express-test-stubs

A helper factory function that produces test fakes for the need of unit-testing Express endpoints.

This module makes use of stampit library - an implementation of Stamp Specification.

Some properties of objects produced by this factory are sinon spies.

Installation

$ npm install --save-dev express-test-stubs

Usage Example

Using default stubs provided by express-test-stubs:

/* my-endpoint-handler.test.js */
const test = require('tape');
const ExpressStubs = require('express-test-stubs');
 
const self = require('./path/to/my-endpoint-handler');
 
test('normal scenario', async t => {
  try {
    const expressStubs = ExpressStubs();
    const expectedResponsePayload = { foo: 'bar '};
 
    await self(...expressStubs);
 
    t.equal(
      expressStubs.res.status.calledWith(200),
      true,
      'should respond with 200 OK'
    );
 
    t.deepEqual(
      expressStubs.res.json.getCall(0).args[0],
      expectedResponsePayload,
      'should send foo set to bar'
    );
 
    t.equal(
      expressStubs.next.called,
      false,
      'should not propagate any error'
    );
 
    t.end();
  } catch (err) {
    t.end(err);
  }
});

Using custom stubs:

/* ... */
 
const expressStubs = ExpressStubs({
  req: ExpressStubs.Req
    .props({
      body: { userId: 'baz' }
    }),
  res: ExpressStubs.Res
    .props({
      additionalProp: 'foo',
      json: 'value_that_overwrites_default_json_prop'
    })
});
 
/* ... */

API Reference

const ExpressStubs = require('express-test-stubs');

{Stamp} ExpressStubs

The main factory function. This is a stampit stamp. Although you can utilize all the features stampit provides, below are the features added to the stamp by express-test-stubs.

Creating default stubs

Just calling ExpressStubs factory function without any arguments produces a default object containing default stubs for req and res objects, and next callback function that are usually passed in Express endpoint handlers.

const expressStubs = ExpressStubs();
// or
const { req, res, next } = ExpressStubs();

{Object} expressStubs

An object with req, res, and next properties that are default stubs.

For your convenience, the expressStubs object is iterable over these three properties. So you can use it with destructuring:

myExpressEndpointHandler(...expressStubs);

{Object} expressStubs.req

Request stub with the default set of properties (see below how you can customize them).

{Object} expressStubs.req.body

An empty POJO.

{Object} expressStubs.req.query

An empty POJO.

{Object} expressStubs.res

Response stub with the default set of properties (see below how you can customize them).

{sinon.spy} expressStubs.res.status

Sinon spy function with an implementation that returns this when called by production code - just like Express` method status().

{sinon.spy} expressStubs.res.end

Sinon spy function with empty implementation.

{sinon.spy} expressStubs.res.json

Sinon spy function with empty implementation.

{sinon.spy} expressStubs.res.send

Sinon spy function with empty implementation.

{sinon.spy} expressStubs.next

Sinon spy function with empty implementation.

{Stamp} ExpressStubs.Req

Helper static property referencing default stamp that is used internally for producing req stubs. Use it as base stamp to compose your own custom stamp to be passed in ExpressStubs factory (see below).

{Stamp} ExpressStubs.Res

Helper static property referencing default stamp that is used internally for producing res stubs. Use it as base stamp to compose your own custom stamp to be passed in ExpressStubs factory (see below).

Creating custom stubs

You can pass your custom implementation of the request and/or response stamps to ExpressStubs factory function to produce an object with your custom implementation of req and/or res stubs. It's recommended to use ExpressStubs.Req or ExpressStubs.Res as the base for composition:

const expressStubs = ExpressStubs({
  req: ExpressStubs.Req
    .props({
      body: { userId: 'baz' }
    })
});

const expressStubs = ExpressStubs({
  res: ExpressStubs.Res
    .props({
      additionalProp: 'foo',
      json: 'value_that_overwrites_default_json_prop'
    })
});

const expressStubs = ExpressStubs({
  req: ExpressStubs.Req
    .props({
      body: { userId: 'baz' }
    }),
  res: ExpressStubs.Res
    .props({
      additionalProp: 'foo',
      json: 'value_that_overwrites_default_json_prop'
    })
});