Development Guide¶

This guide provides instructions for building, testing, and developing the PSReddit module.

Prerequisites¶

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed:

PowerShell 7+: The module and build scripts require PowerShell 7 or later.
Invoke-Build Module: Used for automating build tasks. Install it using:
```
Install-Module Invoke-Build -Force
```
Pester Module: Used for running tests. The build script requires a version between 5.2.2 and 5.99.99. Install a compatible version (e.g., 5.5.0):
```
Install-Module Pester -RequiredVersion 5.5.0 -Force
```
(Optional) Reddit API Credentials: For running integration tests, you need a Reddit application Client ID and Secret. Set these as environment variables:
```
$env:REDDIT_CLIENT_ID = 'your-client-id'
$env:REDDIT_CLIENT_SECRET = 'your-client-secret'
```

Build Process¶

The build process is managed by Invoke-Build using the src/PSReddit.build.ps1 script. All build commands should be run from the src/ directory.

cd src

Full Build¶

Runs the default sequence: Clean, Validate Requirements, Import Module Manifest, Formatting Check, Analyze, Test (Unit), Create Help, Build, Integration Test, Archive.

Invoke-Build

The final module output will be placed in the src/Artifacts/PSReddit/ directory, and a zipped archive in src/Archive/.

Build Without Integration Tests¶

Runs the full build process except for the integration tests.

Invoke-Build BuildNoIntegration

Testing¶

Run Unit Tests¶

Runs static analysis (PSScriptAnalyzer) and Pester unit tests located in src/Tests/Unit/. Also generates code coverage reports.

Invoke-Build TestLocal

Or, to run only the Pester unit tests without analysis:

Invoke-Build Test

Test results (NUnit XML) and code coverage reports (JaCoCo XML) are saved in src/Artifacts/.

Run Integration Tests¶

Runs Pester integration tests located in src/Tests/Integration/. These tests interact with the live Reddit API and require the REDDIT_CLIENT_ID and REDDIT_CLIENT_SECRET environment variables to be set.

Invoke-Build IntegrationTest

Code Coverage (for VSCode)¶

To generate a cov.xml file at the project root compatible with the "Coverage Gutters" VSCode extension:

Invoke-Build DevCC

Documentation¶

Generate Help Files¶

To regenerate the markdown documentation and external help XML file (used by Get-Help):

Invoke-Build HelpLocal

This runs the Clean, ImportModuleManifest, and CreateHelpStart tasks, including markdown and external help generation. The generated markdown files are placed in src/Artifacts/docs/ and the XML help file in src/Artifacts/en-US/.

Preview Documentation Site¶

This project uses MkDocs with the Material theme. To preview the documentation site locally:

Ensure you have Python and pip installed.
Install MkDocs and the Material theme:
```
pip install mkdocs mkdocs-material
```
Navigate to the project root directory (where mkdocs.yml is located).
Run the MkDocs development server:
```
mkdocs serve
```
Open your browser to http://127.0.0.1:8000.

Cleaning¶

To remove the src/Artifacts and src/Archive directories:

```powershell Invoke-Build Clean