TMS link annotations

Annotations are special markers in code that contain metadata about code. You can use TMS link annotations to provide additional information about tests. This allows IntelliJ IDEA to link your unit tests to TMS items.

TMS link annotations enable IntelliJ IDEA to perform better analysis, for example, to find test cases that are already referenced from unit tests.

Your project may already use an annotation that links code to the corresponding tests. If that is the case, you can proceed with configuring IntelliJ IDEA to recognize this annotation.

If not, you can use a third-party annotation or create your own custom annotation. Both options work equally well.

Import a third-party annotation

Open pom.xml in the root directory of your project.
To quickly navigate to a file, press Control+Shift+N and enter its name.
In pom.xml, press Alt+Insert, and select Add Dependency.
In the tool window that opens, enter the name of the dependency, for example, io.qameta.allure:allure-java-commons.
Make sure to select the required dependency version and click Add.
Apply the changes in the build script. For that, press Control+Shift+O or click Load Maven Changes in the notification that appears in the top-right corner of the editor.

Import a third-party annotation

Open build.gradle in the root directory of your project.
To quickly navigate to a file, press Control+Shift+N and enter its name.
In build.gradle, press Alt+Insert, and select Add Dependency.
In the tool window that opens, enter the name of the dependency, for example, io.qameta.allure:allure-java-commons.
Make sure to select the required dependency version and click Add.
Apply the changes in the build script. For that, press Control+Shift+O or click Load Gradle Changes in the notification that appears in the top-right corner of the editor.

If you cannot add extra dependencies to your module, you can create your own annotation class.

Create a custom annotation

In the Project tool window (Alt+1), right-click the node in which you want to create a new class and select New | Java Class.
Paste the code below to the file. You can replace MyTmsAnnotation with any other valid name.
public @interface MyTmsAnnotation { public String value() default ""; }

Create a custom annotation

In the Project tool window (Alt+1), right-click the node in which you want to create a new class and select New | Kotlin Class/File.
Paste the code below to the file. You can replace MyTmsAnnotation with any other valid name.
annotation class MyTmsAnnotation(val value: String = "")

After the annotation is already in the project, you need to tell the TMS plugin to use that specific annotation.

Enable annotations in TMS settings

Press Control+Alt+S to open the IDE settings and then select Tools | TMS | TMS Annotations.
Click Add and specify the annotation class.

Finally, for IntelliJ IDEA to establish a linkage between a unit test and a TMS item, the test needs to be annotated with one of the annotations configured for the project.

Annotate a unit test

Open the unit test file in the editor.
Put a TMS link annotation before the method definition as shown below.
// C58439 @MyTmsAnnotation("C58439") @Test void TestCase1() { Assertions.assertEquals(4, Calculator.multiply(2,2)); }

Annotate a unit test

Open the unit test file in the editor.
Put a TMS link annotation before the method definition as shown below.
// C58439 @MyTmsAnnotation("C58439") @Test fun TestCase1() { Assertions.assertEquals(4, Calculator.multiply(2,2)) }

Last modified: 18 August 2023