com.github.springtestdbunit.assertion.DatabaseAssertion throws Error instead of "promised" DatabaseUnitException when assertion fails!

[evys42]

An attempt to use @ExpectedDatabase annotation brought unexpected results when assertion fails:

• transaction is not committed/rolled back;
• database connection stays open and is not released back to the pool;
• subsequent test has a good chance to get stuck waiting for the DB lock.

An offender seemed to be the org.dbunit.Assertion.assertEquals(...) methods, which throws java.lang.Error instead of promised org.dbunit.DatabaseUnitException when the assertion fails.

The assertion is invoked by

com.github.springtestdbunit.DbUnitTestExecutionListener.afterTestMethod(...).

In a org.springframework.test.context.TestContextManager.afterTestMethod(...) CALL to the configured test execution listeners is, naturally, surrounded by try/catch block that intercepts java.lang.Exception. Unfortunately, when the listener throws a java.lang.Error instead, it escapes into surrounding org.springframework.test.context.junit4.statements.RunAfterTestMethodCallbacks.evaluate() method, preventing the "downstream" listeners from being executed. One of the skipped listeners is, obviously, a TransactionalTestExecutionListener, responsible for ending a current transaction.

Filed similar issues with:

• spring: https://jira.spring.io/browse/SPR-13961
• dbunit: https://sourceforge.net/p/dbunit/bugs/381/

An easy workaround would be to use a DbUnitTestExecutionListener "extention":

public class PeculiarDbUnitTestExecutionListener extends DbUnitTestExecutionListener {
    @Override
    public void afterTestMethod(TestContext testContext) throws Exception {
        try {
            super.afterTestMethod(testContext);
        } catch (Error e) {
            throw new DatabaseUnitException(e);
        }
    }
}

[philwebb]

It looks like this will be fixed in Spring 4.3 so I'd rather not put such hacks directly in DbUnitTestExecutionListener.