ng e2e --watch support

[zackarychapple]

Currently e2e tests run once. It would be fantastic if the e2e suite could run with a watch flag like the unit tests.

[JohannesRudolph]

I was wondering the same thing, especially since --watch appears ng e2e --help. However, it doesn't appear to work for me (using 1.0.0-rc1).

[victornoel]

@JohannesHoppe it is because the current --watch option is related to the building of the app and not to the execution of the tests.

I agree we should have a way to re-run tests when file change though!

[filipesilva]

This isn't something we're looking at adding. It sounds good on paper but the only e2e suite that could benefit from it would be a tiny one.

[JohannesHoppe]

I don't get that argument. During development I always fdescribe / fit my test, no matter if it's Karma or Protractor. A watch mode would be super​ handy here.

[filipesilva]

I just timed how long it takes from the end of a build to the end of the e2e run in ng e2e on a new project, and it was 5 seconds total for 1 spec.

Is this an acceptable refresh rate for you? I'd expect most e2e specs to take longer than this.

I'm open to reopening this issue and mark it for community help. With a bit of effort in managing the serve rebuilds and protractor process it's doable.

I just honestly can't imagine this being truly useful. But there's no e2e watch mode in other setups that I know of, so maybe it's actually super cool and nobody every bothered doing it.

[JohannesHoppe]

I agree, you should save the file with care! I still think this feature would be cool! 😄

[josersleal]

I think that it would be useful to be able to run and re-test only the modified, or better, the relevant change affected parts, rather than re-run the entire thing which takes forever in dev world.
This would allow for a bdd flow closer to tdd flow... and if bdd is the daughter of tdd then it makes sense imo