---
title: "Properties"
description: "All test properties — keys in YAML, columns in tabular sources"
url: "https://docs.justcat.it/reference/tests/properties/"
---
# Properties


These properties apply wherever the definition lives — inline in the project file, in other YAML files, or in any provider that returns rows (Excel, a database query, …); sources can be combined. In YAML they are keys; in a tabular source they are the columns of one row. See [Lists](https://docs.justcat.it/reference/project-file/lists/ "Lists — implicit and explicit").


**Properties**



Name
: Currency dimension is loaded

Suite
: Smoke tests

Data source
: FlightsSystem

Query
: SELECT * FROM Dimension.Currency

Expectation
: set is not empty





**YAML**


```yaml
Tests:
- Name: Currency dimension is loaded
  Suite: Smoke tests
  Data source: FlightsSystem
  Query: SELECT * FROM Dimension.Currency
  Expectation: set is not empty
```




## Properties

| Property | Also accepted as | Required | Default | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| `Name` | `Test name` | yes | — | Name of the test. Need not be unique |
| `Suite` | `Test suite` | no | — | Grouping level, part of the test's full name |
| `Order` | `Test order` | no | — | Whole number, part of the full name. CAT does not order tests by it |
| `Test case` | — | no | — | Second grouping level, part of the full name |
| `Description` | — | no | — | Free text. Carried into results and into failure messages |
| `Expectation` | — | yes | — | What has to be true about the data. See [Expectations](https://docs.justcat.it/reference/tests/expectations/overview/ "Expectations") |
| `First data source` | `Data source` | yes | — | Name of a [data source definition](https://docs.justcat.it/reference/data-sources/properties/ "Data source properties") |
| `First query` | `Query` | yes | — | The statement, in whatever language that data source's provider understands |
| `Second data source` | — | for two-set expectations | — | Name of a data source definition |
| `Second query` | — | for two-set expectations | — | The statement for the second set |
| `Timeout` | `Timeout in seconds` | no | `0` | Seconds to allow the test. `0` means no limit. On expiry the test result is `Error` and CAT moves on — see [Results](https://docs.justcat.it/reference/tests/results/ "Results") |
| `Maximum errors logged` | `Maximum error count` (sets match and contains only) | no | `1` | How many offending rows the failure message shows, 0 to 50. See [Failure message](https://docs.justcat.it/reference/tests/failure-message/ "Failure message") |
| `Maximum sample column length` | — | no | `25` | Characters kept per column in that sample, 10 to 32767. Longer values are cut |
| `Log number of errors` | — | no | `false` | When true, CAT keeps scanning after the sample is full so the failure message can report the total number of offending rows. Read by [Set is empty](https://docs.justcat.it/reference/tests/expectations/set-is-empty/ "Set is empty") |
| `Output details` | — | no | `false` | Experimental. When true, all offending rows — not just the sample — are written to the output as JSON. Supported for the `set is empty` expectation with a SQL Server output |
| `Tags` | `Test tags` | no | — | Comma- or semicolon-separated list. Tools filter which tests to run by tag |
| `Metadata` | `Test metadata` | no | — | Name of a [query definition](https://docs.justcat.it/reference/queries/properties/ "Query properties"). Turns the definition into a template — see [Templates](https://docs.justcat.it/reference/tests/templates/ "Templates") |

Property names are matched by synonym and are not case sensitive, so `test_name` and `TestName` address the same property. See [Naming conventions](https://docs.justcat.it/reference/project-file/naming-conventions/ "Naming conventions").

`%NAME%` in any value is replaced with the value of the environment variable `NAME`. See [Environment variables](https://docs.justcat.it/reference/project-file/environment-variables/ "Environment variables").

## Expectation-specific properties

An expectation may read properties of its own. They are written on the test definition like any other property, and they are ignored by the expectations that do not know them.

| Property | Also accepted as | Default | Read by |
|---|---|---|---|
| `Key` | — | — | [Sets match](https://docs.justcat.it/reference/tests/expectations/sets-match/ "Sets match") and [Contains](https://docs.justcat.it/reference/tests/expectations/contains/ "Contains") — see [Order and key](https://docs.justcat.it/reference/tests/order-and-key/ "Order and key") |
| `Sort data` | `Sort my data` | `false` | [Sets match](https://docs.justcat.it/reference/tests/expectations/sets-match/ "Sets match") and [Contains](https://docs.justcat.it/reference/tests/expectations/contains/ "Contains") — see [Order and key](https://docs.justcat.it/reference/tests/order-and-key/ "Order and key") |
| `Tolerance` | — | `0` | [Sets match](https://docs.justcat.it/reference/tests/expectations/sets-match/ "Sets match") and [Contains](https://docs.justcat.it/reference/tests/expectations/contains/ "Contains") — see [Tolerance](https://docs.justcat.it/reference/tests/tolerance/ "Tolerance") |
| `Tolerance mode` | — | `Absolute` | The same two. Accepts `Absolute` or `Percent` |
| `Ignore case` | — | `true` | The same two. Text values compared without regard to case |
| `Culture` | `Locale` | `en-US` | The same two. Culture used to read numbers and dates out of text values |
| `Expected row count` | `Expected rowcount` | — | [Set row count](https://docs.justcat.it/reference/tests/expectations/set-row-count/ "Set row count"). When absent, that expectation reads the number from `Second query` instead |

What each of them means, and which of the query properties each expectation needs, is documented on the expectation's own page. See [Expectations](https://docs.justcat.it/reference/tests/expectations/overview/ "Expectations").

## Full name

`Suite`, `Order`, `Test case` and `Name` together form the test's **full name**: each part that has a value is wrapped in square brackets, and the parts are joined with dots. Parts left empty are skipped.

* `[Smoke tests].[Currency dimension is loaded]`
* `[Smoke tests].[10].[Dimensions].[Currency dimension is loaded]`

The full name is what tools display and what a name filter matches against — the match is a case-insensitive substring, so filtering on `Smoke tests` selects the whole suite.

CAT does not require full names to be unique and does not reject duplicates. Two tests that share one are both run and both reported, which makes the report ambiguous rather than wrong. Avoid square brackets inside the four parts for the same reason.

## First and second sets

Every expectation needs one set of data: `First data source` names the data source, `First query` holds the statement CAT sends to it. Both properties drop the word `First` as a synonym, which reads better on a test that only ever has one set.

Expectations that compare two sets — `sets match`, `contains` — need `Second data source` and `Second query` as well. The two sets may come from the same data source or from two different ones, in different technologies.

An expectation that works on one set only does not ignore second-set properties, it refuses them: a `Second data source` on such a test is an error naming the expectation. `Second query` is refused the same way, with one exception — `set rowcount` reads the number of rows it expects from it.

`First query` and `Second query` hold statement text. They are not names of [query definitions](https://docs.justcat.it/reference/queries/properties/ "Query properties") and are not resolved against them; the only property that refers to a query by name is `Metadata` — see [Templates](https://docs.justcat.it/reference/tests/templates/ "Templates").