Attributes Overview

TestLink provides PHP 8 attributes for declaring test-to-code links.

Package

All attributes are in the testflowlabs/test-attributes package:

composer require testflowlabs/test-attributes

Available Attributes

Attribute	Usage	Package
#[TestedBy]	Production code	test-attributes
#[LinksAndCovers]	Test code	test-attributes
#[Links]	Test code	test-attributes

Namespace

use TestFlowLabs\TestingAttributes\TestedBy;
use TestFlowLabs\TestingAttributes\LinksAndCovers;
use TestFlowLabs\TestingAttributes\Links;

Quick Reference

#[TestedBy]

Placed on production methods to declare which tests verify them:

use TestFlowLabs\TestingAttributes\TestedBy;

class UserService
{
    #[TestedBy('Tests\UserServiceTest', 'test_creates_user')]
    public function create(array $data): User
    {
        // ...
    }
}

Full reference →

#[LinksAndCovers]

Placed on test methods to declare which production methods they test (with coverage):

use TestFlowLabs\TestingAttributes\LinksAndCovers;

class UserServiceTest extends TestCase
{
    #[LinksAndCovers(UserService::class, 'create')]
    public function test_creates_user(): void
    {
        // ...
    }
}

Full reference →

#[Links]

Placed on test methods for traceability without affecting coverage:

use TestFlowLabs\TestingAttributes\Links;

class UserFlowTest extends TestCase
{
    #[Links(UserService::class, 'create')]
    public function test_complete_registration_flow(): void
    {
        // Integration test
    }
}

Full reference →

Attribute Targets

Attribute	Valid Targets
#[TestedBy]	Methods, Functions
#[LinksAndCovers]	Methods, Classes
#[Links]	Methods, Classes

Multiple Attributes

All attributes can be repeated:

#[TestedBy('Tests\UserServiceTest', 'test_creates_user')]
#[TestedBy('Tests\UserServiceTest', 'test_validates_email')]
#[TestedBy('Tests\Integration\UserFlowTest', 'test_registration')]
public function create(array $data): User

Class Constants

Use ::class for type-safe references:

// Recommended
#[TestedBy(UserServiceTest::class, 'test_creates_user')]

// Also valid
#[TestedBy('Tests\UserServiceTest', 'test_creates_user')]

Placeholder Support

All attributes support placeholder syntax:

// Placeholder - resolved later with `testlink pair`
#[TestedBy('@user-create')]

// Real reference
#[TestedBy('Tests\UserServiceTest', 'test_creates_user')]

Validation

TestLink validates all attributes:

./vendor/bin/testlink validate

Checks:

• References point to existing code
• Bidirectional links match
• No orphaned attributes