According to JohnF :
Hi all........what tests does one perform to determine if a short is
someplace in a cable run in the wall and not in the outlet box. There is no
power as yet in the cable and before the walls are sheetrocked I would like
to insure that no staples or crushing or whatever has occurred. Thanks for
the as usual good info......John

Most electricians don't bother "testing" circuits. Power the thing up with
nothing connected and see if the breaker trips. [Nod to Tom: Given that it's
a branch circuit, the available short-circuit current should be well within
the interrupt-rating of the breaker.]

This is assuming that the circuit is complete (all devices installed):

If you really want to test, and you have a volt-ohm-meter of some sort,
disconnect the hot from the breaker, and test for low resistance between
the hot wire and a good ground. The resistance should be very high.

If you really want to test, and you have a fuse panel, find a low wattage
120V bulb (say 15W) with a standard screw base. Screw it into the
fuse panel in _place_ of the fuse. If the lamp lights, you have a short.

If the circuit is incomplete you really want to test before installing
switches and outlets, test for low resistance between hot (usually
black) and ground (bare), and hot and neutral (usually white) on
each cable segment. At least on the cable segment attached to the
panel, the resistance _should_ be low between ground and neutral, so
don't worry about ground-neutral resistance.
--
Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.