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 only 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
mockFn.getMockName()
mockFn.mock.calls
mockFn.mock.instances
mockFn.mockClear()
mockFn.mockReset()
mockFn.mockRestore()
mockFn.mockImplementation(fn)
mockFn.mockImplementationOnce(fn)
mockFn.mockName(value)
mockFn.mockReturnThis()
mockFn.mockReturnValue(value)
mockFn.mockReturnValueOnce(value)
Reference
mockFn.getMockName()
Returns the mock name string set by calling mockFn.mockName(value)
.
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.
The clearMocks
configuration option is available to clear mocks automatically between tests.
mockFn.mockReset()
Resets all information stored in the mock, including any initial implementation and mock name 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.mockRestore()
Removes the mock and restores the initial implementation.
This is useful when you want to mock functions in certain test cases and restore the original implementation in others.
Beware that mockFn.mockRestore
only works when the mock was created with jest.spyOn
. Thus you have to take care of restoration yourself when manually assigning jest.fn()
.
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 jest.fn().mockImplementation(implementation)
.
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
jest.mock('./SomeClass'); // this happens automatically with automocking
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.mockName(value)
Accepts a string to use in test result output in place of "jest.fn()" to indicate which mock function is being referenced.
For example:
const mockFn = jest.fn().mockName('mockedFunction');
// mockFn();
expect(mockFn).toHaveBeenCalled();
Will result in this error:
expect(mockedFunction).toHaveBeenCalled()
Expected mock function "mockedFunction" to have been called, but it was not called.
mockFn.mockReturnThis()
Syntactic sugar function for:
jest.fn(function() {
return this;
});
mockFn.mockReturnValue(value)
Accepts a value that will be returned whenever the mock function is called.
const mock = jest.fn();
mock.mockReturnValue(42);
mock(); // 42
mock.mockReturnValue(43);
mock(); // 43
mockFn.mockReturnValueOnce(value)
Accepts a value that will be returned for one call to the mock function. Can be chained so that successive calls to the mock function return different values. When there are no more mockReturnValueOnce
values to use, calls will return a value specified by mockReturnValue
.
const myMockFn = jest.fn()
.mockReturnValue('default')
.mockReturnValueOnce('first call')
.mockReturnValueOnce('second call');
console.log(myMockFn(), myMockFn(), myMockFn(), myMockFn());
> 'first call', 'second call', 'default', 'default'