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Mocha test passes locally, but fails on Travis CI

I am trying to add testing to the website I'm building. I'm using Mocha as my testing framework and Chai and expect as my assertion library. I made a simple test just to make sure things work and then I created a Gruntfile to run my tests. The test is a simple test that just verifies that true === true and it worked both locally and on Travis CI. Now, even though I haven't changed anything in the test, it only works locally, but fails on Travis CI. It was passing before and it still passes locally, so I'm not sure what to change.
My simple test code looks like this:
'use strict';
var chai = require('chai');
var expect = chai.expect;
describe('Test that tests run', function(done) {
it('should run a test', function(done) {
expect(true).to.eql(true);
done();
});
});
My Gruntfile looks like this:
'use strict';
module.exports = function(grunt) {
grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-simple-mocha');
grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-contrib-jshint');
grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-jscs');
// initialize Grunt
grunt.initConfig({
// create jshint task
jshint: {
dev: {
// tell jshint what check
src: ['Gruntfile.js', 'server.js', 'js/**/*.js', 'models/**/*.js', 'routes/**/*.js', '!build/**', '!tests/client/bundle.js', '!tests/karma_tests/bundle.js', '!js/imageMapResizer.min.js', '!js/kickstart.js', '!js/form-validator.js'],
options: {
node: true,
globals: {
describe: true,
it: true,
before: true,
after: true,
beforeEach: true,
afterEach: true,
res: true
}
}
},
mocha: {
// tell mocha where test files are
src: ['tests/**/*.js', '!tests/client/bundle.js', '!tests/karma_tests/bundle.js'],
options: {
node: true,
globals: {
describe: true,
it: true,
before: true,
after: true,
beforeEach: true,
afterEach: true,
res: true,
expect: true
}
}
},
// create jscs task
jscs: {
dev: {
// tell jscs to test the same files as jshint
src: ['<%= jshint.dev.src %>', '<%= jshint.mocha.src %>']
}
}
},
// create simplemocha task
simplemocha: {
dev: {
src: ['tests/test_entry.js']
}
}
});
// register linting task
grunt.registerTask('lint', ['jshint:dev', 'jshint:mocha' /*, 'jshint:jasmine'*/ ]);
// register mocha test task
grunt.registerTask('test', ['simplemocha:dev']);
grunt.registerTask('default', ['test']);
};
And .travis.yml looks like this:
language: node_js
node_js:
- "4.1"
- "4.0"
- "0.12"
- "0.11"
- "0.10"
- "0.8"
- "0.6"
- "iojs"
before_install:
- npm install -g grunt-cli
script: grunt test
Let me know if you have questions or want to see more code. Thanks in advance for all your help!

After some more digging with Travis CI I found there were 2 problems. The first was that node.js versions 0.6 and 0.8 were incompatible with many of my node packages. The other problem was 2 node packages I had included were not compatible with linux, which is the OS Travis CI uses to run tests. The packages were node-sqlserver-unofficial and msnodesqlv8.
I don't really need to work on node.js versions 0.6 or 0.8 and the I can work without the 2 node packages, so once I removed the the older node versions and the packages and my tests passed with flying colors.

load grunt task from another gruntfile

I want to avoid duplicate code, so i am trying to load grunt task from Grunt file "a" and use them in gruntfile "b".
that means: i want to see all task of "a" in file "b" (but without code), just setup like a reference or template to another gruntfile.
here is grunt file "b":
module.exports = function (grunt) {
'use strict';
var karmaGrunt = './../../grunt',
abortHandler = function () {
var errors = grunt.fail.errorcount,
warnings = grunt.fail.warncount;
if (errors > 0 || warnings > 0) {
//run rocketlauncher python script and then stop the grunt runner.
grunt.task.run(["shell:rocketlauncher", "fatal"]);
}
},
fatal = function () {
// this function stops grunt and make the jenkins build red.
grunt.fail.fatal('failed');
};
require("grunt-load-gruntfile")(grunt);
// load grunt task from another file and add it.
grunt.loadGruntfile(karmaGrunt);
//grunt needs to continue on error or warnings, that's why we have to set the force property true
grunt.option('force', true);
grunt.initConfig({
shell: {
options: {
execOptions: {
cwd: '../scripts'
}
},
'rocketlauncher': {
command: './runRocketLauncher.sh'
}
}
});
grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-karma');
grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-shell');
grunt.registerTask('build-process', ['karma', 'abortHandler']);
grunt.registerTask('abortHandler', abortHandler);
grunt.registerTask('fatal', fatal);
}
here is file "a":
module.exports = function (grunt) {
"use strict";
var eConfig = '../e-specs/karma.config.js',
dConfig = '../d-specs/karma.config.js',
cConfig = '../c-specs/karma.config.js';
grunt.initConfig({
karma: {
options: {
reporters: ['progress', 'coverage', 'threshold']
},
c: {
configFile: cConfig
},
d: {
configFile: dConfig
},
e: {
configFile: eConfig
}
}
});
grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-karma');
};
my file b load the task "Karma" but if i run only the grunt file of a i have 3 nested task ("e","c","d") but if i load them from another file, the only task i can see is "karma"
the error is:
No "karma" targets found.
Warning: Task "karma" failed. Used --force, continuing.
Done, but with warnings.
If i run the same task in file "a" directly the task is working like a charm.

There is a grunt plugin to load another Gruntfile: grunt-load-gruntfile
With this you can merge two Grunt configurations, including the defined tasks.
Here is an example:
./Gruntfile.js:
module.exports = function (grunt) {
require("grunt-load-gruntfile")(grunt);
grunt.loadGruntfile("web"); //loads the Gruntfile from the folder web/
grunt.registerTask('showConfig', "shows the current config", function(){
console.log(JSON.stringify(grunt.config(), null, 2));
});
};
and the second Gruntfile in ./web/Gruntfile.js.
module.exports = function (grunt) {
grunt.config("WebConfig", "Configuration from the Gruntfile in web/Gruntfile.js");
grunt.registerTask('server', "runs the server",function(){
console.log("just shows this message");
});
};
running grunt showConfig executes the task from the first Gruntfile and displays the configuration, including the parameter defined in ./web/Gruntfile.js.
running grunt server executes the task from ./web/Gruntfile.js.

Grunt watch not running tasks

I'm trying to run a grunt server with livereload and less.
on grunt less it does compile my less file but when changing a less file all i get is
>> File "app\style\componenets\components.less" changed.
I also tried less:development but still no luck.
Btw I get livereload on EVERY file I change, though in the watch task I've only configured less locations..
Thanks in advance!
'use strict';
// Gruntfile with the configuration of grunt-express and grunt-open. No livereload yet!
module.exports = function(grunt) {
// Load Grunt tasks declared in the package.json file
require('matchdep').filterDev('grunt-*').forEach(grunt.loadNpmTasks);
console.log(__dirname + '\\app\\');
// Configure Grunt
grunt.initConfig({
// grunt-express will serve the files from the folders listed in `bases`
// on specified `port` and `hostname`
express: {
all: {
options: {
bases: ['app'],
port: 8080,
hostname: "0.0.0.0",
livereload: true
}
}
},
less: {
development: {
options: {
compress: true,
yuicompress: true
},
files: {
// target.css file: source.less file
"app/main.css": "app/style/main.less"
}
}
},
// grunt-watch will monitor the projects files
watch: {
less: {
files: ['<%= express.all.options.base%>/style/*.less', '<%= express.all.options.base%>/style/componenets/*.less'],
tasks: ['less']
}
},
// grunt-open will open your browser at the project's URL
open: {
all: {
// Gets the port from the connect configuration
path: 'http://localhost:<%= express.all.options.port%>/#/'
}
}
});
// Creates the `server` task
grunt.registerTask('server', [
'express',
'open',
'watch'
])
// Creates the `less` task
grunt.registerTask('less', ['less']);
};

why the alias task at the end of your gruntfile?
// Creates the `less` task
grunt.registerTask('less', ['less']);
your less task is already defined through your config! remove that line, and you're probably good...
edit: there is at least 1 typo in your less config:
wrong:
<%= express.all.options.base %>/style/*.less'
correct:
<%= express.all.options.bases %>/style/*.less'

How can I force JSHint running in grunt to always use the --verbose flag

I have a particular JSHint/Grunt setup in which I would like to accomplish the following:
Load from a single .jshintrc file to allow my IDE linter to pick up my settings
Be able to override single options from the .jshintrc in other grunt tasks
Have JSHint always run in verbose mode so that I can always see the warning numbers, without needing to run all of grunt with --verbose
The following allows me to load from the .jshintrc and always run in verbose, but does not allow option overrides. The docs mention that this should be the case, but don't say anything about the verbose option, which works:
jshint: {
options:{
jshintrc: '.jshintrc',
verbose: true,
},
source: {
options: {
ignores: ['src/**/*.test.js'],
},
files:{
src:['src/**/*.js']
}
},
tests: {
options: {
unused: false
},
files: {
src: ['src/**/*.test.js']
}
}
}
To get around the override limitations, it is fairly easy to just have grunt inject the contents of the .jshintrc file into the config, but for whatever reason this causes the linter to now throw "line 0 col 0 Bad option: 'verbose'. (E001)" errors (this runs correctly if i remove the options.verbose = true; line, but without the verbose flag):
jshint: {
options:(function () {
var options = grunt.file.readJSON('.jshintrc');
options.verbose = true;
return options;
}()),
source: {
options: {
ignores: ['src/**/*.test.js'],
},
files:{
src:['src/**/*.js']
}
},
tests: {
options: (function () {
var options = grunt.file.readJSON('.jshintrc');
options.unused = false;
return options;
}()),
files: {
src: ['src/**/*.test.js']
}
}
}
So, given my three criteria, is there a way to configure grunt to run in this way?

How to run jshint on specific file using grunt-contrib-jshint:
./node_modules/grunt-contrib-jshint/node_modules/jshint/bin/jshint --verbose app/sources/modules/dashboard/views/dashboard-performance/dashboard-performance-ctrl.js
there is no way to define verbose mode for grunt jshint in options. And it will not be solved until grunt updates.
(thanks to MaxPRafferty)

Grunt Environment Variables Don't Get Set Until All Tasks Loaded

I am using the npm modules grunt env and load-grunt-config in my project. grunt env handles environment variables for you, while load-grunt-config handles, well, loads the grunt configuration for you. You can put your tasks into other files, then load-grunt-config will bundle them up and have grunt load & consume them for you. You can also make an aliases.js file, with tasks you want to combine together into one task, running one after another. It's similar to the grunt.registerTask task in the original Gruntfile.js. I put all my grunt tasks inside a separate grunt/ folder under the root folder with the main Gruntfile, with no extra subfolders, as suggested by the load-grunt-config README.md on Github. Here is my slimmed-down Gruntfile:
module.exports = function(grunt) {
'use strict';
require('time-grunt')(grunt);
// function & property declarations
grunt.initConfig({
pkg: grunt.file.readJSON('package.json')
});
require('load-grunt-config')(grunt, {
init: true,
loadGruntConfig: {
scope: 'devDependencies',
pattern: ['grunt-*', 'time-grunt']
}
});
};
In theory, setting all these files up the correct way for load-grunt-config to load should be exactly the same as just having a Gruntfile.js. However, I seem to have run into a little snag. It seems the environment variables set under the env task do not get set for the subsequent grunt tasks, but are set by the time node processes its tasks, in this case an express server.
grunt env task:
module.exports = {
// environment variable values for developers
// creating/maintaining site
dev: {
options: {
add: {
NODE_ENV: 'dev',
MONGO_PORT: 27017,
SERVER_PORT: 3000
}
}
}
};
grunt-shell-spawn task:
// shell command tasks
module.exports = {
// starts up MongoDB server/daemon
mongod: {
command: 'mongod --bind_ip konneka.org --port ' + (process.env.MONGO_PORT || 27017) + ' --dbpath C:/MongoDB/data/db --ipv6',
options: {
async: true, // makes this command asynchronous
stdout: false, // does not print to the console
stderr: true, // prints errors to the console
failOnError: true, // fails this task when it encounters errors
execOptions: {
cwd: '.'
}
}
}
};
grunt express task:
module.exports = {
// default options
options: {
hostname: '127.0.0.1', // allow connections from localhost
port: (process.env.SERVER_PORT || 3000), // default port
},
prod: {
options: {
livereload: true, // automatically reload server when express pages change
// serverreload: true, // run forever-running server (do not close when finished)
server: path.resolve(__dirname, '../backend/page.js'), // express server file
bases: 'dist/' // watch files in app folder for changes
}
}
};
aliases.js file (grunt-load-config's way of combining tasks so they run one after the other):
module.exports = {
// starts forever-running server with "production" environment
server: ['env:prod', 'shell:mongod', 'express:prod', 'express-keepalive']
};
part of backend/env/prod.js (environment-specific Express configuration, loaded if NODE_ENV is set to "prod", modeled after MEAN.JS):
'use strict';
module.exports = {
port: process.env.SERVER_PORT || 3001,
dbUrl: process.env.MONGOHQ_URL || process.env.MONGOLAB_URI || 'mongodb://konneka.org:' + (process.env.MONGO_PORT || 27018) + '/mean'
};
part of backend/env/dev.js (environment-specific Express configuration for dev environment, loaded if the `NODE_ENV variable is not set or is set to "dev"):
module.exports = {
port: process.env.SERVER_PORT || 3000,
dbUrl: 'mongodb://konneka.org:' + (process.env.MONGO_PORT || 27017) + '/mean-dev'
};
part of backend/page.js (my Express configuration page, also modeled after MEAN.JS):
'use strict';
var session = require('express-session');
var mongoStore = require('connect-mongo')(session);
var express = require('express');
var server = express();
...
// create the database object
var monServer = mongoose.connect(environ.dbUrl);
// create a client-server session, using a MongoDB collection/table to store its info
server.use(session({
resave: true,
saveUninitialized: true,
secret: environ.sessionSecret,
store: new mongoStore({
db: monServer.connections[0].db, // specify the database these sessions will be saved into
auto_reconnect: true
})
}));
...
// listen on port related to environment variable
server.listen(process.env.SERVER_PORT || 3000);
module.exports = server;
When I run grunt server, I get:
$ cd /c/repos/konneka/ && grunt server
Running "env:prod" (env) task
Running "shell:mongod" (shell) task
Running "express:prod" (express) task
Running "express-server:prod" (express-server) task
Web server started on port:3000, hostname: 127.0.0.1 [pid: 3996]
Running "express-keepalive" task
Fatal error: failed to connect to [konneka.org:27018]
Execution Time (2014-08-15 18:05:31 UTC)
loading tasks 38.3s █████████████████████████████████ 79%
express-server:prod 8.7s ████████ 18%
express-keepalive 1.2s ██ 2%
Total 48.3s
Now, I can't seem to get the database connected in the first place, but ignore that for now. Notice that the server is started on port 3000, meaning that during execution of the grunt express:prod task, SERVER_PORT is not set so the port gets set to 3000. There are numerous other examples like this, where an environment variable is not set so my app uses the default. However, notice that session tries to connect to the database on port 27018 (and fails), so MONGO_PORT does get set eventually.
If I had just tried the grunt server task, I could chalk it up to load-grunt-config running the tasks in parallel instead of one after the other or some other error, but even when I try the tasks one-by-one, such as running grunt env:prod shell:mongod express-server:prod express-keepalive, I get similar (incorrect) results, so either grunt or grunt env run the tasks in parallel, as well, or something else is going on.
What's going on here? Why are the environment variables not set correctly for later grunt tasks? When are they eventually set, and why then rather than some other time? How can I make them get set for grunt tasks themselves rather than after, assuming there even is a way?

The solution is rather obvious once you figure it out, so let's start at the beginning:
The problem
You're using load-grunt-config to load a set of modules (objects that define tasks) and combine them into one module (object) and pass it along to Grunt. To better understand what load-grunt-config is doing, take a moment to read through the source (it's just three files). So, instead of writing:
// filename: Gruntfile.js
grunt.initConfig({
foo: {
a: {
options: {},
}
},
bar: {
b: {
options: {},
}
}
});
You can write this:
// filename: grunt/foo.js
module.exports = {
a: {
options: {},
}
}
// filename: grunt/bar.js
module.exports = {
b: {
options: {},
}
}
// filename: Gruntfile.js
require('load-grunt-config')(grunt);
Basically, this way you can split up a Grunt configuration into multiple files and have it be more "maintainable". But what you'll need to realize is that these two approaches are semantically equivalent. That is, you can expect them to behave the same way.
Thus, when you write the following*:
(* I've reduced the problem in an attempt to make this answer a bit more general and to reduce noise. I've excluded things like loading the tasks and extraneous option passing, but the error should still be the same. Also note that I've changed the values of the environment variables because the default was the same as what was being set.)
// filename: grunt/env.js
module.exports = {
dev: {
options: {
add: {
// These values are different for demo purposes
NODE_ENV: 'dev',
MONGO_PORT: 'dev_mongo_port',
SERVER_PORT: 'dev_server_port'
}
}
}
};
// filename: grunt/shell.js
module.exports = {
mongod: {
command: 'mongod --port ' + (process.env.MONGO_PORT || 27017)
}
};
// filename: grunt/aliases.js
module.exports = {
server: ['env:prod', 'shell:mongod']
};
// filename: Gruntfile.js
module.exports = function (grunt) {
require('load-grunt-config')(grunt);
};
You can consider the above the same as below:
module.exports = function (grunt) {
grunt.initConfig({
env: {
dev: {
options: {
add: {
NODE_ENV: 'dev',
MONGO_PORT: 'dev_mongo_port',
SERVER_PORT: 'dev_server_port'
}
}
}
},
shell: {
mongod: {
command: 'mongod --port ' + (process.env.MONGO_PORT || 27017)
}
}
});
grunt.registerTask('server', ['env:dev', 'shell:mongod']);
};
Now do you see the problem? What command do you expect shell:mongod to run? The correct answer is:
mongod --port 27017
Where what you want to be executed is:
mongo --port dev_mongo_port
The problem is that when (process.env.MONGO_PORT || 27017) is evaluated the environment variables have not yet been set (i.e. before the env:dev task has been run).
A solution
Well let's look at a working Grunt configuration before splitting it across multiple files:
module.exports = function (grunt) {
grunt.initConfig({
env: {
dev: {
options: {
add: {
NODE_ENV: 'dev',
MONGO_PORT: 'dev_mongo_port',
SERVER_PORT: 'dev_server_port'
}
}
}
},
shell: {
mongod: {
command: 'mongod --port ${MONGO_PORT:-27017}'
}
}
});
grunt.registerTask('server', ['env:dev', 'shell:mongod']);
};
Now when you run shell:mongod, the command will contain ${MONGO_PORT:-27017} and Bash (or just sh) will look for the environment variable you would have set in the task before it (i.e. env:dev).
Okay, that's all well and good for the shell:mongod task, but what about the other tasks, Express for example?
You'll need to move away from environment variables (unless you want to set them up before invoking Grunt. Why? Take this Grunt configuration for example:
module.exports = function (grunt) {
grunt.initConfig({
env: {
dev: {
options: {
add: {
NODE_ENV: 'dev',
MONGO_PORT: 'dev_mongo_port',
SERVER_PORT: 'dev_server_port'
}
}
}
},
express: {
options: {
hostname: '127.0.0.1'
port: (process.env.SERVER_PORT || 3000)
},
prod: {
options: {
livereload: true
server: path.resolve(__dirname, '../backend/page.js'),
bases: 'dist/'
}
}
}
});
grunt.registerTask('server', ['env:dev', 'express:prod']);
};
What port will the express:prod task configuration contain? 3000. What you need is for it to reference the value you've defined in the above task. How you do this is up to you. You could:
Separate the env configuration and reference its values
module.exports = function (grunt) {
grunt.config('env', {
dev: {
options: {
add: {
NODE_ENV: 'dev',
MONGO_PORT: 'dev_mongo_port',
SERVER_PORT: 'dev_server_port'
}
}
}
});
grunt.config('express', {
options: {
hostname: '127.0.0.1'
port: '<%= env.dev.options.add.SERVER_PORT %>'
}
});
grunt.registerTask('server', ['env:dev', 'express:prod']);
};
But you'll notice that the semantics of the env task don't hold up here due to it no longer representing a task's configuration. You could use an object of your own design:
module.exports = function (grunt) {
grunt.config('env', {
dev: {
NODE_ENV: 'dev',
MONGO_PORT: 'dev_mongo_port',
SERVER_PORT: 'dev_server_port'
}
});
grunt.config('express', {
options: {
hostname: '127.0.0.1'
port: '<%= env.dev.SERVER_PORT %>'
}
});
grunt.registerTask('server', ['env:dev', 'express:prod']);
};
Pass grunt an argument to specify what config it should use
Have multiple configuration files (e.g. Gruntfile.js.dev and Gruntfile.js.prod) and rename them as needed
Read a development configuration file (e.g. grunt.file.readJSON('config.development.json')) if it exists and fall back to a production configuration file if it doesn't exist
Some better way not listed here
But all of the above should achieve the same end result.

This seems to be the essence of what you are trying to do, and it works for me. The important part was what I mentioned in my comment -- chaining the environment task before running the other tasks.
Gruntfile.js
module.exports = function(grunt) {
// Do grunt-related things in here
grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-env');
grunt.initConfig({
env: {
dev: {
PROD : 'http://production.server'
}
}
});
grunt.registerTask('printEnv', 'prints a message with an env var', function() { console.log('Env var in subsequent grunt task: ' + process.env.PROD) } );
grunt.registerTask('prod', ['env:dev', 'printEnv']);
};
Output of grunt prod
Running "env:dev" (env) task
Running "printEnv" task
Env var in subsequent grunt task: http://production.server
Done, without errors.