Grails 7 Integration test data won't rollback

[weinellucian]

Expected Behavior

Grails 7 Integration test data won't rollback, we each of the Integration test class is annotated with @Integration and @Rollback.
The same integration tests in Grails 6.x is working fine, can you help us in this regard

Actual Behaviour

Integration test data inserted/updated/deleted should be rollback, In Grails 6.x version this is working fine

Steps To Reproduce

No response

Environment Information

Windows/MAC/Linux
JDK 17.0.13

Example Application

No response

Version

7.1.0

[jdaugherty]

This is definitely working in 7.x. Are you using new transactions? Rollback relies on transactions and won't do anything without it. If you can provide an example application, we can help assist you.

Otherwise: we did add https://grails.apache.org/docs/7.0.10/guide/single.html#_databasecleanup to support entire database drops / cleanups between tests or test classes. To use it you have to add @DatabaseCleanup & then have @Transactional.

[weinellucian]

This is our Sample Integration tests which was working fine with Rollback on grails 6.X

[weinellucian]

..

[jamesfredley]

Why @Rollback Doesn't Work In JUnit Jupiter Integration Tests

Looking end-to-end through the AST transformations. There are three concurrent problems, and the fix is non-trivial.

Root Cause #1 - @Integration AST hardcodes JUnit 4 for non-Spock tests

grails-testing-support-core/src/main/groovy/org/grails/compiler/injection/testing/IntegrationTestAstTransformation.groovy lines 140-161:

if (GrailsASTUtils.isSubclassOf(classNode, SPEC_CLASS)) {
    // Spock branch: adds @ContextConfiguration(loader = GrailsApplicationContextLoader)
    ...
} else {
    // Must be a JUnit 4 test so add JUnit spring annotations   <-- the comment lies in 7.x
    def runWithAnnotation = new AnnotationNode(RUN_WITH_ANNOTATION_NODE)
    runWithAnnotation.addMember('value', new ClassExpression(SPRING_JUNIT4_CLASS_RUNNER))
    classNode.addAnnotation(runWithAnnotation)
    def contextConfigAnn = new AnnotationNode(SPRING_APPLICATION_CONFIGURATION_CLASS_NODE)
    contextConfigAnn.addMember('classes', new ClassExpression(applicationClassNode))
    classNode.addAnnotation(contextConfigAnn)
}

There is no JUnit Jupiter branch. JUnit 5 ignores @RunWith. Although the transform also adds @SpringBootTest (which meta-includes @ExtendWith(SpringExtension)), the rest of the wiring (GrailsTestConfiguration, GrailsApplicationContextLoader) is never applied to Jupiter tests. The result is that the test runs through SpringExtension but with the wrong context loader, so the GORM transactionManager autowire is fragile.

Root Cause #2 - @Rollback AST treats @BeforeEach/@AfterEach as committing setup

grails-datastore-core/src/main/groovy/org/grails/datastore/mapping/reflect/AstAnnotationUtils.groovy line 42:

private static final Set<String> JUNIT_ANNOTATION_NAMES =
    new HashSet<String>(Arrays.asList(
        'org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach',
        'org.junit.jupiter.api.AfterEach'))

In AbstractMethodDecoratingTransformation.weaveClassNode (lines 124-156), any method matching hasJunitAnnotation(md) is routed to weaveTestSetupMethod. For RollbackTransform that overrides weaveTestSetupMethod (in TransactionalTransform):

protected void weaveTestSetupMethod(...) {
    def requiresNewTransaction = new AnnotationNode(annotationNode.classNode)
    requiresNewTransaction.addMember('propagation', propX(classX(Propagation), 'REQUIRES_NEW'))
    weaveNewMethod(sourceUnit, requiresNewTransaction, classNode, methodNode, genericsSpec)
}

And buildDelegatingMethodCall (line 350):

String executeMethodName = isTestSetupOrCleanup(classNode, methodNode)
    ? METHOD_EXECUTE                       // <-- 'execute' = COMMIT
    : getTransactionTemplateMethodName()   // <-- 'executeAndRollback'

So with class-level @Rollback:

• @BeforeEach setUp() -> wrapped in REQUIRES_NEW + execute -> commits
• @AfterEach tearDown() -> wrapped in REQUIRES_NEW + execute -> commits
• @Test testFoo() -> wrapped in executeAndRollback -> rolls back
  If the user expects data inserted by super.setUp() to be rolled back, it never will be - that path always commits in a brand-new transaction. This is not new behavior (Spock works the same), but it's the design.

Root Cause #3 - Banner BaseIntegrationTestCase manages its own Hibernate sessions

The screenshot shows:

import net.hedtech.banner.testing.BaseIntegrationTestCase
import org.springframework.orm.hibernate5.HibernateOptimisticLockingFailureException

Two red flags:

1. org.springframework.orm.hibernate5.* does not exist on the Grails 7 / Spring 7 / Hibernate 6 classpath. Either this file doesn't actually compile in their setup, or they have a legacy hibernate5 jar floating around. Either way, the Banner base class is built against the old Spring/Hibernate stack.
2. Ellucian Banner's BaseIntegrationTestCase is well known to bind its own Hibernate session (SessionFactory.openSession()/getCurrentSession()) and commit through it directly, bypassing Spring transaction management. With Spring 7 / Hibernate 6, the session-binding contract changed; data committed via Banner's session is not visible to Spring's PlatformTransactionManager, so even if executeAndRollback rolls back the Spring-managed transaction, Banner's flushes have already gone to the DB.
   This is exactly what @jdaugherty was hinting at with "Are you using new transactions?" - new/independent transactions opened by Banner commit out-of-band.

What's Actually Broken In grails-core (Bug)

Even if Banner weren't a factor, there is a real defect:

Area	Behavior	Should Be
IntegrationTestAstTransformation	Adds @RunWith(GrailsJunit4ClassRunner) to any non-Spock class	Detect Jupiter (org.junit.jupiter.api.Test on any method) and apply @ExtendWith(SpringExtension) + @ContextConfiguration(loader = GrailsApplicationContextLoader, classes = ...) instead
Comment at line 151	// Must be a JUnit 4 test so add JUnit spring annotations	The comment is a 6.x assumption that no longer holds
org.grails.testing.context.junit4 package	Only JUnit 4 runner	Needs sibling junit5 package with a Jupiter extension that properly bootstraps the Grails test context

Recommendation To The User (Workaround)

Until a JUnit 5 path is wired through IntegrationTestAstTransformation, do one of:

1. Convert the class to a Spock Specification. This is the only first-class supported integration-test path in Grails 7.x today.
2. Stop using Banner's BaseIntegrationTestCase. It binds a Hibernate session/transaction that bypasses Spring/GORM transaction management. While it appeared to work in Grails 6.x, it relies on org.springframework.orm.hibernate5.* types that are absent in Grails 7.
3. Use @DatabaseCleanup + @Transactional (per the docs link @jdaugherty shared) for entire-DB cleanups between Jupiter test classes if you can't move off Jupiter.

How Grails can Fix

In IntegrationTestAstTransformation.weaveIntegrationTestMixin, add a third branch for JUnit Jupiter:

} else if (hasJupiterTest(classNode)) {
    // @ExtendWith(SpringExtension)
    // @ContextConfiguration(loader = GrailsApplicationContextLoader, classes = applicationClass)
    // (do NOT add @RunWith)
} else {
    // legacy JUnit 4 ...
}

Detect Jupiter by scanning methods for org.junit.jupiter.api.Test/@BeforeEach/@AfterEach. The transactionManager autowire-by-name through setApplicationContext already in place will work once SpringExtension is on the test class via the proper meta-annotation rather than relying solely on @SpringBootTest's side-effect.