Assigning out/ref parameters in Moq

Question

Is it possible to assign an out/ref parameter using Moq (3.0+)?

I've looked at using Callback(), but Action<> does not support ref parameters because it's based on generics. I'd also preferably like to put a constraint (It.Is) on the input of the ref parameter, though I can do that in the callback.

I know that Rhino Mocks supports this functionality, but the project I'm working on is already using Moq.

Answer 1

While the question is about Moq 3 (probably due to its age), allow me to post a solution for Moq 4.8, which has much improved support for by-ref parameters.

public interface IGobbler
{
    bool Gobble(ref int amount);
}

delegate void GobbleCallback(ref int amount);     // needed for Callback
delegate bool GobbleReturns(ref int amount);      // needed for Returns

var mock = new Mock<IGobbler>();
mock.Setup(m => m.Gobble(ref It.Ref<int>.IsAny))  // match any value passed by-ref
    .Callback(new GobbleCallback((ref int amount) =>
     {
         if (amount > 0)
         {
             Console.WriteLine("Gobbling...");
             amount -= 1;
         }
     }))
    .Returns(new GobbleReturns((ref int amount) => amount > 0));

int a = 5;
bool gobbleSomeMore = true;
while (gobbleSomeMore)
{
    gobbleSomeMore = mock.Object.Gobble(ref a);
}

By the way: It.Ref<T>.IsAny also works for C# 7 in parameters (since they are also by-ref).

Answer 2

This is documentation from Moq site:

// out arguments
var outString = "ack";
// TryParse will return true, and the out argument will return "ack", lazy evaluated
mock.Setup(foo => foo.TryParse("ping", out outString)).Returns(true);


// ref arguments
var instance = new Bar();
// Only matches if the ref argument to the invocation is the same instance
mock.Setup(foo => foo.Submit(ref instance)).Returns(true);

Answer 3

This can be a solution .

[Test]
public void TestForOutParameterInMoq()
{
  //Arrange
  _mockParameterManager= new Mock<IParameterManager>();

  Mock<IParameter > mockParameter= new Mock<IParameter >();
  //Parameter affectation should be useless but is not. It's really used by Moq 
  IParameter parameter= mockParameter.Object;

  //Mock method used in UpperParameterManager
  _mockParameterManager.Setup(x => x.OutMethod(out parameter));

  //Act with the real instance
  _UpperParameterManager.UpperOutMethod(out parameter);

  //Assert that method used on the out parameter of inner out method are really called
  mockParameter.Verify(x => x.FunctionCalledInOutMethodAfterInnerOutMethod(),Times.Once());

}