Asp. NET MVC 4.5 - How to Unit Test Actions? - unit-testing

Question

In Asp.net MVC 4.5 , using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting.
is there a way to really unit test an ActionResult? All documentation I have seen only tests the view name!
Assert.AreEqual("Action Method", result.ViewName);
Well, I want to have a really test. How can I test the response of the controller-action ?

Answer 1

Given something basic along the lines of:
public ActionResult Display(string productCode)
{
var model = new ProductModel(productCode);
if (model.NotFound)
{
return this.RedirectToRoute("NotFound");
}
return this.View("Product", model);
}
Instead of something that asserts like Assert.AreEqual("Action Method", result.ViewName); (which can be a valid test.
You have many options including...
Looking at the model type
[TestMethod]
public void Display_WhenPassedValidProductCode_CreatesModel()
{
using (var controller = this.CreateController())
{
// Arrange Mocks on controller, e.g. a Service or Repository
// Act
var result = controller.Display(string.Empty) as ViewResult;
var model = (ProductModel)result.Model;
Assert.IsInstanceOfType(model, typeof(ProductModel));
}
}
Looking at the model population process
[TestMethod]
public void Display_WhenPassedValidProductCode_PopulatesModel()
{
using (var controller = this.CreateController())
{
const string ProductCode = "123465";
// Arrange Mocks on controller, e.g. a Service or Repository
// Act
var result = controller.Display(ProductCode) as ViewResult;
var model = (ProductModel)result.Model;
Assert.AreEqual(ProductCode, model.ProductCode);
}
}
Looking at the type of action result
[TestMethod]
public void Display_WhenNotFound_Redirects()
{
using (var controller = this.CreateController())
{
const string ProductCode = "789000";
// Arrange Mocks on controller, e.g. a Service or Repository
// Act
var result = controller.Display(ProductCode) as RedirectToRouteResult;
Assert.IsNotNull(result); // An "as" cast will be null if the type does not match
}
}
Basically you can test pretty much anything, pick an example on your code base and try and test it. If you get stuck construct a decent question and post it here.