Passing arguments to iOS tests with xcodebuild

Question

I'd like to pass command line arguments to my iOS tests through the command line (xcodebuild). I'm looking for the equivalent of this setting on XCode:

Simply passing the argument to xcodebuild doesn't work, e.g.:

xcodebuild -verbose test -workspace theworkspace.xcworkspace -scheme 'thescheme' -destination 'platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 7' --argument=value

This question is similar to xcodebuild pass arguments to application on iOS but the solution to that question is not satisfactory.

Where you able to figure this out? I am trying to do the same to pass some testing data to my unit tests. — AsH, May 31 '17 at 17:17
Possible duplicate of https://stackoverflow.com/questions/23284829/accessing-user-defined-variables-passed-in-from-xcodebuild-command-line — Ivano.Bilenchi, Jul 13 '17 at 09:07
Did you find a solution for this? It would help us all out if you shared it. — Gabriel Porumb, Nov 13 '17 at 14:12
This answer works fine (By @Ivano.Bilenchi in above comment). No manual steps needed. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/23284829/accessing-user-defined-variables-passed-in-from-xcodebuild-command-line — Hasaan Ali, Aug 29 '18 at 13:30

score 9 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 18 '21 at 18:35

It's about passing environment variables rather of command line arguments, but it looks like there's a chance it's supported in xcodebuild in Xcode 13. From release notes:

xcodebuild now supports passing certain environment variables to test runner processes. In the environment where xcodebuild is invoked, prefix any variable with TEST_RUNNER_ to pass that variable (with the prefix stripped) to XCTest test runner processes. For example, running env TEST_RUNNER_Foo=Bar xcodebuild test ... causes the environment variable Foo=Bar to be set in the test runner’s environment. (74104870)

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 20 '21 at 10:45

You can also try creating a preprocessor macros in the build settings. And then pass a value like this (let's assume it's named DARK_MODE):

xcodebuild -project \
   -scheme  \
   -testPlan  \
   -destination \
   -derivedDataPath \
   DARK_MODE=NO \
   test

And here's how it can be utilized in tests:

override func setUp() {
    super.setUp()
    if ProcessInfo.processInfo.environment["DARK_MODE"] == "YES" {
        SystemSettings.changeUIStyle(to: .dark)
    }
}

ManWithBear · Answer 3 · 2019-10-08T08:03:31.147

2

I didn't manage to find "easy" solution. So instead I split testing in 3 steps:
1. Run xcodebuild build-for-testing. It will generate xctestrun file in derived data, which contains list of launch arguments
2. Add your desire launch arguments here
3. run xcodebuild test-without-building -xctestrun <%path_to_file_here%>

I wrote script for it. It still need some improvements, so in close time I will share its final form.

Edit: Never had time to update script. So here ugly versions, that suit our needs. https://gist.github.com/ManWithBear/57cbabc8dcd0193d156c376d2d23ff02

edited Oct 08 '19 at 08:03

answered Apr 24 '18 at 14:24

ManWithBear

2,787
15
27

Very useful script! Instead of the Swift Plistbuddy would probably be better, but it does work! – CMash Oct 18 '19 at 12:44
Yeah, I gave a try to plistbuddy, but failed to use it properly, so write swift script was way faster. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ – ManWithBear Oct 18 '19 at 12:49
Quite like this: https://stackoverflow.com/a/47762549 – Bruno Bieri Dec 22 '20 at 17:18

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 08 '19 at 06:34

To add to @ManWithBear's answer, I ended up doing this in a script:

#Remove previous command line arguments
/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Delete DetoxTestRunner:CommandLineArguments" "$TESTRUN" || true
#Add an empty array
/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Add DetoxTestRunner:CommandLineArguments array" "$TESTRUN"

#Add script arguments as launch arguments of the test runner app
for i in $*; do
  /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Add DetoxTestRunner:CommandLineArguments: string '$i'" "$TESTRUN"
done

In the code above, I add all arguments passed to a script as launch argument to the tester app. DetoxTestRunner is the name if the test scheme/target.

Passing arguments to iOS tests with xcodebuild

4 Answers4

Linked