How to write automated tests for SQL queries?

c# sql unit-testing testing regression-testing
James picture James · May 7, 2014 · Viewed 7.2k times · Source

The current system we are adopting at work is to write some extremely complex queries which perform multiple calculations and have multiple joins / sub-queries. I don't think I am experienced enough to say if this is correct or not so I am agreeing and attempting to function with this system as it has clear benefits.

The problem we are having at the moment is that the person writing the queries makes a lot of mistakes and assumes everything is correct. We have now assigned a tester to analyse all of the queries but this still proves extremely time consuming and stressful.

I would like to know how we could create an automated procedure (without specifically writing it with code if possible as I can work out how to do that the long way) to verify a set of 10+ different inputs, verify the output data and say if the calculations are correct.

I know I could write a script using specific data in the database and create a script using c# (the db is SQL Server) and verify all the values coming out but I would like to know what the official "standard" is as my experience is lacking in this area and I would like to improve.

I am happy to add more information if required, add a comment if necessary. Thank you.

Edit: I am using c#

Answer

Dave Schweisguth picture Dave Schweisguth · May 8, 2014

The standard approach to testing code that runs SQL queries is to unit-test it. (There are higher-level kinds of testing than unit testing, but it sounds like your problem is with a small, specific part of your application so don't worry about higher-level testing yet.) Don't try to test the queries directly, but test the result of the queries. That is, write unit tests for each of the C# methods that runs a query. Each unit test should insert known data into the database, call the method, and assert that it returns the expected result.

The two most common approaches to unit testing in C# are to use the Visual Studio unit test tools or NUnit. How to write unit tests is a big topic. Roy Osherove's "Art of Unit Testing" should be a good place to get started.

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