How to use Moq to Prove that the Method under test Calls another Method - unit-testing

Question

I am working on a unit test of an instance method. The method happens to be an ASP.NET MVC 4 controller action, but I don't think that really matters much. We just found a bug in this method, and I'd like to use TDD to fix the bug and make sure it doesn't come back.
The method under test calls a service which returns an object. It then calls an internal method passing a string property of this object. The bug is that under some circumstances, the service returns null, causing the method under test to throw a NullReferenceException.
The controller uses dependency injection, so I have been able to mock the service client to have it return a null object. The problem is that I want to change the method under test so that when the service returns null, the internal method should be called with a default string value.
The only way I could think to do this is to use a mock for the class under test. I want to be able to assert, or Verify that this internal method has been called with the correct default value. When I try this, I get a MockException stating that the invocation was not performed on the mock. Yet I was able to debug the code and see the internal method being called, with the correct parameters.
What's the right way to prove that the method under test calls another method passing a particular parameter value?

Answer 1

I think there's a code smell here. The first question I'll ask myself in such a situation is, is the "internal" method really internal/ private to the controller under test. Is it the controller's responsibility to do the "internal" task? Should the controller change when the internal method's implementation changes? May be not.
In that case, I would pull out a new targeted class, which has a public method which does the stuff which was until now internal to the controller.
With this refactoring in place, I would use the callback mechanism of MOQ and assert the argument value.
So eventually, you will end up mocking two dependancies:
1. The external service
2. The new targeted class which has the controller's internal implementation
Now your controller is completely isolated and can be unit tested independently. Also, the "internal" implementation becomes unit testable and should have its own set of unit tests too.
So your code and test would look something like this:
public class ControllerUnderTest
{
private IExternalService Service { get; set; }
private NewFocusedClass NewFocusedClass { get; set; }
const string DefaultValue = "DefaultValue";
public ControllerUnderTest(IExternalService service, NewFocusedClass newFocusedClass)
{
Service = service;
NewFocusedClass = newFocusedClass;
}
public void MethodUnderTest()
{
var returnedValue = Service.ExternalMethod();
string valueToBePassed;
if (returnedValue == null)
{
valueToBePassed = DefaultValue;
}
else
{
valueToBePassed = returnedValue.StringProperty;
}
NewFocusedClass.FocusedBehvaior(valueToBePassed);
}
}
public interface IExternalService
{
ReturnClass ExternalMethod();
}
public class NewFocusedClass
{
public virtual void FocusedBehvaior(string param)
{
}
}
public class ReturnClass
{
public string StringProperty { get; set; }
}
[TestClass]
public class ControllerTests
{
[TestMethod]
public void TestMethod()
{
//Given
var mockService = new Mock<IExternalService>();
mockService.Setup(s => s.ExternalMethod()).Returns((ReturnClass)null);
var mockFocusedClass = new Mock<NewFocusedClass>();
var actualParam = string.Empty;
mockFocusedClass.Setup(x => x.FocusedBehvaior(It.IsAny<string>())).Callback<string>(param => actualParam = param);
//when
var controller = new ControllerUnderTest(mockService.Object, mockFocusedClass.Object);
controller.MethodUnderTest();
//then
Assert.AreEqual("DefaultValue", actualParam);
}
}
Edit: Based on the suggestion in the comments to use "verify" instead of callback.
Easier way to verify the parameter value is by using strict MOQ behavior and a verify call on the mock after system under test is executed.
Modified test could look like below:
[TestMethod]
public void TestMethod()
{
//Given
var mockService = new Mock<IExternalService>();
mockService.Setup(s => s.ExternalMethod()).Returns((ReturnClass)null);
var mockFocusedClass = new Mock<NewFocusedClass>(MockBehavior.Strict);
mockFocusedClass.Setup(x => x.FocusedBehvaior(It.Is<string>(s => s == "DefaultValue")));
//When
var controller = new ControllerUnderTest(mockService.Object, mockFocusedClass.Object);
controller.MethodUnderTest();
//Then
mockFocusedClass.Verify();
}

Answer 2

"The only way I could think to do this is to use a mock for the class under test."
I think you should not mock class under test. Mock only external dependencies your class under test has. What you could do is to create a testable-class. It would be a class which derives from your CUT and here you can catch the calls to the another method and verify it's parameter later. HTH
Testable class in the example is named MyTestableController
Another method is named InternalMethod.
Short example:
[TestClass]
public class Tests
{
[TestMethod]
public void MethodUnderTest_WhenServiceReturnsNull_CallsInternalMethodWithDefault()
{
// Arrange
Mock<IService> serviceStub = new Mock<IService>();
serviceStub.Setup(s => s.ServiceCall()).Returns((ReturnedFromService)null);
MyTestableController testedController = new MyTestableController(serviceStub.Object)
{
FakeInternalMethod = true
};
// Act
testedController.MethodUnderTest();
// Assert
Assert.AreEqual(testedController.SomeDefaultValue, testedController.FakeInternalMethodWasCalledWithThisParameter);
}
private class MyTestableController
: MyController
{
public bool FakeInternalMethod { get; set; }
public string FakeInternalMethodWasCalledWithThisParameter { get; set; }
public MyTestableController(IService service)
: base(service)
{ }
internal override void InternalMethod(string someProperty)
{
if (FakeInternalMethod)
FakeInternalMethodWasCalledWithThisParameter = someProperty;
else
base.InternalMethod(someProperty);
}
}
}
The CUT could look something like this:
public class MyController : Controller
{
private readonly IService _service;
public MyController(IService service)
{
_service = service;
}
public virtual string SomeDefaultValue { get { return "SomeDefaultValue"; }}
public EmptyResult MethodUnderTest()
{
// We just found a bug in this method ...
// The method under test calls a service which returns an object.
ReturnedFromService fromService = _service.ServiceCall();
// It then calls an internal method passing a string property of this object
string someStringProperty = fromService == null
? SomeDefaultValue
: fromService.SomeProperty;
InternalMethod(someStringProperty);
return new EmptyResult();
}
internal virtual void InternalMethod(string someProperty)
{
throw new NotImplementedException();
}
}