C# – How to mock ModelState.IsValid using the Moq framework

asp.net-mvccmockingmoqunit testing

I'm checking ModelState.IsValid in my controller action method that creates an Employee like this:

[HttpPost]
public virtual ActionResult Create(EmployeeForm employeeForm)
{
    if (this.ModelState.IsValid)
    {
        IEmployee employee = this._uiFactoryInstance.Map(employeeForm);
        employee.Save();
    }

    // Etc.
}

I want to mock it in my unit test method using Moq Framework. I tried to mock it like this:

var modelState = new Mock<ModelStateDictionary>();
modelState.Setup(m => m.IsValid).Returns(true);

But this throws an exception in my unit test case. Can anyone help me out here?

Best Answer

You don't need to mock it. If you already have a controller you can add a model state error when initializing your test:

// arrange
_controllerUnderTest.ModelState.AddModelError("key", "error message");

// act
// Now call the controller action and it will 
// enter the (!ModelState.IsValid) condition
var actual = _controllerUnderTest.Index();

Related Solutions

C# – Should ‘using’ directives be inside or outside the namespace

There is actually a (subtle) difference between the two. Imagine you have the following code in File1.cs:

// File1.cs
using System;
namespace Outer.Inner
{
    class Foo
    {
        static void Bar()
        {
            double d = Math.PI;
        }
    }
}

Now imagine that someone adds another file (File2.cs) to the project that looks like this:

// File2.cs
namespace Outer
{
    class Math
    {
    }
}

The compiler searches Outer before looking at those using directives outside the namespace, so it finds Outer.Math instead of System.Math. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately?), Outer.Math has no PI member, so File1 is now broken.

This changes if you put the using inside your namespace declaration, as follows:

// File1b.cs
namespace Outer.Inner
{
    using System;
    class Foo
    {
        static void Bar()
        {
            double d = Math.PI;
        }
    }
}

Now the compiler searches System before searching Outer, finds System.Math, and all is well.

Some would argue that Math might be a bad name for a user-defined class, since there's already one in System; the point here is just that there is a difference, and it affects the maintainability of your code.

It's also interesting to note what happens if Foo is in namespace Outer, rather than Outer.Inner. In that case, adding Outer.Math in File2 breaks File1 regardless of where the using goes. This implies that the compiler searches the innermost enclosing namespace before it looks at any using directive.

Asp.net-mvc – How to mock the Request on Controller in ASP.Net MVC

Using Moq:

var request = new Mock<HttpRequestBase>();
// Not working - IsAjaxRequest() is static extension method and cannot be mocked
// request.Setup(x => x.IsAjaxRequest()).Returns(true /* or false */);
// use this
request.SetupGet(x => x.Headers).Returns(
    new System.Net.WebHeaderCollection {
        {"X-Requested-With", "XMLHttpRequest"}
    });

var context = new Mock<HttpContextBase>();
context.SetupGet(x => x.Request).Returns(request.Object);

var controller = new YourController();
controller.ControllerContext = new ControllerContext(context.Object, new RouteData(), controller);

UPDATED:

Mock Request.Headers["X-Requested-With"] or Request["X-Requested-With"] instead of Request.IsAjaxRequest().

Best Answer

Related Solutions

C# – Should ‘using’ directives be inside or outside the namespace

Asp.net-mvc – How to mock the Request on Controller in ASP.Net MVC

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