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How to mock System env [duplicate]

I have a piece of Java code which uses an environment variable and the behaviour of the code depends on the value of this variable. I would like to test this code with different values of the environment variable. How can I do this in JUnit?
I've seen some ways to set environment variables in Java in general, but I'm more interested in unit testing aspect of it, especially considering that tests shouldn't interfere with each other.

The library System Lambda has a method withEnvironmentVariable for setting environment variables.
import static com.github.stefanbirkner.systemlambda.SystemLambda.*;
public void EnvironmentVariablesTest {
#Test
public void setEnvironmentVariable() {
String value = withEnvironmentVariable("name", "value")
.execute(() -> System.getenv("name"));
assertEquals("value", value);
}
}
For Java 5 to 7 the library System Rules has a JUnit rule called EnvironmentVariables.
import org.junit.contrib.java.lang.system.EnvironmentVariables;
public class EnvironmentVariablesTest {
#Rule
public final EnvironmentVariables environmentVariables
= new EnvironmentVariables();
#Test
public void setEnvironmentVariable() {
environmentVariables.set("name", "value");
assertEquals("value", System.getenv("name"));
}
}
Full disclosure: I'm the author of both libraries.

The usual solution is to create a class which manages the access to this environmental variable, which you can then mock in your test class.
public class Environment {
public String getVariable() {
return System.getenv(); // or whatever
}
}
public class ServiceTest {
private static class MockEnvironment {
public String getVariable() {
return "foobar";
}
}
#Test public void testService() {
service.doSomething(new MockEnvironment());
}
}
The class under test then gets the environment variable using the Environment class, not directly from System.getenv().

In a similar situation like this where I had to write Test Case which is dependent on Environment Variable, I tried following:
I went for System Rules as suggested by Stefan Birkner. Its use was simple. But sooner than later, I found the behavior erratic. In one run, it works, in the very next run it fails. I investigated and found that System Rules work well with JUnit 4 or higher version. But in my cases, I was using some Jars which were dependent on JUnit 3. So I skipped System Rules. More on it you can find here #Rule annotation doesn't work while using TestSuite in JUnit.
Next I tried to create Environment Variable through Process Builder class provided by Java. Here through Java Code we can create an environment variable, but you need to know the process or program name which I did not. Also it creates environment variable for child process, not for the main process.
I wasted a day using the above two approaches, but of no avail. Then Maven came to my rescue. We can set Environment Variables or System Properties through Maven POM file which I think best way to do Unit Testing for Maven based project. Below is the entry I made in POM file.
<build>
<plugins>
<plugin>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
<configuration>
<systemPropertyVariables>
<PropertyName1>PropertyValue1</PropertyName1>
<PropertyName2>PropertyValue2</PropertyName2>
</systemPropertyVariables>
<environmentVariables>
<EnvironmentVariable1>EnvironmentVariableValue1</EnvironmentVariable1>
<EnvironmentVariable2>EnvironmentVariableValue2</EnvironmentVariable2>
</environmentVariables>
</configuration>
</plugin>
</plugins>
</build>
After this change, I ran Test Cases again and suddenly all worked as expected. For reader's information, I explored this approach in Maven 3.x, so I have no idea on Maven 2.x.

I think the cleanest way to do this is with Mockito.spy(). It's a bit more lightweight than creating a separate class to mock and pass around.
Move your environment variable fetching to another method:
#VisibleForTesting
String getEnvironmentVariable(String envVar) {
return System.getenv(envVar);
}
Now in your unit test do this:
#Test
public void test() {
ClassToTest classToTest = new ClassToTest();
ClassToTest classToTestSpy = Mockito.spy(classToTest);
Mockito.when(classToTestSpy.getEnvironmentVariable("key")).thenReturn("value");
// Now test the method that uses getEnvironmentVariable
assertEquals("changedvalue", classToTestSpy.methodToTest());
}

For JUnit 4 users, System Lambda as suggested by Stefan Birkner is a great fit.
In case you are using JUnit 5, there is the JUnit Pioneer extension pack. It comes with #ClearEnvironmentVariable and #SetEnvironmentVariable. From the docs:
The #ClearEnvironmentVariable and #SetEnvironmentVariable annotations can be used to clear, respectively, set the values of environment variables for a test execution. Both annotations work on the test method and class level, are repeatable as well as combinable. After the annotated method has been executed, the variables mentioned in the annotation will be restored to their original value or will be cleared if they didn't have one before. Other environment variables that are changed during the test, are not restored.
Example:
#Test
#ClearEnvironmentVariable(key = "SOME_VARIABLE")
#SetEnvironmentVariable(key = "ANOTHER_VARIABLE", value = "new value")
void test() {
assertNull(System.getenv("SOME_VARIABLE"));
assertEquals("new value", System.getenv("ANOTHER_VARIABLE"));
}

I don't think this has been mentioned yet, but you could also use Powermockito:
Given:
package com.foo.service.impl;
public class FooServiceImpl {
public void doSomeFooStuff() {
System.getenv("FOO_VAR_1");
System.getenv("FOO_VAR_2");
System.getenv("FOO_VAR_3");
// Do the other Foo stuff
}
}
You could do the following:
package com.foo.service.impl;
import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
import static org.powermock.api.mockito.PowerMockito.mockStatic;
import static org.powermock.api.mockito.PowerMockito.verifyStatic;
import org.junit.Beforea;
import org.junit.Test;
import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
import org.mockito.InjectMocks;
import org.mockito.MockitoAnnotations;
import org.powermock.core.classloader.annotations.PrepareForTest;
import org.powermock.modules.junit4.PowerMockRunner;
#RunWith(PowerMockRunner.class)
#PrepareForTest(FooServiceImpl.class)
public class FooServiceImpTest {
#InjectMocks
private FooServiceImpl service;
#Before
public void setUp() {
MockitoAnnotations.initMocks(this);
mockStatic(System.class); // Powermock can mock static and private methods
when(System.getenv("FOO_VAR_1")).thenReturn("test-foo-var-1");
when(System.getenv("FOO_VAR_2")).thenReturn("test-foo-var-2");
when(System.getenv("FOO_VAR_3")).thenReturn("test-foo-var-3");
}
#Test
public void testSomeFooStuff() {
// Test
service.doSomeFooStuff();
verifyStatic();
System.getenv("FOO_VAR_1");
verifyStatic();
System.getenv("FOO_VAR_2");
verifyStatic();
System.getenv("FOO_VAR_3");
}
}

Decouple the Java code from the Environment variable providing a more abstract variable reader that you realize with an EnvironmentVariableReader your code to test reads from.
Then in your test you can give an different implementation of the variable reader that provides your test values.
Dependency injection can help in this.

This answer to the question How do I set environment variables from Java? provides a way to alter the (unmodifiable) Map in System.getenv(). So while it doesn't REALLY change the value of the OS environment variable, it can be used for unit testing as it does change what System.getenv will return.

Even though I think this answer is the best for Maven projects, It can be achieved via reflect as well (tested in Java 8):
public class TestClass {
private static final Map<String, String> DEFAULTS = new HashMap<>(System.getenv());
private static Map<String, String> envMap;
#Test
public void aTest() {
assertEquals("6", System.getenv("NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS"));
System.getenv().put("NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS", "155");
assertEquals("155", System.getenv("NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS"));
}
#Test
public void anotherTest() {
assertEquals("6", System.getenv("NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS"));
System.getenv().put("NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS", "77");
assertEquals("77", System.getenv("NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS"));
}
/*
* Restore default variables for each test
*/
#BeforeEach
public void initEnvMap() {
envMap.clear();
envMap.putAll(DEFAULTS);
}
#BeforeAll
public static void accessFields() throws Exception {
envMap = new HashMap<>();
Class<?> clazz = Class.forName("java.lang.ProcessEnvironment");
Field theCaseInsensitiveEnvironmentField = clazz.getDeclaredField("theCaseInsensitiveEnvironment");
Field theUnmodifiableEnvironmentField = clazz.getDeclaredField("theUnmodifiableEnvironment");
removeStaticFinalAndSetValue(theCaseInsensitiveEnvironmentField, envMap);
removeStaticFinalAndSetValue(theUnmodifiableEnvironmentField, envMap);
}
private static void removeStaticFinalAndSetValue(Field field, Object value) throws Exception {
field.setAccessible(true);
Field modifiersField = Field.class.getDeclaredField("modifiers");
modifiersField.setAccessible(true);
modifiersField.setInt(field, field.getModifiers() & ~Modifier.FINAL);
field.set(null, value);
}
}

Hope the issue is resolved. I just thought to tell my solution.
Map<String, String> env = System.getenv();
new MockUp<System>() {
#Mock
public String getenv(String name)
{
if (name.equalsIgnoreCase( "OUR_OWN_VARIABLE" )) {
return "true";
}
return env.get(name);
}
};

You can use Powermock for mocking the call. Like:
PowerMockito.mockStatic(System.class);
PowerMockito.when(System.getenv("MyEnvVariable")).thenReturn("DesiredValue");
You can also mock all the calls with:
PowerMockito.mockStatic(System.class);
PowerMockito.when(System.getenv(Mockito.anyString())).thenReturn(envVariable);

The library https://github.com/webcompere/system-stubs/tree/master/system-stubs-jupiter - a fork of system-lambda - provides a JUnit 5 plug-in:
#ExtendWith(SystemStubsExtension.class)
class SomeTest {
#SystemStub
private EnvironmentVariables environmentVariables =
new EnvironmentVariables("name", "value");
#Test
void someTest() {
// environment is set here
// can set a new value into the environment too
environmentVariables.set("other", "value");
// tidy up happens at end of this test
}
}
The https://junit-pioneer.org/ alternative requires environment variable values to be known at compile time. The above also supports the setting
of environment variables in the #BeforeAll, which means it interoperates well with things like Testcontainers that might set up some resources needed by child tests.

A lot of focus in the suggestions above on inventing ways in runtime to pass in variables, set them and clear them and so on..? But to test things 'structurally', I guess you want to have different test suites for different scenarios? Pretty much like when you want to run your 'heavier' integration test builds, whereas in most cases you just want to skip them. But then you don't try and 'invent ways to set stuff in runtime', rather you just tell maven what you want? It used to be a lot of work telling maven to run specific tests via profiles and such, if you google around people would suggest doing it via springboot (but if you haven't dragged in the springboot monstrum into your project, it seems a horrendous footprint for 'just running JUnits', right?). Or else it would imply loads of more or less inconvenient POM XML juggling which is also tiresome and, let's just say it, 'a nineties move', as inconvenient as still insisting on making 'spring beans out of XML', showing off your ultimate 600 line logback.xml or whatnot...?
Nowadays, you can just use Junit 5 (this example is for maven, more details can be found here JUnit 5 User Guide 5)
<dependencyManagement>
<dependencies>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.junit</groupId>
<artifactId>junit-bom</artifactId>
<version>5.7.0</version>
<type>pom</type>
<scope>import</scope>
</dependency>
</dependencies>
</dependencyManagement>
and then
<dependency>
<groupId>org.junit.jupiter</groupId>
<artifactId>junit-jupiter</artifactId>
<scope>test</scope>
</dependency>
and then in your favourite utility lib create a simple nifty annotation class such as
#Target({ ElementType.TYPE, ElementType.METHOD })
#Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
#EnabledIfEnvironmentVariable(named = "MAVEN_CMD_LINE_ARGS", matches = "(.*)integration-testing(.*)")
public #interface IntegrationTest {}
so then whenever your cmdline options contain -Pintegration-testing for instance, then and only then will your #IntegrationTest annotated test-class/method fire. Or, if you don't want to use (and setup) a specific maven profile but rather just pass in 'trigger' system properties by means of
mvn <cmds> -DmySystemPop=mySystemPropValue
and adjust your annotation interface to trigger on that (yes, there is also a #EnabledIfSystemProperty). Or making sure your shell is set up to contain 'whatever you need' or, as is suggested above, actually going through 'the pain' adding system env via your POM XML.
Having your code internally in runtime fiddle with env or mocking env, setting it up and then possibly 'clearing' runtime env to change itself during execution just seems like a bad, perhaps even dangerous, approach - it's easy to imagine someone will always sooner or later make a 'hidden' internal mistake that will go unnoticed for a while, just to arise suddenly and bite you hard in production later..? You usually prefer an approach entailing that 'given input' gives 'expected output', something that is easy to grasp and maintain over time, your fellow coders will just see it 'immediately'.
Well long 'answer' or maybe rather just an opinion on why you'd prefer this approach (yes, at first I just read the heading for this question and went ahead to answer that, ie 'How to test code dependent on environment variables using JUnit').

One slow, dependable, old-school method that always works in every operating system with every language (and even between languages) is to write the "system/environment" data you need to a temporary text file, read it when you need it, and then erase it. Of course, if you're running in parallel, then you need unique names for the file, and if you're putting sensitive information in it, then you need to encrypt it.

Simply
Add below maven dependency
<!-- for JUnit 4 -->
<dependency>
<groupId>uk.org.webcompere</groupId>
<artifactId>system-stubs-junit4</artifactId>
<version>1.1.0</version>
<scope>test</scope>
</dependency>
<!-- for JUnit 5 -->
<dependency>
<groupId>uk.org.webcompere</groupId>
<artifactId>system-stubs-jupiter</artifactId>
<version>1.1.0</version>
<scope>test</scope>
</dependency>
Inside your test, you can use something similar:
#Rule
public EnvironmentVariablesRule environmentVariablesRule = new EnvironmentVariablesRule();
#Test
public void givenEnvironmentCanBeModified_whenSetEnvironment_thenItIsSet() {
// mock that the system contains an environment variable "ENV_VAR" having value "value1"
environmentVariablesRule.set("ENV_VAR", "value1");
assertThat(System.getenv("ENV_VAR")).isEqualTo("value1");
}
Reference for more details
https://www.baeldung.com/java-system-stubs

You can try to dependent your code also from properties:
public static String host() {
return firstNonBlank(getenv("HOST"), getProperty("host"), "localhost");
}
So, in tests you can easily just add system property And your production code will precede using environment variables:
System.setProperty("HOST", "127.0.0.0");

Neat and clean approach to use mocking of Environment variables in Unit Testing is with the help of #SystemStub which comes as part of below dependency
testImplementation 'uk.org.webcompere:system-stubs-jupiter:2.0.1'
Below changes are on Junit 5 setup
Add below on your class
#ExtendWith(SystemStubsExtension.class)
and now use
#SystemStub
private EnvironmentVariables environmentVariables;
now you can mock the behavior of the environment variables by setting up the required key/value in your test.
For e.g. environmentVariables.set("MY_ENV_VARIABLE", "MY_REQUIRED_VALUE");
and this works perfectly fine, if your code is using environment variables
System.getenv().getOrDefault("MY_ENV_VARIABLE", "false");
Please note, it won't mock System.getProperties() it works only for System.getenv()

Well you can use the setup() method to declare the different values of your env. variables in constants. Then use these constants in the tests methods used to test the different scenario.

I use System.getEnv() to get the map and I keep as a field, so I can mock it:
public class AAA {
Map<String, String> environmentVars;
public String readEnvironmentVar(String varName) {
if (environmentVars==null) environmentVars = System.getenv();
return environmentVars.get(varName);
}
}
public class AAATest {
#Test
public void test() {
aaa.environmentVars = new HashMap<String,String>();
aaa.environmentVars.put("NAME", "value");
assertEquals("value",aaa.readEnvironmentVar("NAME"));
}
}

If you want to retrieve informations about the environment variable in Java, you can call the method : System.getenv();. As the properties, this method returns a Map containing the variable names as keys and the variable values as the map values. Here is an example :
import java.util.Map;
public class EnvMap {
public static void main (String[] args) {
Map<String, String> env = System.getenv();
for (String envName : env.keySet()) {
System.out.format("%s=%s%n", envName, env.get(envName));
}
}
}
The method getEnv() can also takes an argument. For instance :
String myvalue = System.getEnv("MY_VARIABLE");
For testing, I would do something like this :
public class Environment {
public static String getVariable(String variable) {
return System.getenv(variable);
}
#Test
public class EnvVariableTest {
#Test testVariable1(){
String value = Environment.getVariable("MY_VARIABLE1");
doSometest(value);
}
#Test testVariable2(){
String value2 = Environment.getVariable("MY_VARIABLE2");
doSometest(value);
}
}

How to set global environment variables when Unit Testing

I am trying to create a unit test, however, whenever I run it I encounter null values on my variables. Debugging the issue points to my environment variables not being used globally on my unit test. As a class I'm testing calls another class that then references its values from an environment variable. How do I make use of global environment variables in IntelliJ?.
I've already added Environment Variables in the Test Configuration like this,
However, this doesn't seem to be used on the entire project. Hence classes calling this environment variables are returning null. How do I make my Unit Test and the classes it calls to use the globally declared environment variables?. TIA. Below is a snippet of my code of how my environment variables are being used in a class
#Value("${fintech.clientid}")
private String clientId;
#Value("${fintech.secret}")
private String clientSecret;
#Value("${digifi-host}")
private String fintechHost;
#Value("${fintech-digifi-login-endpoint}")
private String loginUrl;
#Value("${fintech-single-session-endpoint}")
private String singleSessionUrl;
What this does is from the Class, it calls the values stored in my application.properties file. And from the application.properties file, it tries to look for the proper values in the environment variables declared on run time.
So from Java Class > application.properties file/config > Runtime Environment Variables
Below is the screenshot of variables with null values when debugging the test. As you can see, all of the values are null which means it didn't load the environment variables I have put in the Unit Test. On the other test case where I had a temporary fix (as I put in the answer here), they are populated and hence loading the environment variables properly, but in my many other test cases like this one, it doesn't.
PS:
I've already found related articles in stackoverflow, but they are all test-class specific and that uses surefire plugins or setting the environment variables or via pom, but I don't need it to be there as it is a requirement for us to use environment variables on runtime as the values of the variables should be hidden and not visible on the code. I just simply need the entire project to use a global environment variable when it is doing its Unit Test. Much like how my project would use the environment variables I set in the IDE in normal runtime.
Just for Reference. I already did the ff.:
A.
#ClassRule
public final static EnvironmentVariables environmentVariables = new EnvironmentVariables().set("property1", "value1");
B.
#ContextConfiguration(locations = "classpath:application.properties")
public class LoginServiceTest {
...
}
C.
<plugin>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
<configuration>
<environmentVariables>
<SERVER_PORT>8082</SERVER_PORT>
</environmentVariables>
</configuration>
</plugin>
D.
#TestPropertySource(properties = {"property1=value1","property2=value2",})
public class LoginServiceTest {
...
}
E.
public class LoginServiceTest {
static{
System.setProperty("property1", "value1");
System.setProperty("property2", "value2");
...
}

UPDATE:
This solution worked on all of my test. You can refer here for more details.
#RunWith(SpringRunner.class) //Add this
#SpringBootTest(classes = Application.class) //Add this
public class LoginServiceTest {
...
}
Then on
Run > Edit Configurations > Templates (in sidemenu) > JUnit
Then put all your environment variables here.
Click + on the Upper Left window & Apply.
Then delete all existing Unit Test command in your configuration and proceed to re-running all your test again plainly.
Then you'll see the environment variables being added automatically on all your new and upcoming unit test.
You won't have to manually add an environment variables to each unit test command alright as what I happen to do annoying before. Should you ever have an update on your environment variables. Delete the main unit test configuration you need to have an update, and update the JUnit Template instead so that changes will reflect to new unit tests that you may have.
PS:
Thing is, I still encountered the very same issue on some of my Unit
Test, that even though the environment variables are being read
properly on runtime and in some unit test alright with the above configurations. It is only during
the other many Unit Test the very same environment variables are not
being retrieved or received properly by the classes. At first I
thought my classes are not really getting the proper environment
variables and there must be something wrong as to how I stored the
environment variables in IntelliJ, which it did not really, but it
turns out this code format I have is the issue.
#Value("${fintech.clientid}")
private String clientId;
#Value("${fintech.secret}")
private String clientSecret;
#Value("${digifi-host}")
private String digifiHost;
It turns out,even though though this particular code works on runtime, it wont on Unit Test time, like ever.
Hence I tinkered with this particular codes until I was already able to get the proper environment variables on Unit Test. Refer to the changes from the code above to the one that fixed the issue for me below.
#Value("${fintech.clientid}")
public void getClientId(String tempClientId) {
clientId = tempClientId;
}
private String clientId;
#Value("${fintech.secret}")
public void getClientSecret(String tempClientSecret) {
clientSecret=tempClientSecret;
}
private String clientSecret;
#Value("${digifi-host}")
public void getDigifiHost(String tempDigifiHost) {
digifiHost=tempDigifiHost;
}
private String digifiHost;

running a single scenario of a parametrized junit test in intellij

I have a Parameterized junit test with several scenarios & need to be able to run just one of the scenarios.
I would like to do it in IntelliJ. Does anyone know how to?
Here's a code example:
Here's the collection of scenarios, the parameter and the test method:
#RunWith(Parameterized.class)
public class MyTest {
#Parameterized.Parameters(name = "{index}: {0}")
public static List<String[]> e2e_scenarios() {
return Arrays.asList(new String[][]{
{"scenario 1"},
{"scneario 2"},
});
}
#Parameterized.Parameter
public String scenarioName;
#Test
public void testrScenario() {
System.out.println("running scenario " + scenarioName);
}
}
I want to be able to run just a single scenario. Preferably, I would like to do than from the IntelliJ GUI or Junit Runner.
After running all the scenarios once, it is possible to right click one of them in the "run" window and run or debug just it. This solution is not ideal, because the entire suite need to run prior to being able to run just one.

You can pass your parameter by adding it at the end of the method name in the run/debug configuration. IntelliJ will show a warning but it will run JUnit test properly. Works for primitive types, Strings, and Enums, not sure how it will work for complex objects.
Example:
#Parameterized.Parameters(name = "MyEnum: {0}")
public static setParameters() {
...
}
Method in the configuration: testDoSomething[MyEnum: VALUE1]

getting TestNG to treat class variables like JUnit with Guice

I am trying to setup TestNG so that it gives me new instances of my class variable for each test (basically like JUnit). I need this as I intend to parallelize my tests at the method level. I have been experimenting with both standalone Guice and the built in Guice functionality that TestNG provides to try to accomplish this but I have had no luck. I know that I can use ThreadLocal, but calling .get() for every variable in the test is pretty unappealing. I am weary of using GuiceBerry as it does not really have a lot of updates/activity and it's last release is not even acquirable via Maven. I am pretty set on TestNG as for all the inconvenience this is causing me it still does a lot of great things. I am open to things other tools though to accomplish my goal. Basically I want things setup so the below tests would work consistently. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
// just has a variable thats a class called child with a simple string variable
// with a value of "original
Parent p;
#Test
public void sometest1(){
p.child.value = "Altered";
Assert.assertTrue(p.child.value.equals("Altered"));
}
#Test
public void sometest2(){
Assert.assertTrue(p.child.value.equals("original"));
}

TestNG doesn't create a new instance for each test. If you want such a behavior than I recommend creating separate test classes. e.g.:
public class SomeTest1 {
Parent p;
#Test
public void something(){
p.child.value = "Altered";
Assert.assertTrue(p.child.value.equals("Altered"));
}
}
public class SomeTest2 {
Parent p;
#Test
public void something(){
Assert.assertTrue(p.child.value.equals("original"));
}
}
Note that TestNG can run JUnit 3 and JUnit 4 tests (you might maintain a mixed suite depending on the style you want to use in a given test class).

TestNG - Importing / running tests from different classes

My scenario is:
public class ExampleTest extends AbstractExampleTest {
#Test(dependsOnMethods={"someMethodFromAbstractExampleTest"}
public void firstTest() {
// Assert
}
// here I would like to call CommonTests
}
public class CommonTests {
#Test
public void sharedTest() {
// Assert
}
}
The reason something like CommonTests exists, is that it will contain a repeated test sequence. The way I currently communicate information from ExampleTest to CommonTests is done via statics which seems to work, but probably not the best.
This works fine if I call CommonTests programmatically according to the TestNG documentation. The issue I have with that is the results aren't logged within the runner of ExampleTest.
#Test
public void actionBasedTest(ITestContext context) {
TestListenerAdapter tla = new TestListenerAdapter();
TestNG testng = new TestNG();
testng.setTestClasses(new Class[] { ExampleAction.class });
testng.addListener(tla);
context.getSuite().addListener(tla);
testng.run();
}
The above is slightly better, but the reporting back is limited to something like "org.testng.TestRunner#####" and doesn't expose the test methods run.
So my question is: can I run tests from another class(es) (not via inheritance) and get the results logged to the same listener?
EDIT: I want to avoid testng.xml.

Answering your last question , you can run tests of any classes using a testng.xml which allows you to structure your tests any way you like. You can specify your listener in the suite tag and that would be the listener used for all your classes. Refer this for examples.