	Cover Unit Tests `Control+T H`	By clicking this button, you can start code coverage of the selected tests.
	Profile Unit Tests	By clicking this button, you can profile selected tests. This button appears if JetBrains dotTrace is integrated with Visual Studio.
	Run Unit Tests under dotMemory Unit `Control+T M`	Runs selected tests with dotMemory Unit enabled. Use this button to run tests that use dotMemory Unit framework to check code for memory issues.
	Run Unit Tests Until Fail	Click this button to keep automatically starting and running selected tests until one of the tests fails.

Debug Unit Tests Control+T D

Starts debugging for selected tests in the current session.

Stop Execution

Stops the current test session.

Autostart Tests: Run All Tests

Enables continuous testing for the current unit test session. All tests in the session will be automatically run on explicit user action: build or save (selected in continuous testing settings).

Autostart Tests: Run New and Outdated Tests

Enables continuous testing for the current unit test session. Only new and outdated tests in the session will be automatically run on explicit user action: build or save (selected in continuous testing settings).

Autostart Tests: Cover New and Outdated Tests

Enables continuous testing for the current unit test session. New and outdated tests in the session will be automatically run with enabled coverage analysis on explicit user action: build or save (selected in continuous testing settings).

Track Running Test

If this button is on, the selection in the list of tests is switched automatically to the test that is currently executing.

Auto Scroll Output When Running Test

This button enables the output pane to scroll when the test is running so that the end of the output is always visible.

Remove Selected Tests Delete

Removes selected tests from the current session.

Export Session

Click to save the current test session in a .testsession file.

Import Session

Click to open a test session that you have previously saved in a .testsession file.

Expand All/Collapse All

Expands/collapses all nodes in the current tab.

Show Output Ctrl+P

This selector allows you to open the Output and the Coverage panes and place them to the bottom or to the right of the window.

The Output pane lets you analyze test results and navigate from a failed test's output to the code lines that originated the assertion or exception, all with a single click.

The Coverage pane displays the code coverage tree or the hot spots view and provides the same controls and functions as Coverage Results Browser window, plus the Show coverage for selected tests button that allows view coverage of unit tests.

Options

You can configure this set of preferences individually for each test session.

Build Policy — Specifies whether building is required before executing tests. Provides several options:
- Automatic (selected by default) — Before executing tests, dotCover will rebuild all projects that are related to the current test session and that have changes since the last execution.
- Automatic (whole solution) — Before executing tests, dotCover will rebuild all projects in your solution that have changes since the last execution.
- Never Build — dotCover will not build anything before executing tests. If you choose this option, you will have to make sure all related projects are built.
Lock Session — Locks the current test session to prevent automatically adding new tests to this session.
Show Time — Allows you to show or hide execution time for each item in the test session.
Platform — Lets you explicitly specify platform architecture (x86 or x64) of the test runner or choose Automatic to use platform architecture corresponding to the project settings.
Framework — Lets you explicitly specify the .NET framework (CLR) version of the test runner or choose Automatic to use the latest installed version.
Group by — Allows grouping items in the window by different categories.

Show Stack Trace in a new Window Ctrl+Shift+Alt+E

Opens the output of the currently selected test in a new tab of the Stack Trace Explorer window.

Reference dotMemory Unit Framework

Installs the dotMemory Unit Testing Framework NuGet package and references it in the unit test project where the selected test belongs.

This button appears if JetBrains dotMemory is integrated with Visual Studio.

Last modified: 11 February 2024