Each chain of actions represents the behavior to be performed during a particular phase. Different actions are permitted during each phase. Consult the documentation of the chains for restrictions.

The phases generally run in the following order. Some phases may be skipped due to exceptions or if there is no work to be done.

• BeforeTestChain
• InitializeTestChain
• -- for each test instance --
• DecorateTestInstanceChain
• Run the actions in the decorated PatternTestInstanceActions
• -- end --
• DisposeTestChain
• AfterTestChain

This class is the backbone of the PatternTestFramework extensibility model. Because new behaviors can be defined and added to action chains at will by any component that participates in the test construction process (typically an IPattern), the framework itself does not need to hardcode the mechanism by which the behaviors are selected.