In a React component I have
export default class MyComp extends Component {
...
componentDidMount() {
this.customFunc();
}
customFunc = () => {
// ..
}
...
}
And when I try to test this method with Jest and Enzyme like this:
it('Should call customFunc on mount', () => {
const MyCompInstance = mount(<MyComp {...props} >).instance();
const spy = jest.spyOn(MyCompInstance, 'customFunc');
expect(spy).toHaveBeenCalled();
});
it fails with Expected mock function to have been called, but it was not called.
The funny thing is that if I put console.log()
in componentDidMount
and in custsomFunc
- they get called.
What am I doing wrong?
PS: I tried with forceUpdate
on the instance, right before the expect, but I still get the same error.
it fails with Expected mock function to have been called, but it was not called.
The funny thing is that if I put console.log()
in componentDidMount
and in custsomFunc
- they get called.
Calling mount
renders the component and componentDidMount
gets called as part of that process, which in turn calls customFunc
.
The spy
then gets created on customFunc
but by that time it is too late since componentDidMount
and customFunc
have already run as part of mount
and the test fails with the spy
reporting that it was not called.
What am I doing wrong?
You need to create the spy
on customFunc
before it gets called.
This is very difficult the way the code is currently written since customFunc
is implemented as an instance property.
Because it is an instance property it won't exist until the instance exists but the instance gets created during the rendering process which ends up calling componentDidMount
.
In other words, you need an instance to spy on customFunc
, but customFunc
gets called as part of creating the instance.
In this scenario the only way to check if customFunc
is called when componentDidMount
runs is to call it again after the instance has been created and the component has rendered, which is kind of a hack:
import * as React from 'react';
import { mount } from 'enzyme';
class MyComp extends React.Component {
componentDidMount() {
this.customFunc();
}
customFunc = () => { } // instance property
render() { return <div/> }
}
it('Should call customFunc on mount', () => {
const instance = mount(<MyComp />).instance();
const spy = jest.spyOn(instance, 'customFunc'); // spy on customFunc using the instance
instance.componentDidMount(); // call componentDidMount again...kind of a hack
expect(spy).toHaveBeenCalled(); // SUCCESS
});
The alternative is to implement customFunc
as a class method.
If customFunc
is a class method then it will exist on the prototype
of the class which allows you to create a spy on customFunc
before the instance gets created during the render process in mount
:
import * as React from 'react';
import { mount } from 'enzyme';
class MyComp extends React.Component {
componentDidMount() {
this.customFunc();
}
customFunc() { } // class method
render() { return <div/> }
}
it('Should call customFunc on mount', () => {
const spy = jest.spyOn(MyComp.prototype, 'customFunc'); // spy on customFunc using the prototype
const wrapper = mount(<MyComp />);
expect(spy).toHaveBeenCalled(); // SUCCESS
});