This is a fabulous post (did I just say “fabulous”?) on how to create self contained NUnit tests when you need a web server.

As you may know (assuming you’ve read this blog for a while, which is a BIG assumption), I’m a big fan of self contained Unit Tests. It’s a key component to having a self contained location independent build process.

I have an approach similar to Scott’s in unit testing some of the functionality of RSS Bandit. For example, I have tests that will create a web directory, start a Cassini web server, and then use the RssLocator class to search for RSS feeds. However, one problem I had that I hadn’t resolved was the issue that Cassini.dll needed to be loaded in the GAC.

If you were to obtain a fresh build of the RSS Bandit unit tests and didn’t have Cassini.dll registered, many of the tests would fail. I was planning to add code to register Cassini into the GAC, but Scott has shown the path to a better way. He demonstrates a method such that doesn’t require Cassini to be placed in the GAC. Brilliant! Once I get home, I shall make this change and truly rejoice at having self contained tests.