gen-tester

Test generators with ease

Why?

Testing generators is kind of a pain to do manually. Because of the way generators work, the order in which mock values are injected into a generator relates to the previous yield.

How?

const { call } = require('cosed'); // side-effects as data library
const test = require('tape');
const { genTester, yields } = require('gen-tester');
 
function* genCall() {
  const resp = yield call(fetch, 'http://httpbin.org/get');
  const data = yield call([resp, 'json']);
  return { ...data, extra: 'stuff' };
}
 
test('genCall', (t) => {
  t.plan(1);
 
  const respValue = { resp: 'value', json: 'hi' };
  const returnValue = { data: 'value', extra: 'stuff' };
 
  const tester = genTester(genCall);
  const { actual, expected } = tester(
    yields(
      call(fetch, 'http://httpbin.org/get'),
      respValue, // the result value of `resp` in the generator
    ),
    yields(
      call([respValue, 'json']),
      { data: 'value' }, // the result value of `data` in the generator
    ),
    returnValue,
  );
 
  t.deepEqual(actual, expected);
});

This is what the test would look like using a manual approach

test('genCall', (t) => {
  const gen = genCall();
 
  t.plan(4);
 
  t.deepEqual(
    gen.next().value,
    call(fetch, 'http://httpbin.org/get'),
    'should make http request',
  );
 
  const respValue = { resp: 'value', json: 'hi' };
  t.deepEqual(
    gen.next(respValue).value,
    call([respValue, 'json']),
    'should get json from response',
  );
 
  const last = gen.next({ data: 'value' });
  t.ok(last.done, 'generator should finish');
  t.deepEqual(last.value, { data: 'value' }, 'should return data');
});

API

genTester

genTester accepts a generator function and arguments to pass to generator and returns a function that accepts an array of yields, described below:

• generator (generator function), the generator function to test
• args (array, default: []), a list of arguments being called with generator

const tester = genTester(generator, arg1, arg2, ...);

tester which is the return value of genTester accepts an array of yields and returns a list of results from the generator at each step

• yields (array, default: []), a list of yields that the generator will call with the value that will be the result of the yield as well as what was expected of that yield.

const { genTester, yields } = require('gen-tester');
 
const tester = genTester(someFn);
const results = tester(yields('each', 1), yields('yield', 2), 'and return');
console.log(results);
/*
{
  actual: ['each', 'yield', 'and return'],
  expected: ['each', 'yield', 'and return'],
}
*/

yields

yields is a helper function that will allow the user to send the expected results of a yield as well as the return value of that yield. This is primarily used to inject values into yields for mocking purposes.

• expected (any), what we expect the yield to yield
• returns (any), what we want the yield to yield for mocking

skip

skip is a helper function that will allow the user to skip a yield. The generator will progress to the next steps as normal, but we will not keep track of the results or expectations of that yield.

• returns (any), what we want the yield to yield for mocking

const { skip } = require('gen-tester');
 
function* test() {
  yield 1;
  const resp = yield call(fetch, 'google.com');
  if (resp.status !== 200) {
    return;
  }
  const val = yield call([resp, 'json']);
  return val;
}
 
const results = tester(
  skip(),
  yields(call(fetch, 'google.com'), { status: 200 }),
  skip({ with: 'value' }),
  { with: 'value' },
);

throws

throws allows the developer to throw an exception inside a generator.

• returns (any)

const assert = require('assert');
const { genTester, throws, skip } = require('gen-tester');
 
function* test() {
  let value = 1;
  try {
    yield 1;
  } catch (err) {
    value = 2;
    yield err + ' handled';
  }
 
  return value;
}
 
const tester = genTester(test);
const { actual, expected } = tester(
  yields(1, throws('ERROR')),
  yields('ERROR handled'),
  2,
);
console.log(actual, expected);
 
assert.deepEqual(actual, expected);

throws can also be used when something throws an exception between yields. When asserting that an exception is raised, you must pass it a function which will receive the error as an argument.

const assert = require('assert');
const { genTester, yields, throws } = require('gen-tester');
 
function* test() {
  yield 1;
  throw new Error('Something happened');
}
 
const tester = genTester(test);
const { actual, expected } = tester(
  yields(1);
  throws((error) => error.message === 'Something happened');
);
console.log(actual, expected);
 
assert.deepEqual(actual, expected);

finishes

finishes ensures that the last step is marked as done by the generator.

const { genTester, finishes } = require('gen-tester');
 
test('generator finished with finishes', (t) => {
  t.plan(1);
 
  function* fn() {
    yield 1;
    yield 2;
    return 3;
  }
 
  const tester = genTester(fn);
  const { actual, expected } = tester(1, 2, finishes(3));
  t.deepEqual(actual, expected);
});

evaluateSteps

evaluateSteps is a helper that takes the results of genTester and determines what steps are no equal and displays more useful information.

const { genTester } = require('gen-tester');
const deepEqual = require('fast-deep-equal');
 
function* fn() {
  yield 1;
  yield 2;
  return 3;
}
 
const tester = genTester(fn);
// message gets called when a step is not equal
const message = (actual, expected, index) => {
  return `error on step ${index + 1}:
 
  actual: ${actual}
  expected: ${expected}`;
};
const { actual, expected } = tester(1, 4, 3);
const results = evauluateSteps({ actual, expected, equal: deepEqual, message });
console.log(results);
/*
{
  message: [Function: message],
  pass: false,
  actual: 2,
  expected: 4,
}
*/

stepsToBeEqual

stepsToBeEqual is a jest matcher that uses evaluateSteps

const { genTester, stepsToBeEqual } = require('gen-tester');
 
expect.extend({
  stepsToBeEqual,
});
 
function* fn() {
  yield 1;
  yield 2;
  return 3;
}
 
const tester = genTester(fn);
const results = tester(1, 2, 3);
expect(results).stepsToBeEqual();