Provided by: libtest-spec-perl_0.51-1_all 
NAME
Test::Spec::Mocks - Object Simulation Plugin for Test::Spec
SYNOPSIS
use Test::Spec;
use base qw(Test::Spec);
use My::RSS::Tool; # this is what we're testing
use LWP::UserAgent;
describe "RSS tool" => sub {
it "should fetch and parse an RSS feed" => sub {
my $xml = load_rss_fixture();
LWP::Simple->expects('get')->returns($xml);
# calls LWP::Simple::get, but returns our $xml instead
my @stories = My::RSS::Tool->run;
is_deeply(\@stories, load_stories_fixture());
};
};
DESCRIPTION
Test::Spec::Mocks is a plugin for Test::Spec that provides mocking and stubbing of
objects, individual methods and plain subroutines on both object instances and classes.
This module is inspired by and heavily borrows from Mocha, a library for the Ruby
programming language. Mocha itself is inspired by JMock.
Mock objects provide a way to simulate the behavior of real objects, while providing
consistent, repeatable results. This is very useful when you need to test a function whose
results are dependent upon an external factor that is normally uncontrollable (like the
time of day). Mocks also allow you to test your code in isolation, a tenet of unit
testing.
There are many other reasons why mock objects might come in handy. See the Mock objects
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mock_object> article at Wikipedia for lots more examples and
more in-depth coverage of the philosophy behind object mocking.
Ecosystem
Test::Spec::Mocks is currently only usable from within tests built with the Test::Spec BDD
framework.
Terminology
Familiarize yourself with these terms:
• Stub object
A stub object is an object created specifically to return canned responses for a
specific set of methods. These are created with the stub function.
• Mock object
Mock objects are similar to stub objects, but are programmed with both prepared
responses and expectations for how they will be called. If the expectations are not
met, they raise an exception to indicate that the test failed. Mock objects are
created with the mock function.
• Stubbed method
Stubbed methods temporarily replace existing methods on a class or object instance.
This is useful when you only want to override a subset of an object or class's
behavior. For example, you might want to override the "do" method of a DBI handle so
it doesn't make changes to your database, but still need the handle to respond as
usual to the "quote" method. You'll stub methods using the stubs method.
• Mocked method
If you've been reading up to this point, this will be no surprise. Mocked methods are
just like stubbed methods, but they come with expectations that will raise an
exception if not met. For example, you can mock a "save" method on an object to ensure
it is called by the code you are testing, while preventing the data from actually
being committed to disk in your test. Use the expects method to create mock methods.
• "stub", "mock"
Depending on context, these can refer to stubbed objects and methods, or mocked
objects and methods, respectively.
Using stub objects (anonymous stubs)
Sometimes the code you're testing requires that you pass it an object that conforms to a
specific interface. For example, you are testing a console prompting library, but you
don't want to require a real person to stand by, waiting to type answers into the console.
The library requires an object that returns a string when the "read_line" method is
called.
You could create a class specifically for returning test console input. But why do that?
You can create a stub object in one line:
describe "An Asker" => sub {
my $asker = Asker->new;
it "returns true when a yes_or_no question is answered 'yes'" => sub {
my $console_stub = stub(read_line => "yes");
# $console_stub->read_line returns "yes"
ok( $asker->yes_or_no($console_stub, "Am I awesome?") );
};
it "returns false when a yes_or_no question is answered 'no'" => sub {
my $console_stub = stub(read_line => "no");
ok( ! $asker->yes_or_no($console_stub, "Am I second best?") );
};
};
Stubs can also take subroutine references. This is useful when the behavior you need to
mimic is a little more complex.
it "keeps asking until it gets an answer" => sub {
my @answers = (undef, "yes");
my $console_stub = stub(read_line => sub { shift @answers });
# when console_stub is called the first time, it returns undef
# the second time returns "yes"
ok( $asker->yes_or_no($console_stub, "Do I smell nice?") );
};
Using mock objects
If you want to take your tests one step further, you can use mock objects instead of stub
objects. Mocks ensure the methods you expect to be called actually are called. If they
aren't, the mock will raise an exception which causes your test to fail.
In this example, we are testing that "read_line" is called once and only once (the default
for mocks).
it "returns true when a yes_or_no question is answered 'yes'" => sub {
my $console_mock = mock();
$console_mock->expects('read_line')
->returns("yes");
# $console_mock->read_line returns "yes"
ok( $asker->yes_or_no($console_mock, "Am I awesome?") );
};
If Asker's "yes_or_no" method doesn't call "read_line" on our mock exactly one time, the
test would fail with a message like:
expected read_line to be called exactly 1 time, but it was called 0 times
You can specify how many times your mock should be called with "exactly":
it "keeps asking until it gets an answer" => sub {
my @answers = (undef, "yes");
my $console_mock = mock();
$console_mock->expects('read_line')
->returns(sub { shift @answers })
->exactly(2);
# when console_mock is called the first time, it returns undef
# the second time returns "yes"
ok( $asker->yes_or_no($console_mock, "Do I smell nice?") );
};
If you want something more flexible than "exactly", you can choose from "at_least",
"at_most", "any_number" and others. See "EXPECTATION ADJUSTMENT METHODS".
Stubbing methods
Sometimes you want to override just a small subset of an object's behavior.
describe "The old audit system" => sub {
my $dbh;
before sub { $dbh = SomeExternalClass->get_dbh };
it "executes the expected sql" => sub {
my $sql;
$dbh->stubs(do => sub { $sql = shift; return 1 });
# $dbh->do("foo") now sets $sql to "foo"
# $dbh->quote still does what it normally would
audit_event($dbh, "server crash, oh noes!!");
like( $sql, qr/insert into audit_event.*'server crash, oh noes!!!'/ );
};
};
You can also stub class methods:
# 1977-05-26T14:11:55
my $event_datetime = DateTime->new(from_epoch => 0xdeafcab);
it "should tag each audit event with the current time" => sub {
DateTime->stubs('now' => sub { $event_datetime });
is( audit_timestamp(), '19770526.141155' );
};
Mocking methods
Mocked methods are to stubbed methods as mock objects are to stub objects.
it "executes the expected sql" => sub {
$dbh->expects('do')->returns(sub { $sql = shift; return 1 });
# $dbh->do("foo") now sets $sql to "foo"
# $dbh->quote still does what it normally would
audit_event($dbh, "server crash, oh noes!!");
like( $sql, qr/insert into audit_event.*'server crash, oh noes!!!'/ );
# if audit_event doesn't call $dbh->do exactly once, KABOOM!
};
CONSTRUCTORS
stub()
stub($method_name => $result, ...)
stub($method_name => sub { $result }, ...)
stub({ $method_name => $result, ... })
Returns a new anonymous stub object. Takes a list of $method_name/$result pairs or a
reference to a hash containing the same. Each $method_name listed is stubbed to
return the associated value ($result); or if the value is a subroutine reference, it
is stubbed in-place (the subroutine becomes the method).
Examples:
# A blank object with no methods.
# Gives a true response to ref() and blessed().
my $blank = stub();
# Static responses to width() and height():
my $rect = stub(width => 5, height => 5);
# Dynamic response to area():
my $radius = 1.0;
my $circle_stub = stub(area => sub { PI * $radius * $radius });
You can also stub more methods, just like with any other object:
my $rect = stub(width => 5, height => 5);
$rect->stubs(area => sub { my $self = shift; $self->width * $self->height });
$thing->stubs($method_name)
$thing->stubs($method_name => $result)
$thing->stubs($method_name => sub { $result })
$thing->stubs({ $method_name => $result })
Stubs one or more methods on an existing class or instance, $thing.
If passed only one (non-hash) argument, it is interpreted as a method name. The
return value of the stubbed method will be "undef".
Otherwise, the arguments are a list of $method_name and $result pairs, either as a
flat list or as a hash reference. Each method is installed onto $thing, and returns
the specified result. If the result is a subroutine reference, it will be called for
every invocation of the method.
mock()
Returns a new blank, anonymous mock object, suitable for mocking methods with
expects().
my $rect = mock();
$rect->expects('area')->returns(100);
$thing->expects($method)
Installs a mock method named $method onto the class or object $thing and returns an
Test::Spec::Mocks::Expectation object, which you can use to set the return value with
"returns()" and other expectations. By default, the method is expected to be called
at_least_once.
If the expectation is not met before the enclosing example completes, the mocked
method will raise an exception that looks something like:
expected foo to be called exactly 1 time, but it was called 0 times
EXPECTATION ADJUSTMENT METHODS
These are methods of the Test::Spec::Mocks::Expectation class, which you'll receive by
calling "expects()" on a class or object instance.
returns( $result )
returns( @result )
returns( \&callback )
Configures the mocked method to return the specified result when called. If passed a
subroutine reference, the subroutine will be executed when the method is called, and
the result is the return value.
$rect->expects('height')->returns(5);
# $rect->height ==> 5
@points = ( [0,0], [1,0], [1,1], [1,0] );
$rect->expects('points')->returns(@points);
# (@p = $rect->points) ==> ( [0,0], [1,0], [1,1], [1,0] )
# ($p = $rect->points) ==> 4
@points = ( [0,0], [1,0], [1,1], [1,0] );
$rect->expects('next_point')->returns(sub { shift @points });
# $rect->next_point ==> [0,0]
# $rect->next_point ==> [1,0]
# ...
exactly($N)
Configures the mocked method so that it must be called exactly $N times.
never
Configures the mocked method so that it must never be called.
once
Configures the mocked method so that it must be called exactly one time.
at_least($N)
Configures the mocked method so that it must be called at least $N times.
at_least_once
Configures the mocked method so that it must be called at least 1 time. This is just
syntactic sugar for at_least(1).
at_most($N)
Configures the mocked method so that it must be called no more than $N times.
at_most_once
Configures the mocked method so that it must be called either zero or 1 times.
maybe
An alias for "at_most_once".
any_number
Configures the mocked method so that it can be called zero or more times.
times
A syntactic sugar no-op:
$io->expects('print')->exactly(3)->times;
This method is alpha and will probably change in a future release.
with(@arguments) / with_eq(@arguments)
Configures the mocked method so that it must be called with arguments as specified.
The arguments will be compared using the "eq" operator, so it works for most scalar
values with no problem. If you want to check objects here, they must be the exact same
instance or you must overload the "eq" operator to provide the behavior you desire.
with_deep(@arguments)
Similar to "with_eq" except the arguments are compared using Test::Deep: scalars are
compared by value, arrays and hashes must have the same elements and references must
be blessed into the same class.
$cache->expects('set')
->with_deep($customer_id, { name => $customer_name });
Use Test::Deep's comparison functions for more flexibility:
use Test::Deep::NoTest ();
$s3->expects('put')
->with_deep('test-bucket', 'my-doc', Test::Deep::ignore());
raises($exception)
Configures the mocked method so that it raises $exception when called.
OTHER EXPECTATION METHODS
verify
Allows you to verify manually that the expectation was met. If the expectation has not
been met, the method dies with an error message containing specifics of the failure.
Returns true otherwise.
problems
If the expectation has not been met, returns a list of problem description strings.
Otherwise, returns an empty list.
KNOWN ISSUES
Memory leaks
Because of the way the mock objects ("stubs", "stub", "expects", and "mock") are
integrated into the Test::Spec runtime they will leak memory. It is not recommended to
use the Test::Spec mocks in any long-running program.
Patches welcome.
SEE ALSO
There are other less sugary mocking systems for Perl, including Test::MockObject and
Test::MockObject::Extends.
This module is a plugin for Test::Spec. It is inspired by Mocha
<http://mocha.rubyforge.org/>.
The Wikipedia article Mock object <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mock_object> is very
informative.
AUTHOR
Philip Garrett, <philip.garrett@icainformatics.com>
COPYRIGHT & LICENSE
Copyright (c) 2011 by Informatics Corporation of America.
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same
terms as Perl itself.