How can use Microsoft Fakes to mock User.Identity.Name

Question

How can I use Microsoft Fakes to mock User.Identity.Name when unit testing MVC 4 application with Visual Studio 2012. I'm writing unit test for item create action method.

[HttpPost]

    public ActionResult Create([Bind(Include = "Name")]Category category)
    {

        if (categoryService.IsNameExists(category.Name))
        {
            ModelState.AddModelError("Name", "Category name already exists!");
            return View(category);
        }
        try
        {
            if (ModelState.IsValid)
            {
                UserProfile p = new UserProfile();  
                p.UserName = User.Identity.Name;

                category.CreatedBy = p;
                category.CreatedDate = DateTime.Now;
                category.Active = true;
                category.DeletedBy =  null;

                category = categoryService.SaveCategory(category);
                return RedirectToAction("Index");
            }
            return View(category);
        }
        catch (DataException dex)
        {

        }
    }


[TestMethod]
    public void Create()
    {
        Category createdCategory = new Category();
        ICategoryService service = new StubICategoryService()
        {
            SaveCategoryCategory = (category) => { return category; }
        };
        CategoryController controller = new CategoryController(service);

        using (ShimsContext.Create())
        {
            System.Fakes.ShimDateTime.NowGet = () =>
            { return new DateTime(2000, 1, 1); };

            ViewResult result = controller.Create(createdCategory) as ViewResult;

            Assert.IsNotNull(result);
        }
    }

These are the action method and test method I have written. If there is better way to do this other than MS Fakes please tell me, (not another mocking framework).

Instead of calling "User.Indenty.Name" directly, you could create a separate class "CustomUserContext" with a method GetCurrentUser. This way you could mock that CustomUserContext with anything you like in the test method. — artokai, May 02 '14 at 13:07

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered May 02 '14 at 13:14

1

Assuming you've added Fakes references for System.Web and System, you can do something like this inside your using (ShimsContext.Create()) block:

var context = new System.Web.Fakes.ShimHttpContext();
var user = new StubIPrincipal
{
    IdentityGet = () =>
    {
        var identity = new StubIIdentity {NameGet = () => "foo"};
        return identity;
    }
};

context.UserGet = () => principal;
System.Web.Fakes.ShimHttpContext.CurrentGet = () => { return context; };

answered May 02 '14 at 13:14

Sven Grosen

5,616
3
30
52

It might be preferable to declare the stub instance outside the shim method, so it isn't recreated on every get. This could matter in some rare cases. – Magus May 02 '14 at 14:25
This still get the username as null value. This is the values while debugging- ?System.Web.HttpContext.Current.User Stub of IPrincipal [System.Security.Principal.Fakes.StubIPrincipal]: Stub of IPrincipal Identity: Stub of IIdentity this.HttpContext.User '((System.Web.Mvc.Controller)(this)).HttpContext' is null – Nashpaw May 05 '14 at 05:25
@Nashpaw update your question with your updated code – Sven Grosen May 05 '14 at 12:59
@SvenGrosen I need to do the same thing, but after adding Fakes for System.Web and System, I cannot create StubIPrincipal. I also tried creating Fakes for System.Security, but no luck there either. Any idea what I could be missing? – mmeasor Jul 09 '14 at 12:08
@mmeasor Create your own question with details on your setup and what you've done. – Sven Grosen Jul 09 '14 at 12:30

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered May 02 '14 at 13:15

0

User is actually HttpContext.User. So you could use System.Fakes.ShimHttpContext to return a custom implementation of the whole IPrincipal containing the right Identity.Name...

answered May 02 '14 at 13:15

eFloh

2,098
20
24

@ledbutter had the same idea, but better anser presentation, kudos to you! – eFloh May 02 '14 at 13:16

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 07 '15 at 22:05

I ended up with a similar answer to @Sven, but ended up stubbing the context instead of using a shim.

using (AccountController controller = new AccountController())
{
    StubHttpContextBase stubHttpContext = new StubHttpContextBase();

    controller.ControllerContext = new ControllerContext(stubHttpContext, new RouteData(), controller);

    StubIPrincipal principal = new StubIPrincipal();
    principal.IdentityGet = () =>
    {
        return new StubIIdentity 
        { 
            NameGet = () => "bob" 
        };
    };
    stubHttpContext.UserGet = () => principal;
}

How can use Microsoft Fakes to mock User.Identity.Name

3 Answers3

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