C# – Await a Async Void method call for unit testing

async-awaitcnetunit testing

I have a method that looks like this:

private async void DoStuff(long idToLookUp)
{
    IOrder order = await orderService.LookUpIdAsync(idToLookUp);   

    // Close the search
    IsSearchShowing = false;
}    

//Other stuff in case you want to see it
public DelegateCommand<long> DoLookupCommand{ get; set; }
ViewModel()
{
     DoLookupCommand= new DelegateCommand<long>(DoStuff);
}

I am trying to unit test it like this:

[TestMethod]
public void TestDoStuff()
{
    //+ Arrange
    myViewModel.IsSearchShowing = true;

    // container is my Unity container and it setup in the init method.
    container.Resolve<IOrderService>().Returns(orderService);
    orderService = Substitute.For<IOrderService>();
    orderService.LookUpIdAsync(Arg.Any<long>())
                .Returns(new Task<IOrder>(() => null));

    //+ Act
    myViewModel.DoLookupCommand.Execute(0);

    //+ Assert
    myViewModel.IsSearchShowing.Should().BeFalse();
}

My assert is called before I get done with the mocked up LookUpIdAsync. In my normal code, that is just what I want. But for my Unit test I don't want that.

I am converting to Async/Await from using BackgroundWorker. With background worker this was functioning correctly because I could wait for the BackgroundWorker to finish.

But there does not seem to be a way to wait for a async void method…

How can I unit test this method?

Best Answer

You should avoid async void. Only use async void for event handlers. DelegateCommand is (logically) an event handler, so you can do it like this:

// Use [InternalsVisibleTo] to share internal methods with the unit test project.
internal async Task DoLookupCommandImpl(long idToLookUp)
{
  IOrder order = await orderService.LookUpIdAsync(idToLookUp);   

  // Close the search
  IsSearchShowing = false;
}

private async void DoStuff(long idToLookUp)
{
  await DoLookupCommandImpl(idToLookup);
}

and unit test it as:

[TestMethod]
public async Task TestDoStuff()
{
  //+ Arrange
  myViewModel.IsSearchShowing = true;

  // container is my Unity container and it setup in the init method.
  container.Resolve<IOrderService>().Returns(orderService);
  orderService = Substitute.For<IOrderService>();
  orderService.LookUpIdAsync(Arg.Any<long>())
              .Returns(new Task<IOrder>(() => null));

  //+ Act
  await myViewModel.DoLookupCommandImpl(0);

  //+ Assert
  myViewModel.IsSearchShowing.Should().BeFalse();
}

My recommended answer is above. But if you really want to test an async void method, you can do so with my AsyncEx library:

[TestMethod]
public void TestDoStuff()
{
  AsyncContext.Run(() =>
  {
    //+ Arrange
    myViewModel.IsSearchShowing = true;

    // container is my Unity container and it setup in the init method.
    container.Resolve<IOrderService>().Returns(orderService);
    orderService = Substitute.For<IOrderService>();
    orderService.LookUpIdAsync(Arg.Any<long>())
                .Returns(new Task<IOrder>(() => null));

    //+ Act
    myViewModel.DoLookupCommand.Execute(0);
  });

  //+ Assert
  myViewModel.IsSearchShowing.Should().BeFalse();
}

But this solution changes the SynchronizationContext for your view model during its lifetime.

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