Run a single specs2 example from sbt

August 13, 2014

Every now and then I need to run an single failing specs2 test from the sbt command line. Because it happens so seldom, though, I keep on forgetting how to do it. Google isn't very helpful either because I have to remember the specs2 terminology, i.e., specification vs example, when searching.

In this blog post I'll work with the following test:

package com.example.quux

import org.specs2.mutable._

// This class represents a **specification**.
class ExampleSpec extends Specification {
  "this is a group of example" should {
    "this is example one" in {
      true must be(true)
    }

    "this is example two" in {
      true must be(true)
    }
  }
}

Running a Single Specification

If you're interested in running all the examples in the ExampleSpec specification, the following sbt command will do.

sbt> testOnly com.example.quux.ExampleSpec

Or, using a wildcard for the package name, which is what I personally prefer.

sbt> testOnly *ExampleSpec

Running a Single Example

If, on the other hand, you'd like to run just the example named this is example two, you have to make use of the -ex specs2 flag. Please note, this argument only works with the specs2 testing framework. ScalaTest supports a different set of arguments.

sbt> testOnly -- -ex "this is example two"

This works, but the test reporter will show even the names of the groups that haven't been run, which makes it hard to figure out where's the actual failed test. For this reason, the command I'm actually using is akin to this one:

sbt> testOnly *ExampleSpec -- -ex "this is example two"

NB: you have to wrap the example name in double quotes. Single quotes won't do it.