Maven (Surefire): copy test resources from src/test/java

Question

Maven's Surefire (testing) pluginmvn test-compile copies files in src/test/resources to target/test-classes. It compiles .java in src/test/java, and copies the compiled .class files to target/test-classes.

But it doesn't copy resources from src/test/java, and it's more convenient to be able to put test resources in the same directory as the .java classes they are resources for, than in a parallel hierarchy in src/test/resources.

Is it possible to get Maven to copy resources from src/test/java?

Answer 1

bmargulies gave the answer, but let me fill in some details.

<testresources> can be added to the <build> node of the project's POM, like this:

 <testResources>   <testResource>     <directory>${project.basedir}/src/test/java</directory>   </testResource>  </testResources> 

That copies everything in src/test/java -- including the .java source code, which we don't want.

It also (as bmargulies only hinted at) overrides and replaces the default <testResources> setting in the standard parent POM that all other POM inherit from (unless that inheritance is changed). The standard parent copies src/test/resources, so by overriding that, we don't get that copied as usual, which we don't want. (In particular, my whole reason for doing this is to use unitils, which wants the unitils.properties file copied -- and that's (for me, anyway) in src/test/resources.

So we re-add src/test/resources:

<testResources>   <testResource>     <directory>${project.basedir}/src/test/java</directory>   </testResource>   <testResource>     <directory>${project.basedir}/src/test/resources</directory>   </testResource> </testResources> 

That copies in the order listed, so that for files that exist in both /src/test/java (and subdirectories) and in /src/test/resources (and subdirectories), the src/test/resources version is the one that ends up in test-classes.

Now we just need to not copy the .java files:

<testResources>   <testResource>     <directory>${project.basedir}/src/test/java</directory>     <excludes>         <exclude>**/*.java</exclude>     </excludes>   </testResource>   <testResource>     <directory>${project.basedir}/src/test/resources</directory>   </testResource> </testResources> 

Answer 2

The resource copying is all done by the maven-resource-plugin, and if you read the doc thereof you will see how to add copying of resources from src/test/java.

See http://maven.apache.org/plugins/maven-resources-plugin/testResources-mojo.html for the test-resources goal, which is included in the default lifecycle.

And then see http://maven.apache.org/pom.html, and look for <testResources>.