Develop Reference

custom global function not defined when testing in Jest; works fine when not testing

I have a custom, globally-scoped function in my Express app, foo. When running my Jest test scripts, this function is caught as undefined. Thus, any tests using them fail.
index.d.ts:
declare global{
function foo(): string;
}
export {};
src/Utils/index.ts:
global.foo = function foo(){
return "bar";
};
src/Modules/Example.module.ts:
export const test = () => {
// This will return bar, as expected, when developing.
// A reference error will only be thrown when running npm test.
return foo();
};
src/Modules/Example.test.ts:
import { test } from "./Example.module";
describe("modules/example", () => {
describe("test", () => {
it("returns bar", () => {
let bar = test();
expect(bar).toBe("bar");
});
});
});
Despite this not being an issue while developing, this test results in the error:
ReferenceError: foo is not defined.
export const test = () => {
return foo();
^
...
};

You can specify src/Utils/index.ts as a setup file, which Jest will load and execute before running tests. You can add it to your Jest configuration file (or create one if you don't have one):
Assuming a CJS-format Jest configuration, jest.config.js:
module.exports = {
// Your other configuration options
"setupFiles": ["<rootDir>/src/Utils/index.ts"]
};
It will look slightly different if you are using a JSON or TypeScript Jest configuration file.
However I don't recommend using global variables (even if you use them a lot). With a proper code editor setup, it is easy to import a function from another file.

How to test functions in a function using Jest

I have some code that has functions inside functions, and I want to be able to unit test the functions inside the parent function.
I am looking to have tests that unit test these and spy on them (both requirements are needed).
Example:
export default parentFunction = () => {
const innerFunction = () => {
//that does stuff
}
const anotherInnerFunction = () => {
//that does more stuff
}
//and at some point, the functions are called
//like this
innerFunction()
const anotherFunction = () => {
//or like this
anotherInnerFunction()
}
}
I have not been able to find a way to test these inner functions. I have tried the following.
Example test
import parentFunction from "myfile"
it("should call innerFunction", () => {
//this causes an error in jest
const innerFunctionSpy = jest.spyOn(parentFunction, "innerFunction")
//..etc
expect(innerFunctionSpy).toHaveBeenCalled()
})
it("will return a value from anotherInnerFunction", () => {
//this does not work
const value = parentFunction.anotherInnerFunction()
//this also does not work
const value = parentFunction().anotherInnerFunction()
//..etc
})
Does the parent function need to be refactored in order to be able to tests these inner functions? If my parent function was an object then I could test these, however, I am not sure if I can refactor my code to work like this.
For example
export default parentFunction = {
innerFunction: () => {
//that does stuff
},
//more code
}

You cannot access the variables or functions scoped inside another function in JavaScript. Unless you explicitly expose them by returning them from that function or export them from the module. This is not about Jest, this is how it works in JavaScript.
jest.spyOn(parentFunction, "innerFunction")
The above line of code indicates to Jest that the innerFunction function is set as a property of the parentFunction object but that is not the case. In fact innerFunction is a function scoped inside the parentFunction which cannot be accessed from outside of the scope of parentFunction. Unless you return it explicitly or define it on the module level scope and then export it.
But the inner workings or the implementation details of such inner functions should not be exposed, but if it is needed it should be marked as such using an _ before its name, take the following example:
//scoped to the module
const _innerFunction = () => {
//that does stuff
}
//scoped to the module
const _anotherInnerFunction = () => {
//that does more stuff
}
//exported as a public API
const anotherFunction = () => {
_anotherInnerFunction()
}
const publicApi = {
anotherFunction,
// expose the private functions for unit tests
_innerFunction,
_anotherInnerFunction
}
export default publicApi;
Then in your Jest test case:
import publicApi from "myfile"
it("should call anotherFunction", () => {
const anotherFunctionSpy = jest.spyOn(publicApi, "anotherFunction")
//..etc
expect(anotherFunctionSpy ).toHaveBeenCalled()
})
it("should call _innerFunction", () => {
const innerFunctionSpy = jest.spyOn(publicApi, "_innerFunction")
//..etc
expect(innerFunctionSpy ).toHaveBeenCalled()
})

Mock an import from another file but still return a mock value

I'm testing a function which calls another function imported from anotherFile. That outsideFunc returns an object which contains 'name'. I need this to exist in order to progress through the rest of my test/the function to work correctly.
systemUnderTest.js
import { outsideFunc } from './anotherFile.js';
function myFunc() {
const name = outsideFunc().name;
}
anotherFile.js:
export function outsideFunc() {
return { name : bob }
}
I don't care about testing anotherFile or the result of outsideFunc, but I still need to return a mock value as part of testing myFunc;
systemUnderTest.spec.js
describe("A situation", () => {
jest.mock("./anotherFile", () => ({
outsideFunc: jest.fn().mockReturnValue({
name: 'alice'
})
}));
it("Should continue through the function steps with no problems", () => {
expect(excludeCurrentProduct(initialState)).toBe('whatever Im testing');
});
});
The problem I get is that, when the unit test is working through myFunc, const name returns undefined where it should return alice. I would expect it to get the data from my jest.mock of the anotherFile file and its mock exported function, but it doesn't get the right response.
When I asset that I expect name = alice I actually get name = undefined.

systemUnderTest.js
import { outsideFunc } from './anotherFile.js';
// let's say that the function is exported
export function myFunc() {
const name = outsideFunc().name;
// and let's say that the function returns the name
return name;
}
you can describe in your
systemUnderTest.spec.js
import { myFunc } from './systemUnderTest';
import { outsideFunc } from './anotherFile';
// using auto-mocking has multiple advantages
// for example if the outsideFunc is deleted the test will fail
jest.mock('./anotherFile');
describe('myFunc', () => {
describe('if outsideFunc returns lemons', () => {
outsideFunc.mockReturnValue({name: 'lemons'});
it('should return lemons as well', () => {
expect(myFunc()).toEqual('lemons');
});
});
});
working example

How to test class instance inside a function with Jest

I have the following hypothetical scenario:
// file MyClass.js in an external package
class MyClass {
myfunc = () => {
// do something
}
}
// file in my project
function myFunctionToBeTested() {
const instance = new MyClass()
instance.myFunc()
}
I need to create a test with Jest that makes sure instance.myFunc was called

One of the option is to replace MyClass module with mock implementation
const mockmyfunc = jest.fn()
jest.mock("path/to/external/package/MyClass", () => {
return jest.fn().mockImplementation(() => {
return {myfunc: mockmyfunc}
})
})
And then write following test
it("Test myfunc called in functionToBeTested", () => {
functionToBeTested()
expect(mockmyfunc).toHaveBeenCalled()
})
Note that this is not the only way, you can dive into https://facebook.github.io/jest/docs/en/es6-class-mocks.html for other alternatives.
Update
If the myfunc would be an actual function (which i guess is not an option since it's external package?)
export class MyClass {
myFunc() {
// do smth
}
}
and you would not need to replace the implementation, you could be using jest's automock
import MyClass from "path/to/external/package/MyClass"
jest.mock("path/to/external/package/MyClass")
it("Test myfunc called in functionToBeTested", () => {
functionToBeTested()
const mockMyFunc = MyClass.mock.instances[0].myFunc
expect(mockMyFunc).toHaveBeenCalled()
})

you can mock out the class and assign the default export of that file to a variable as follows:
jest.mock('../../utils/api/api');
const FakeClass = require('../someFile.js').default;
then access calls to a function on your mock class like this:
FakeClass.prototype.myFunc.mock.calls

How to stub exported function in ES6?

I have file foo.js:
export function bar (m) {
console.log(m);
}
And another file that uses foo.js, cap.js:
import { bar } from 'foo';
export default m => {
// Some logic that I need to test
bar(m);
}
I have test.js:
import cap from 'cap'
describe('cap', () => {
it('should bar', () => {
cap('some');
});
});
Somehow I need override implementation of bar(m) in test. Is there any way to do this?
P.S. I use babel, webpack and mocha.

Ouch.. I found solution, so I use sinon to stub and import * as foo from 'foo' to get object with all exported functions so I can stub them.
import sinon from 'sinon';
import cap from 'cap';
import * as foo from 'foo';
sinon.stub(foo, 'bar', m => {
console.log('confirm', m);
});
describe('cap', () => {
it('should bar', () => {
cap('some');
});
});

You can replace/rewrite/stub exports only from within the module itself. (Here's an explanation)
If you rewrite 'foo.js' like this:
var bar = function bar (m) {
console.log(m);
};
export {bar}
export function stub($stub) {
bar = $stub;
}
You can then override it in your test like this:
import cap from 'cap'
import {stub} from 'foo'
describe('cap', () => {
it('should bar', () => {
stub(() => console.log('stubbed'));
cap('some'); // will output 'stubbed' in the console instead of 'some'
});
});
I've created a Babel plugin that transforms all the exports automatically so that they can be stubbed: https://github.com/asapach/babel-plugin-rewire-exports

While #Mike solution would work in old versions of sinon, it has been removed since sinon 3.0.0.
Now instead of:
sinon.stub(obj, "meth", fn);
you should do:
stub(obj, 'meth').callsFake(fn)
Example of mocking google oauth api:
import google from 'googleapis';
const oauth2Stub = sinon.stub();
sinon.stub(google, 'oauth2').callsFake(oauth2Stub);
oauth2Stub.withArgs('v2').returns({
tokeninfo: (accessToken, params, callback) => {
callback(null, { email: 'poo#bar.com' }); // callback with expected result
}
});

You can use babel-plugin-rewire (npm install --save-dev babel-plugin-rewire)
And then in test.js use the __Rewire__ function on the imported module to replace the function in that module:
// test.js
import sinon from 'sinon'
import cap from 'cap'
describe('cap', () => {
it('should bar', () => {
const barStub = sinon.stub().returns(42);
cap.__Rewire__('bar', barStub); // <-- Magic happens here
cap('some');
expect(barStub.calledOnce).to.be.true;
});
});
Be sure to add rewire to your babel plugins in .babelrc:
// .babelrc
{
"presets": [
"es2015"
],
"plugins": [],
"env": {
"test": {
"plugins": [
"rewire"
]
}
}
}
Lastly, as you can see the babel-plugin-rewire plugin is only enabled in the test environment, so you should call you test runner with the BABEL_ENV environment variable set to test (which you're probably doing already):
env BABEL_ENV=test mocha --compilers js:babel-core/register test-example.js
Note: I couldn't get babel-plugin-rewire-exports to work.

This was definitely a gotcha for me too...
I created a little util to workaround this limitation of sinon. (Available in js too).
// mockable.ts 👇
import sinon from 'sinon'
export function mockable<T extends unknown[], Ret>(fn: (...fnArgs: T) => Ret) {
let mock: sinon.SinonStub<T, Ret> | undefined
const wrapper = (...args: T) => {
if (mock) return mock(...args)
return fn(...args)
}
const restore = () => {
mock = undefined
}
wrapper.mock = (customMock?: sinon.SinonStub<T, Ret>) => {
mock = customMock || sinon.stub()
return Object.assign(mock, { restore })
}
wrapper.restore = restore
return wrapper
}
If you paste the above snippet into your project you can use it like so
foo.js
import { mockable } from './mockable'
// we now need to wrap the function we wish to mock
export const foo = mockable((x) => {
console.log(x)
})
main.js
import { foo } from './foo'
export const main = () => {
foo('asdf') // use as normal
}
test.js
import { foo } from './foo'
import { main } from './main'
// mock the function - optionally pass in your own mock
const mock = foo.mock()
// test the function
main()
console.assert(mock.calledOnceWith('asdf'), 'not called')
// restore the function
stub.restore()
The benefit of this approach is that you don't have to remember to always import the function in a certain way. import { foo } from './foo' works just as well as import * as foo from './foo'. Automatic imports will likely just work in your IDE.