expect

expect lets you write better assertions.

When you use expect, you write assertions similarly to how you would say them, e.g. "I expect this value to be equal to 3" or "I expect this array to contain 3". When you write assertions in this way, you don't need to remember the order of actual and expected arguments to functions like assert.equal, which helps you write better tests.

You can think of expect as a more compact alternative to Chai or Sinon.JS, just without the pretty website. ;)

Installation

Using npm:

$ npm install --save expect

Then, use as you would anything else:

// using ES6 modules 
import expect, { createSpy, spyOn, isSpy } from 'expect'
 
// using CommonJS modules 
var expect = require('expect')
var createSpy = expect.createSpy
var spyOn = expect.spyOn
var isSpy = expect.isSpy

The UMD build is also available on npmcdn:

<script src="https://npmcdn.com/expect/umd/expect.min.js"></script>

You can find the library on window.expect.

Assertions

toExist

expect(object).toExist([message])

Asserts the given object is truthy.

expect('something truthy').toExist()

Aliases:

• toBeTruthy

toNotExist

expect(object).toNotExist([message])

Asserts the given object is falsy.

expect(null).toNotExist()

Aliases:

• toBeFalsy

toBe

expect(object).toBe(value, [message])

Asserts that object is strictly equal to value using ===.

toNotBe

expect(object).toNotBe(value, [message])

Asserts that object is not strictly equal to value using ===.

toEqual

expect(object).toEqual(value, [message])

Asserts that the given object equals value using is-equal.

toNotEqual

expect(object).toNotEqual(value, [message])

Asserts that the given object is not equal to value using is-equal.

toThrow

expect(block).toThrow([error], [message])

Asserts that the given block throws an error. The error argument may be a constructor (to test using instanceof), or a string/RegExp to test against error.message.

expect(function () {
  throw new Error('boom!')
}).toThrow(/boom/)

toNotThrow

expect(block).toNotThrow([message])

Asserts that the given block does not throw.

toBeA(constructor)

expect(object).toBeA(constructor, [message])
expect(object).toBeAn(constructor, [message])

Asserts the given object is an instanceof constructor.

expect(new User).toBeA(User)
expect(new Asset).toBeAn(Asset)

Aliases:

• toBeAn

toBeA(string)

expect(object).toBeA(string, [message])
expect(object).toBeAn(string, [message])

Asserts the typeof the given object is string.

expect(2).toBeA('number')

Aliases:

• toBeAn

toNotBeA(constructor)

expect(object).toNotBeA(constructor, [message])
expect(object).toNotBeAn(constructor, [message])

Asserts the given object is not an instanceof constructor.

expect(new Asset).toNotBeA(User)
expect(new User).toNotBeAn(Asset)

Aliases:

• toNotBeAn

toNotBeA(string)

expect(object).toNotBeA(string, [message])
expect(object).toNotBeAn(string, [message])

Asserts the typeof the given object is not string.

expect('a string').toNotBeA('number')
expect(2).toNotBeAn('object')

Aliases:

• toNotBeAn

toMatch

expect(string).toMatch(pattern, [message])
expect(object).toMatch(pattern, [message])

Asserts the given string or object matches a pattern. When using a string, pattern must be a RegExp. When using an object, pattern may be anything acceptable to tmatch.

expect('a string').toMatch(/string/)
expect({
  statusCode: 200,
  headers: {
    server: 'nginx/1.6.5'
  }
}).toMatch({
  headers: {
    server: /nginx/
  }
})

toNotMatch

expect(string).toMatch(pattern, [message])
expect(object).toMatch(pattern, [message])

Asserts the given string or object does not match a pattern. When using a string, pattern must be a RegExp. When using an object, pattern may be anything acceptable to tmatch.

expect('a string').toMatch(/string/)
expect({
  statusCode: 200,
  headers: {
    server: 'nginx/1.6.5'
  }
}).toNotMatch({
  headers: {
    server: /apache/
  }
})

toBeLessThan

expect(number).toBeLessThan(value, [message])
expect(number).toBeFewerThan(value, [message])

Asserts the given number is less than value.

expect(2).toBeLessThan(3)

Aliases:

• toBeFewerThan

toBeLessThanOrEqualTo

expect(number).toBeLessThanOrEqualTo(value, [message])

Asserts the given number is less than or equal to value.

expect(2).toBeLessThanOrEqualTo(3)

toBeGreaterThan

expect(number).toBeGreaterThan(value, [message])
expect(number).toBeMoreThan(value, [message])

Asserts the given number is greater than value.

expect(3).toBeGreaterThan(2)

Aliases:

• toBeMoreThan

toBeGreaterThanOrEqualTo

expect(number).toBeGreaterThanOrEqualTo(value, [message])

Asserts the given number is greater than or equal to value.

expect(3).toBeGreaterThanOrEqualTo(2)

toInclude

expect(array).toInclude(value, [comparator], [message])
expect(object).toInclude(value, [comparator], [message])
expect(string).toInclude(value, [message])

Asserts that a given value is included (or "contained") within another. The actual value may be an array, object, or a string. The comparator function, if given, should compare two objects and return false if they are not equal. The default is to use isEqual.

expect([ 1, 2, 3 ]).toInclude(3)
expect({ a: 1, b: 2 }).toInclude({ b: 2 })
expect({ a: 1, b: 2, c: { d: 3 } }).toInclude({ b: 2, c: { d: 3 } })
expect('hello world').toInclude('world')

Aliases:

• toContain

toExclude

expect(array).toExclude(value, [comparator], [message])
expect(object).toExclude(value, [comparator], [message])
expect(string).toExclude(value, [message])

Asserts that a given value is not included (or "contained") within another. The actual value may be an array, object, or a string. The comparator function, if given, should compare two objects and return false if they are not equal. The default is to use isEqual.

expect([ 1, 2, 3 ]).toExclude(4)
expect({ a: 1, b: 2 }).toExclude({ c: 2 })
expect({ a: 1, b: 2 }).toExclude({ b: 3 })
expect({ a: 1, b: 2, c: { d: 3 } }).toExclude({ c: { d: 4 } })
expect('hello world').toExclude('goodbye')

Aliases:

• toNotContain
• toNotInclude

toIncludeKey(s)

expect(object).toIncludeKeys(keys, [comparator], [message])
expect(object).toIncludeKey(key, [comparator], [message])

Asserts that the given object (may be an array, or a function, or anything with keys) contains all of the provided keys. The optional parameter comparator is a function which if given an object and a string key, it should return a boolean detailing whether or not the key exists in the object. By default, a shallow check with Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty is performed.

expect({ a: 1 }).toIncludeKey('a')
expect({ a: 1, b: 2 }).toIncludeKeys([ 'a', 'b' ])

Aliases:

• toContainKey(s)

toExcludeKey(s)

expect(object).toExcludeKeys(keys, [comparator], [message])
expect(object).toExcludeKey(key, [comparator], [message])

Asserts that the given object (may be an array, or a function, or anything with keys) does not contain any of the provided keys. The optional parameter comparator is a function which if given an object and a string key, it should return a boolean detailing whether or not the key exists in the object. By default, a shallow check with Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty is performed.

expect({ a: 1 }).toExcludeKey('b')
expect({ a: 1, b: 2 }).toExcludeKeys([ 'c', 'd' ])

Aliases:

• toNotContainKey(s)
• toNotIncludeKey(s)

(spy) toHaveBeenCalled

expect(spy).toHaveBeenCalled([message])

Asserts the given spy function has been called at least once.

expect(spy).toHaveBeenCalled()

(spy) toNotHaveBeenCalled

expect(spy).toNotHaveBeenCalled([message])

Asserts the given spy function has not been called.

expect(spy).toNotHaveBeenCalled()

(spy) toHaveBeenCalledWith

expect(spy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(...args)

Asserts the given spy function has been called with the expected arguments.

expect(spy).toHaveBeenCalledWith('foo', 'bar')

Chaining Assertions

Every assertion returns an Expectation object, so you can chain assertions together.

expect(3.14)
  .toExist()
  .toBeLessThan(4)
  .toBeGreaterThan(3)

Spies

expect also includes the ability to create spy functions that can track the calls that are made to other functions and make various assertions based on the arguments and context that were used.

var video = {
  play: function () {},
  pause: function () {},
  rewind: function () {}
}
 
var spy = expect.spyOn(video, 'play')
 
video.play('some', 'args')
 
expect(spy.calls.length).toEqual(1)
expect(spy.calls[0].context).toBe(video)
expect(spy.calls[0].arguments).toEqual([ 'some', 'args' ])
expect(spy).toHaveBeenCalled()
expect(spy).toHaveBeenCalledWith('some', 'args')
 
spy.restore()
expect.restoreSpies()

createSpy

expect.createSpy()

Creates a spy function.

var spy = expect.createSpy()

spyOn

expect.spyOn(target, method)

Replaces the method in target with a spy.

var video = {
  play: function () {}
}
 
var spy = expect.spyOn(video, 'play')
video.play()
 
spy.restore()

restoreSpies

expect.restoreSpies()

Restores all spies created with expect.spyOn(). This is the same as calling spy.restore() on all spies created.

// mocha.js example 
beforeEach(function () {
  expect.spyOn(profile, 'load')
})
 
afterEach(function () {
  expect.restoreSpies()
})
 
it('works', function () {
  profile.load()
  expect(profile.load).toHaveBeenCalled()
})

Spy methods

andCall

spy.andCall(fn)

Makes the spy invoke a function fn when called.

var dice = createSpy().andCall(function () {
  return (Math.random() * 6) | 0
})

andCallThrough

spy.andCallThrough()

Makes the spy call the original function it's spying on.

spyOn(profile, 'load').andCallThrough()
 
var getEmail = createSpy(function () {
  return "hi@gmail.com"
}).andCallThrough()

andReturn

spy.andReturn(object)

Makes the spy return a value.

var dice = expect.createSpy().andReturn(3)

andThrow

spy.andThrow(error)

Makes the spy throw an error when called.

var failing = expect.createSpy()
  .andThrow(new Error('Not working'))

restore

spy.restore()

Restores a spy originally created with expect.spyOn().

reset

spy.reset()

Clears out all saved calls to the spy.

Extending expect

You can add your own assertions using expect.extend and expect.assert:

expect.extend({
  toBeAColor() {
    expect.assert(
      this.actual.match(/^#[a-fA-F0-9]{6}$/),
      'expected %s to be an HTML color',
      this.actual
    )
    return this
  }
})
 
expect('#ff00ff').toBeAColor()

Extensions

• expect-element Adds assertions that are useful for DOM elements
• expect-jsx Adds things like expect(ReactComponent).toEqualJSX(<TestComponent prop="yes" />)
• expect-predicate Adds assertions based on arbitrary predicates