How to mock static methods using UnitilsJUnit4?

Question

I have method getAllCustomers inside CustomerService class. Inside this method I call another static method from CustomerDao class. Now when I am writing the junit for method getAllCustomers inside customerService class, where I want to mock the call to static method of CustomerDao i.e. getAllCustomers. Here is the brief code snippet of method getAllCustomers inside CustomerService class. Is it possible to mock the static method call using unitils?

Public static List<CustomerDate> getAllCustomers()
{
//some operations
List<CustomerDate> customers=CustomerDao.getAllCustomers();// static method inside CustomerDao
//some operations
}

Above code is just an example I am trying to put. Please avoid the discussion why these methods are designed as static methods. That's a separate story .)

This is as good an example why not to use static methods in a TDD environment — Scorpion, Dec 24 '12 at 05:42

Bhanuka Withana · Accepted Answer · 2012-12-24T05:54:42.200

0

I doubt whether it can be achieved with unitils. But please consider using PowerMock instead which seems to be capable of handling what you need. It can mock static methods,private methods and more (Ref: PowerMock)

edited Dec 24 '12 at 05:54

answered Dec 24 '12 at 05:48

Bhanuka Withana

180
11

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 24 '12 at 06:08

This would be a matter of:

Setting up the mock
Calling the mock and expecting some data back
Verifying the end result of your call given your data

So, without really much ado about the static call, here's the way you can set it up in PowerMock:

@RunWith(PowerMockRunner.class)
@PrepareForTest(CustomerDao.class)
public class CustomerTest {

    @Test
    public void testCustomerDao() {
        PowerMock.mockStatic(CustomerDao.class);
        List<CustomerDate> expected = new ArrayList<CustomerDate>();
        // place a given data value into your list to be asserted on later
        expect(CustomerDao.getAllCustomers()).andReturn(expected);
        replay(CustomerDao.class);
        // call your method from here
        verify(CustomerDao.class);
        // assert expected results here
    }
}

Tanks Makoto. Is there a way we can do similar thing in Unitils? — emilly, Dec 24 '12 at 17:47
I've only ever seen it with PowerMock. Typically one avoids making certain objects (such as this) static, as it does make them slightly harder to test. — Makoto, Dec 24 '12 at 18:11

How to mock static methods using UnitilsJUnit4?

2 Answers2