How to unit test code that uses HostingEnvironment.MapPath

Question

I have some code that uses HostingEnvironment.MapPath which I would like to unit test.

How can I setup HostingEnvironment so that it returns a path and not null in my unit test (mstest) project?

Why would you have a code that depends on `HostingEnvironment.MapPath` in an ASP.NET MVC application where you have access to objects like `HttpServerUtilityBase` which allow you to achieve this and which can be easily mocked and unit tested? Maybe you could show this code and explain the scenario so that we can improve it? — Darin Dimitrov, Jan 05 '12 at 10:09
@DarinDimitrov: Because I didn't know of `HttpServerUtilityBase`. Can you add an example? — jgauffin, Jan 05 '12 at 10:19

score 14 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 05 '12 at 12:09

Why would you have a code that depends on HostingEnvironment.MapPath in an ASP.NET MVC application where you have access to objects like HttpServerUtilityBase which allow you to achieve this and which can be easily mocked and unit tested?

Let's take an example: a controller action which uses the abstract Server class that we want to unit test:

public class HomeController : Controller
{
    public ActionResult Index()
    {
        var file = Server.MapPath("~/App_Data/foo.txt");
        return View((object)file);
    }
}

Now, there are many ways to unit test this controller action. Personally I like using the MVcContrib.TestHelper.

But let's see how we can do this using a mocking framework out-of-the-box. I use Rhino Mocks for this example:

[TestMethod]
public void Index_Action_Should_Calculate_And_Pass_The_Physical_Path_Of_Foo_As_View_Model()
{
    // arrange
    var sut = new HomeController();
    var server = MockRepository.GeneratePartialMock<HttpServerUtilityBase>();
    var context = MockRepository.GeneratePartialMock<HttpContextBase>();
    context.Expect(x => x.Server).Return(server);
    var expected = @"c:\work\App_Data\foo.txt";
    server.Expect(x => x.MapPath("~/App_Data/foo.txt")).Return(expected);
    var requestContext = new RequestContext(context, new RouteData());
    sut.ControllerContext = new ControllerContext(requestContext, sut);

    // act
    var actual = sut.Index();

    // assert
    var viewResult = actual as ViewResult;
    Assert.AreEqual(viewResult.Model, expected);
}

What if you're testing code that's not yours and you want to refector it based on tests that don't exist? — Eugenio Miró, Dec 20 '20 at 15:05

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 07 '16 at 14:32

Well I was writing a test today for code that I don't control and they used

    private static String GetApplicationPath()
    {
        return HostingEnvironment.ApplicationVirtualPath.TrimEnd('/');
    }

so here is a C# reflection hack to set that value

var path =  "/aaaa/bb";

HostingEnvironment hostingEnvironment;
if (HostingEnvironment.IsHosted.isFalse())
    new HostingEnvironment();

hostingEnvironment = (HostingEnvironment)typeof(HostingEnvironment).fieldValue("_theHostingEnvironment");

var virtualPath = "System.Web".assembly()
                   .type("VirtualPath").ctor();

virtualPath.field("_virtualPath", path);
//return virtualPath.prop("VirtualPathString");                
//return virtualPath.prop("VirtualPathStringNoTrailingSlash");                 

hostingEnvironment.field("_appVirtualPath", virtualPath);
//hostingEnvironment.field("_appVirtualPath") == virtualPath;

return HostingEnvironment.ApplicationVirtualPath == path;       

//using  System.Web.Hosting

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 19 '20 at 12:04

As i faced same issue i changed my code bit. From

strhtmlTemplate = File.ReadAllText(System.Web.Hosting.HostingEnvironment.MapPath(Lgetfilepath.CVal));

To

strhtmlTemplate = File.ReadAllText(HttpContextFactory.Current.Server.MapPath(Lgetfilepath.CVal));

For Unit test

public HttpContextBase mockHttpContextBase()
        {
            var moqContext = new Mock<HttpContextBase>();
            var moqRequest = new Mock<HttpRequestBase>();
            var moqServer = new Mock<HttpServerUtilityBase>();
            var moqPath = new Mock<ConfigurationBase>();
            moqContext.Setup(x => x.Request).Returns(moqRequest.Object);
            moqContext.Setup(x => x.Server.MapPath(@"~\Data\xxxxxxx")).Returns(Environment.CurrentDirectory+@"\xxxxxx");                
            setupApplication(moqContext);

            return moqContext.Object;
        }

Now we while Writing TestClass you need to refer above method to mock. Hope it will helpful for your TestCases.

MockDataUT mockData = new MockDataUT();
var mockRequestContext = new HttpRequestContext();
HttpContextFactory.SetCurrentContext(mockData.mockHttpContextBase());

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 05 '12 at 10:05

It will depend on what mocking or isolation framework you are using. You might want to look into either a) creating a wrapper type around the static property that can be mocked, or b) using a framework which can mock static properties - e.g. Moles or Typemock Isolator

score -4 · Answer 5 · edited Apr 29 '13 at 11:59

Just use this code..

Make a new folder name Reference in root directory and added your file inside this folder.

Use this

public static XElement GetFile()
{
    HttpContext.Current = new HttpContext(new HttpRequest("", "http://www.google.com", ""), new HttpResponse(new StringWriter()));

    var doc = new XmlDocument();
    var file = HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath("\\") + "abc.xml";
    doc.Load(file);
    var e = XElement.Load(new XmlNodeReader(doc));
    return e;
}

How to unit test code that uses HostingEnvironment.MapPath

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