FitNesse configuration files - configuration

Question

I'm using FitNesse as a functional testing framework. I'm running into trouble when FitNesse runs code that needs configuration.
If I need to get a connection string from the configuration file, I can get it to work by adding it to the FitServer.exe.config. However, I don't like that solution. I would like FitNesse to load my own configuration file, namely TheNameOfMyApp.dll.config.
Is this possible?

Answer 1

Sure, easy to do. I'm assuming you're using the dotnet or dotnet2 test runner. I'm using the dotnet2 test runner, and here's how I've got it set up:
First, when you !define your COMMAND_PATTERN, include -c suite.config. For instance, I have the following in root:
!define COMMAND_PATTERN {%m -c suite.config %p}
!define TEST_RUNNER {..\..\bin\Debug\FitServer.exe}
suite.config goes in the same dir as fitnesse.jar:
<suiteConfig>
<fit.Settings>
<appConfigFile>..\..\MyProjectFolder\fitnesse\MyProjectName.config</appConfigFile>
</fit.Settings>
<fit.Assemblies>
</fit.Assemblies>
<fit.FileExclusions>
<add>^\.svn$</add>
</fit.FileExclusions>
<fit.Namespaces>
</fit.Namespaces>
<fit.CellHandlers>
</fit.CellHandlers>
<fitlibrary.CellHandlers>
</fitlibrary.CellHandlers>
</suiteConfig>
MyProjectName.config looks like this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
<appSettings>
<add key="keyname" value="something" />
</appSettings>
</configuration>
You can make things easier for yourself if you use an absolute path for the appConfigFile. I started off with an absolute path, got things working, then switched to a relative path by trial and error.
Note that I'm running my test runner from a non-standard location, which will affect the relative path in suite.config. The path is relative to your TEST_RUNNER location, NOT to suite.config or fitnesse.jar.

Answer 2

yes it is possible but an awful load of work. you need to define a test-project where you have your tests in it and a "wrapper"-project where you have the functionality of providing the tests with data and configuration settings.