Strategies for effectively mocking an Angular service: During Karma Jasmine testing, ensure that the spy on service.getShipPhotos is expected to be called once. In the test, it should

Currently, I am working on testing a function called getSingleShip in Angular 12 using Karma-Jasmine 4. The aim is to verify if this function is being called by another function named retrieveShip. However, the test results indicate that getSingleShip has not been called at all.

I have a suspicion that the actual service is being invoked instead of the mock service. How can I properly mock the service for testing purposes?

Tests similar to the one below fail due to dependencies on mockShipsService.getSingleShip (Expected spy ShipsService.getSingleShip to have been called once. It was called 0 times.).

Here is an example code snippet from spec.ts:

 // Code snippet for TestBed configuration and setup
// Test case for retrieveShip function

describe('retrieveShip', () => {
    it('should call getSingleShip once', () => {
        // Mock response for getSingleShip
        const getSingleShipResponse = {
            _id: "610a80fd485a6ad03b43b539",
            name: "Sabrina",
            type: "cruise"
        };
        mockShipsService.getSingleShip.and.returnValue(of(getSingleShipResponse));

        component.retrieveShip("610a80fd485a6ad03b43b539");

        expect(mockShipsService.getSingleShip).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
    })
})

The testing approach follows the guidelines provided in the Angular documentation available here: Testing services

For reference, here are snippets from the component.ts and service.ts files:

  // Component method to retrieve ship details
  retrieveShip(shipId: string): void {
    this.shipsService.getSingleShip(shipId).subscribe({
      next: response => {
        this.ship = response;
      },
      error: err => this.errorMessage = err
    });
  }
  // Service method definition to fetch single ship data
@Injectable({
  providedIn: 'root'
})
export class ShipsService {
  readonly ROOT_URL: string = environment.ROOT_URL;

  constructor(
    private http: HttpClient,
  ) {
  }

  getSingleShip(shipId: string): Observable<Ship> {
    return this.http.get<Ship>(`${this.ROOT_URL}/ships/${shipId}`);
  }
}

If you have any suggestions or tips on how to resolve the issue, your input would be highly appreciated!

Answer №1

I devised a solution by injecting the actual service and using callFake() method in my code.

My test file (spec.ts) looks like this:

beforeEach(async () => {
  await TestBed.configureTestingModule({
    imports: [
      HttpClientTestingModule,
    ],
    declarations: [
      DetailedShipComponent
    ],
  })
    .compileComponents();
});

beforeEach(() => {
  fixture = TestBed.createComponent(DetailedShipComponent);
  component = fixture.componentInstance;
  service = fixture.debugElement.injector.get(ShipsService);
});

describe('retrieveShip', () => {
 it('should invoke getSingleShip precisely once', waitForAsync(() => {
   spyOn(service, "getSingleShip").and.callFake(() => {
     return of(singleShipResponse);
   })

   component.retrieveShip("610a80fd485a6ad03b43b539");

   expect(service.getSingleShip).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
 }))
})

All tests are passing smoothly now!

The inspiration for this approach came from watching this helpful video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9t58RKzJ-Y

Answer №2

Typically, in testing scenarios where we want to avoid real consequences, such as making actual HTTP calls, we use mocked services. A common approach is to create a mock of the service and then spy on that mock object or function to mimic its behavior. By providing expected return values, we can effectively simulate the service's responses. I would say you are about 95% correct in your understanding.

It is also important to handle asynchronous operations properly by using fakeAsync and tick() functions when dealing with async calls like observables or promises. Remember that returning an observable or promise may not trigger the call synchronously.

For example:

const spyShipServ: Partial<ShipsService> = { 
   public getSingleShip(shipId: string): Ship { return null; }

describe('retrieveShipComponent', () => {
  it('should call getSingleShip once', fakeAsync(() => {

    // Since we are not manipulating the return value, and.returnValue is not needed here
    spyOn(spyShipServ, 'getSingleShip'); 

    component.retrieveShip("610a80fd485a6ad03b43b539");
    tick();
    expect(spyShipServ.getSingleShip).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
  ))}
}

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