Jest

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Mock Functions

Mock functions are also known as "spies", because they let you spy on the behavior of a function that is called indirectly by some other code, rather than just testing the output. You can create a mock function with jest.fn(). If no implementation is given, the mock function will return undefined when invoked.

Methods #

Reference #

mockFn.mock.calls #

An array that represents all calls that have been made into this mock function. Each call is represented by an array of arguments that were passed during the call.

For example: A mock function f that has been called twice, with the arguments f('arg1', 'arg2'), and then with the arguments f('arg3', 'arg4') would have a mock.calls array that looks like this:

[
  ['arg1', 'arg2'],
  ['arg3', 'arg4'],
];

mockFn.mock.instances #

An array that contains all the object instances that have been instantiated from this mock function using new.

For example: A mock function that has been instantiated twice would have the following mock.instances array:

const mockFn = jest.fn();

const a = new mockFn();
const b = new mockFn();

mockFn.mock.instances[0] === a; // true
mockFn.mock.instances[1] === b; // true

mockFn.mockClear() #

Resets all information stored in the mockFn.mock.calls and mockFn.mock.instances arrays.

Often this is useful when you want to clean up a mock's usage data between two assertions.

Beware that mockClear will replace mockFn.mock, not just mockFn.mock.calls and mockFn.mock.instances. You should therefore avoid assigning mockFn.mock to other variables, temporary or not, to make sure you don't access stale data.

mockFn.mockReset() #

Resets all information stored in the mock, including any inital implementation given.

This is useful when you want to completely restore a mock back to its initial state.

Beware that mockReset will replace mockFn.mock, not just mockFn.mock.calls and mockFn.mock.instances. You should therefore avoid assigning mockFn.mock to other variables, temporary or not, to make sure you don't access stale data.

mockFn.mockImplementation(fn) #

Accepts a function that should be used as the implementation of the mock. The mock itself will still record all calls that go into and instances that come from itself – the only difference is that the implementation will also be executed when the mock is called.

Note: jest.fn(implementation) is a shorthand for mockImplementation.

For example:

const mockFn = jest.fn().mockImplementation(scalar => 42 + scalar);
// or: jest.fn(scalar => 42 + scalar);

const a = mockFn(0);
const b = mockFn(1);

a === 42; // true
b === 43; // true

mockFn.mock.calls[0][0] === 0; // true
mockFn.mock.calls[1][0] === 1; // true

mockImplementation can also be used to mock class constructors:

// SomeClass.js
module.exports = class SomeClass {
  m(a, b) {}
}

// OtherModule.test.js
const SomeClass = require('SomeClass')
const mMock = jest.fn()
SomeClass.mockImplementation(() => {
  return {
    m: mMock
  }
})

const some = new SomeClass()
some.m('a', 'b')
console.log('Calls to m: ', mMock.mock.calls)

mockFn.mockImplementationOnce(fn) #

Accepts a function that will be used as an implementation of the mock for one call to the mocked function. Can be chained so that multiple function calls produce different results.

var myMockFn = jest.fn()
  .mockImplementationOnce(cb => cb(null, true))
  .mockImplementationOnce(cb => cb(null, false));

myMockFn((err, val) => console.log(val));
> true

myMockFn((err, val) => console.log(val));
> false

When the mocked function runs out of implementations defined with mockImplementationOnce, it will execute the default implementation set with jest.fn(() => defaultValue) or .mockImplementation(() => defaultValue) if they were called:

var myMockFn = jest.fn(() => 'default')
  .mockImplementationOnce(() => 'first call')
  .mockImplementationOnce(() => 'second call');

console.log(myMockFn(), myMockFn(), myMockFn(), myMockFn());
> 'first call', 'second call', 'default', 'default'

mockFn.mockReturnThis() #

Just a simple sugar function for:

jest.fn(function() {
  return this;
});

mockFn.mockReturnValue(value) #

Deprecated: Use jest.fn(() => value) instead.

const mockNumberFn = jest.fn(() => 42);
mockNumberFn(); // 42

// Deprecated behavior:
jest.genMockFunction().mockImplementation(() => value);

mockFn.mockReturnValueOnce(value) #

Just a simple sugar function for:

let valueReturned = false;
jest.fn(() => {
  if (!valueReturned) {
    valueReturned = true;
    return value;
  }
});