I want to write a test for method which is going to extract part of an XML file. The input for this is an array of objects which I generate by parsing a CSV file and creating an object for each line.

I'm not clear on what "the input for this" means. Do you mean that you're providing the method under test with a simulated parse?

Would something like the following work? 

    # ... setup $foo
    my $xml = <<XML;
    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
    <stuff>
      ...
    </stuff>
    XML

    my $out = $foo->method_under_test($xml);
    ok ( Data::Dumper::Dumper($out), <<EXPECTED );
    $VAR1 = {
              ...
            };
    EXPECTED

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That is, provide the raw XML in-line with the test, and also include the expected Data::Dumper output. Tests like this have the benefit of being fairly transparent, even if setting up $foo means creating several objects.

In reply to Re: Testing with non-trivial input by dws
in thread Testing with non-trivial input by loris

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