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testing |
| asserterror |
| expectederror |
| expectederrorcode |
| negative-test |
| error-code |
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Pin asserterror to a specific error with ExpectedError and ExpectedErrorCode
Description
asserterror passes when the guarded statement raises any error at all. That is too permissive for a negative test: a typo, a missing setup record, or a permission failure all raise errors, so a bare asserterror can go green while never exercising the rule it claims to verify — false confidence that the validation works. Constrain it. Assert.ExpectedError(text) checks the message of the error that was actually raised, and Assert.ExpectedErrorCode(code) checks its error code. Together they assert that the specific failure occurred, turning "something went wrong" into "the right thing went wrong for the right reason".
Best Practice
Follow every asserterror with a verification of the error it expects, and prefer the reusable Library Assert helpers over hardcoded literals. For a mandatory-field check, Assert.ExpectedTestFieldError(FieldCaption, ExpectedValue) encapsulates both the message and the TestField code, so the test survives caption or code changes and does not repeat that knowledge in every method. For other errors, pair Assert.ExpectedError with a stable substring — ideally a shared Label, not an inline sentence — and, where known, Assert.ExpectedErrorCode. When a needed check is missing from the shared library, extend Library Assert (or your own assert library) with a helper rather than hardcoding message text and codes across tests; matching on a code or an invariant fragment keeps the test from going blind to the wrong error when a caption is localized.
See sample: asserterror-needs-expectederror-and-code.good.al.
Anti Pattern
asserterror DoInvalid(); with nothing after it. The test asserts only that the call failed somehow; swap the validation for a different bug and the test still passes, certifying a guard that may no longer fire. A negative test that cannot tell one error from another verifies almost nothing.
See sample: asserterror-needs-expectederror-and-code.bad.al.