Start a second activity inside a TestCase (which is not the activity under test)

Question

How can I start a second (mock) activity in a ActivityInstrumentationTestCase2 or InstrumentationTestCase?

My Problem is this:

Intent intent = new Intent(getInstrumentation().getContext(), MyMock.class);
myMock = (MyMock) getInstrumentation().startActivitySync(intent);

...results in the error "intent in process ... resolves to different process ...test". Using getTargetContext() for the Intent results in "unable to resolve activity for Intent", as my mock class is not part of the app package.

08-07 19:38:25.822: INFO/TestRunner(2656): ----- begin exception -----
08-07 19:38:25.822: INFO/TestRunner(2656): java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to resolve activity for: Intent { cmp=com.cocktails/.test.recipes.RecipeBookMock }
08-07 19:38:25.822: INFO/TestRunner(2656):     at android.app.Instrumentation.startActivitySync(Instrumentation.java:447)
08-07 19:38:25.822: INFO/TestRunner(2656):     at com.cocktails.test.recipes.RecipeUpdaterTest.testNewRecipe(RecipeUpdaterTest.java:55)
08-07 19:38:25.822: INFO/TestRunner(2656):     at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method)
08-07 19:38:25.822: INFO/TestRunner(2656):     at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:521)
08-07 19:38:25.822: INFO/TestRunner(2656):     at android.test.InstrumentationTestCase.runMethod(InstrumentationTestCase.java:191)
08-07 19:38:25.822: INFO/TestRunner(2656):     at android.test.InstrumentationTestCase.runTest(InstrumentationTestCase.java:181)
08-07 19:38:25.822: INFO/TestRunner(2656):     at junit.framework.TestCase.runBare(TestCase.java:127)
08-07 19:38:25.822: INFO/TestRunner(2656):     at junit.framework.TestResult$1.protect(TestResult.java:106)
08-07 19:38:25.822: INFO/TestRunner(2656):     at junit.framework.TestResult.runProtected(TestResult.java:124)
08-07 19:38:25.822: INFO/TestRunner(2656):     at junit.framework.TestResult.run(TestResult.java:109)
08-07 19:38:25.822: INFO/TestRunner(2656):     at junit.framework.TestCase.run(TestCase.java:118)
08-07 19:38:25.822: INFO/TestRunner(2656):     at android.test.AndroidTestRunner.runTest(AndroidTestRunner.java:164)
08-07 19:38:25.822: INFO/TestRunner(2656):     at android.test.AndroidTestRunner.runTest(AndroidTestRunner.java:151)
08-07 19:38:25.822: INFO/TestRunner(2656):     at android.test.InstrumentationTestRunner.onStart(InstrumentationTestRunner.java:425)
08-07 19:38:25.822: INFO/TestRunner(2656):     at android.app.Instrumentation$InstrumentationThread.run(Instrumentation.java:1520)
08-07 19:38:25.832: INFO/TestRunner(2656): ----- end exception -----

By using an [Intent](http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Activity.html#StartingActivities)? — Lukas Knuth, Aug 07 '11 at 14:13
If your Activity isn't part of your application, how do you plan to start it then? — Lukas Knuth, Aug 07 '11 at 16:52
I simply want to start another Activity which can communicate with the Activity under test ... the Class for that Activity is inside the test project (as it's a mock class) — cody, Aug 07 '11 at 17:53

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 23 '12 at 15:50

Test applications aren't "apps" in the traditional sense and can't start their own activities. If you need to test how your activity responds to other activities sending it intents, you can use the ActivityInstrumentationTestCase2.setActivityIntent(Intent) method to inject the various intents you want to test, before you actually call getActivity().

public class ExampleTest extends ActivityInstrumentationTestCase2 {

    // if your test runs on the UI thread, you will need to setActivityIntent() 
    // in setUp() as you won't have a chance to do it before the activity
    // is started

    // @UiThreadTest
    public void testMockIntent() {
        setActivityIntent(new Intent());
        Activity foo = getActivity();

        assertNotNull(foo); // your tests
    }
}

Start a second activity inside a TestCase (which is not the activity under test)

1 Answers1