# Errors when testing unregistered custom package (because of non-ASCII characters, it seems)

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/errors-when-testing-unregistered-custom-package-because-of-non-ascii-characters-it-seems/40554>\
**Category:** Package Management\
**Tags:** testing, strings, pkg\
**Created:** [June 1, 2020, 11:04am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/errors-when-testing-unregistered-custom-package-because-of-non-ascii-characters-it-seems/40554 "2020-06-01T11:04:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![D\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8dc957/32.png) [@D\_A](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/D_A)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 11:04am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/errors-when-testing-unregistered-custom-package-because-of-non-ascii-characters-it-seems/40554/1 "2020-06-01T11:04:04Z")

</div>

Hello,

I created my own package (let’s call it _MyPackage_) with Pkg (`generate`, `add`, etc.), locally (not registered), and I have some problems to test it.

I used the latest method described [here](https://julialang.github.io/Pkg.jl/v1/creating-packages/): I have a _test_ folder inside my package root, which contains _runtests.jl_, _Manifest.toml_ and _Project.toml_. It imports Test package (installed by `] activate test` then `add Test` and other packages useful for tests).

Inside _runtests.jl_, it starts with

```julia
using Test
using MyPackage

```

When I am in _MyPackage_ root folder and I run `] test`, I have this error:

```julia
(MyPackage) pkg> test
    Testing MyPackage
Status `/tmp/jl_PPbTYN/Manifest.toml`
 […]
ERROR: LoadError: ArgumentError: Package MyPackage not found in current path:
- Run `import Pkg; Pkg.add("MyPackage")` to install the MyPackage package.

Stacktrace:
 [1] require(::Module, ::Symbol) at ./loading.jl:892
 [2] include(::String) at ./client.jl:439
 [3] top-level scope at none:6
in expression starting at […]/MyPackage/test/runtests.jl:11
ERROR: Package MyPackage errored during testing

```

Of course, my package is not registered so I can’t simply do `Pkg.add("MyPackage")`:

```julia
ERROR: LoadError: expected package `MyPackage […]` to be registered

```

And `Pkg.add(".")` does not work inside _runtests.jl_ file:

```julia
ERROR: LoadError: `.` is not a valid package name

```

If I do `] activate test` then `add .`, it adds MyPackage and all its dependencies, so both the _Manifest.toml_ are pretty similar, just MyPackage/test’s has MyPackage (with `repo-rev = "master"` and `repo-url = ".."` lines in addition) and Test packages in addition, and in _Project.toml_, `"MyPackage" = "…"` line is added (with quotes, compared to other packages). In this setting, if I test again by `] test` from MyPackage root folder, I have this error:

```julia
(MyPackage) pkg> test
    Testing MyPackage
ERROR: can not merge projects

```

It is not a version mismatch problem because I updated both MyPackage and MyPackage/test environments’ dependencies (everything is identical, except the addition of Test package in test).

My **only working attempt** is _just_ to add this line inside _runtests.jl_ (without adding MyPackage explicitely by `add .`, as tried in the previous step):

```julia
using Test
Pkg.activate("..") # This line!
cd("..") # For configuration files (is there a prettier way?), not so important for this example.
using MyPackage

```

So it means that by running test, it moves to test environment, activates it, imports Test, then activates the parent environment it is testing… It seems pretty odd to do that manually, especially when the Pkg documentation says for this [part](https://julialang.github.io/Pkg.jl/v1/creating-packages/#Test-specific-dependencies-in-Julia-1.2-and-above-1):

> Note that Pkg will add the tested package itself implictly.

So I think I missed something…

So, my general question is: with a unregistered custom package, what is the latest and best way to test it, rather than just using `Pkg.activate("..")`?

Second extra question (related to a comment in the last script I have shown): is there a prettier way to manage the change of working folder for tests in regard to configuration and data files, rather than using `cd("..")`?

Sincerely.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ppalmes](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ppalmes/32/6838_2.png) [@ppalmes](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ppalmes)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 11:15am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/errors-when-testing-unregistered-custom-package-because-of-non-ascii-characters-it-seems/40554/2 "2020-06-01T11:15:13Z")

</div>

at the directory where your Project.toml is located, type from bash `julia --project` then `]test `. don’t activate test. activate means to activate your current package by reading its project toml. always start your julia at the location of Project.toml because that is where all path will be relative to when you are writing a package. no need to activate your package inside runtests.jl

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![D\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8dc957/32.png) [@D\_A](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/D_A)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 11:23am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/errors-when-testing-unregistered-custom-package-because-of-non-ascii-characters-it-seems/40554/3 "2020-06-01T11:23:47Z")

</div>

I already tried that:

```julia
me@me-pc:[…]/MyPackage$ julia --project _
   _ _ _(_)_ | Documentation: https://docs.julialang.org
  (_) | (_) (_) |
   _ _ _| |_ __ _ | Type "?" for help, "]?" for Pkg help.
  | | | | | | |/ _` | |
  | | |_| | | | (_| | | Version 1.4.2 (2020-05-23)
 _/ |\ __'_|_|_|\__'_| | Official https://julialang.org/ release
|__/ |

(MyPackage) pkg> test
    Testing MyPackage
Status `/tmp/jl_VGlbE2/Manifest.toml`
  […]
  [c21aa512] MyPackage v0.1.0 [`[…]/MyPackage`]
  […]
ERROR: LoadError: ArgumentError: Package MyPackage not found in current path:
- Run `import Pkg; Pkg.add("MyPackage")` to install the MyPackage package.

Stacktrace:
 [1] require(::Module, ::Symbol) at ./loading.jl:892
 [2] include(::String) at ./client.jl:439
 [3] top-level scope at none:6
in expression starting at […]/MyPackage/test/runtests.jl:7
ERROR: Package MyPackage errored during testing

```

I activated _test_ only to add Test and some other useful packages for tests.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ppalmes](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ppalmes/32/6838_2.png) [@ppalmes](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ppalmes)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 11:25am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/errors-when-testing-unregistered-custom-package-because-of-non-ascii-characters-it-seems/40554/4 "2020-06-01T11:25:20Z")

</div>

follow this, at bash, cd to your Project.toml location. type julia --project. ]test

don’t change directory too in the runtests.jl. julia expects the location of test, src, docs file relative to the toplevel. you don’t have to control these locations. just start julia at the topmost level of your package directory.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ppalmes](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ppalmes/32/6838_2.png) [@ppalmes](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ppalmes)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 11:26am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/errors-when-testing-unregistered-custom-package-because-of-non-ascii-characters-it-seems/40554/5 "2020-06-01T11:26:14Z")

</div>

show me the contents of your MyPackage.jl. I advise don’t start julia inside src directory if you are creating a package. always start it at the topmost level of the package (the one where Project.toml is located).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![D\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8dc957/32.png) [@D\_A](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/D_A)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 11:31am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/errors-when-testing-unregistered-custom-package-because-of-non-ascii-characters-it-seems/40554/6 "2020-06-01T11:31:57Z")

</div>

MyPackage.jl is is src folder, and I never starts anything from src folder.

src/MyPackage.jl (MWE):

```julia
module MyPackage

include("mysubmodule1.jl")
include("mysubmodule2.jl")
include("mysubmodule3.jl")
include("mysubmodule4.jl")

using .MySubModule1
using .MySubModule2

export start

function start()
   
end

end

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ppalmes](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ppalmes/32/6838_2.png) [@ppalmes](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ppalmes)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 11:32am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/errors-when-testing-unregistered-custom-package-because-of-non-ascii-characters-it-seems/40554/7 "2020-06-01T11:32:41Z")

</div>

that seems fine. does the test work now?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![D\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8dc957/32.png) [@D\_A](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/D_A)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 11:39am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/errors-when-testing-unregistered-custom-package-because-of-non-ascii-characters-it-seems/40554/8 "2020-06-01T11:39:54Z")

</div>

Not at all, same error as before!

For information, here are the full Project.toml files:

Project.toml:

```julia
name = "MyPackage"
uuid = "…"
authors = ["me"]
version = "0.1.0"

[deps]
Cascadia = "54eefc05-d75b-58de-a785-1a3403f0919f"
DataFrames = "a93c6f00-e57d-5684-b7b6-d8193f3e46c0"
DataStructures = "864edb3b-99cc-5e75-8d2d-829cb0a9cfe8"
FilePaths = "8fc22ac5-c921-52a6-82fd-178b2807b824"
Gumbo = "708ec375-b3d6-5a57-a7ce-8257bf98657a"
HTTP = "cd3eb016-35fb-5094-929b-558a96fad6f3"
JSON = "682c06a0-de6a-54ab-a142-c8b1cf79cde6"
LibPQ = "194296ae-ab2e-5f79-8cd4-7183a0a5a0d1"
LightXML = "9c8b4983-aa76-5018-a973-4c85ecc9e179"
Logging = "56ddb016-857b-54e1-b83d-db4d58db5568"
LoggingExtras = "e6f89c97-d47a-5376-807f-9c37f3926c36"
YAML = "ddb6d928-2868-570f-bddf-ab3f9cf99eb6"
ZipFile = "a5390f91-8eb1-5f08-bee0-b1d1ffed6cea"

```

test/Project.toml:

```julia
[deps]
DataFrames = "a93c6f00-e57d-5684-b7b6-d8193f3e46c0"
FilePaths = "8fc22ac5-c921-52a6-82fd-178b2807b824"
LibPQ = "194296ae-ab2e-5f79-8cd4-7183a0a5a0d1"
Pkg = "44cfe95a-1eb2-52ea-b672-e2afdf69b78f"
Test = "8dfed614-e22c-5e08-85e1-65c5234f0b40"

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ppalmes](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ppalmes/32/6838_2.png) [@ppalmes](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ppalmes)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 11:42am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/errors-when-testing-unregistered-custom-package-because-of-non-ascii-characters-it-seems/40554/9 "2020-06-01T11:42:07Z")

</div>

did you use Pkg.generate()?  
uuid is missing???

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![D\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8dc957/32.png) [@D\_A](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/D_A)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 11:42am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/errors-when-testing-unregistered-custom-package-because-of-non-ascii-characters-it-seems/40554/10 "2020-06-01T11:42:54Z")

</div>

Yes, I used `] generate` at the very beginning of the project.

It is not missing, I just put some _…_ to avoid big texts here!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ppalmes](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ppalmes/32/6838_2.png) [@ppalmes](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ppalmes)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 11:43am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/errors-when-testing-unregistered-custom-package-because-of-non-ascii-characters-it-seems/40554/11 "2020-06-01T11:43:14Z")

</div>

test doesn’t need a project.toml. remove it. all deps are in one project.toml

---

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**Author:** ![ppalmes](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ppalmes/32/6838_2.png) [@ppalmes](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ppalmes)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 11:45am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/errors-when-testing-unregistered-custom-package-because-of-non-ascii-characters-it-seems/40554/12 "2020-06-01T11:45:45Z")

</div>

try generate a new package and work from there. something is broken with your current package. try generate a new one. run a test with some simple test file. if it works, just add your deps.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ppalmes](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ppalmes/32/6838_2.png) [@ppalmes](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ppalmes)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 11:47am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/errors-when-testing-unregistered-custom-package-because-of-non-ascii-characters-it-seems/40554/13 "2020-06-01T11:47:51Z")

</div>

try to check some registered packages how the directories look from src, test, docs

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![D\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8dc957/32.png) [@D\_A](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/D_A)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 11:49am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/errors-when-testing-unregistered-custom-package-because-of-non-ascii-characters-it-seems/40554/14 "2020-06-01T11:49:32Z")

</div>

Without test/Project.toml file, I have this error:

```julia
(MyPackage) pkg> test
    Testing MyPackage
Status `/tmp/jl_mgeehu/Manifest.toml`
[…]
  [c21aa512] MyPackage v0.1.0 [`[…]/MyPackage`]
[…]
ERROR: LoadError: ArgumentError: Package Test not found in current path:
- Run `import Pkg; Pkg.add("Test")` to install the Test package.

```

Of course, if I install Test again in MyPackage, same error as before!

Anyway, they say in the documentation that for Julia 1.2 and above, there are 2 Manifest and Project .toml files:

> The exact interaction between `Project.toml` , `test/Project.toml` and their corresponding `Manifest.toml` s are not fully worked out, and may be subject to change in future versions. The old method of adding test-specific dependencies, described in the next section, will therefore be supported throughout all Julia 1.X releases.

I will try a new test project to see if it happens again…

I already checked several packages, but because they are registered, it is not the same problem!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ppalmes](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ppalmes/32/6838_2.png) [@ppalmes](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ppalmes)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 11:51am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/errors-when-testing-unregistered-custom-package-because-of-non-ascii-characters-it-seems/40554/15 "2020-06-01T11:51:31Z")

</div>

add Test at the package prompt

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ppalmes](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ppalmes/32/6838_2.png) [@ppalmes](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ppalmes)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 11:51am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/errors-when-testing-unregistered-custom-package-because-of-non-ascii-characters-it-seems/40554/16 "2020-06-01T11:51:49Z")

</div>

the error is that you did not add the Test as deps

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![D\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8dc957/32.png) [@D\_A](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/D_A)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 11:52am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/errors-when-testing-unregistered-custom-package-because-of-non-ascii-characters-it-seems/40554/17 "2020-06-01T11:52:15Z")

</div>

Look my edition: it comes back to the previous error…

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ppalmes](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ppalmes/32/6838_2.png) [@ppalmes](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ppalmes)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 11:53am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/errors-when-testing-unregistered-custom-package-because-of-non-ascii-characters-it-seems/40554/20 "2020-06-01T11:53:39Z")

</div>

Project.toml should have Test as part of deps. add any package it needs but not inside test/Project.toml. they should be added at the main Project.toml

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![D\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8dc957/32.png) [@D\_A](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/D_A)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 11:58am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/errors-when-testing-unregistered-custom-package-because-of-non-ascii-characters-it-seems/40554/21 "2020-06-01T11:58:46Z")

</div>

And in this case, I have the same error:

```julia
ERROR: LoadError: ArgumentError: Package MyPackage not found in current path:
- Run `import Pkg; Pkg.add("MyPackage")` to install the MyPackage package.

```

So, if Test package is inside the unique MyPackage/Project.toml file, I have this error, same as when there is also a MyPackage/test/Project.toml file with Test package there, and also same as when Test is in both files if there are 2 Project.toml files.

_Sorry for other readers, we were talking at the same time!_

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![D\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8dc957/32.png) [@D\_A](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/D_A)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 12:28pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/errors-when-testing-unregistered-custom-package-because-of-non-ascii-characters-it-seems/40554/22 "2020-06-01T12:28:34Z")

</div>

OK, it seems I found the problem, which was impossible to find here because I made it easier to read for readers. It seems it is related to a non-ASCII character in the name of my package…

I am doing comparison test to verify.

[Next page](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/errors-when-testing-unregistered-custom-package-because-of-non-ascii-characters-it-seems/40554.md?page=2)