Android testing. How to change text of a TextView using Espresso

Question

It is easy to update an EditText with Espresso, but I can not find a way to change a text (like with a TextView.setText("someText"); method) during the testing process.

ViewAction.replaceText(stringToBeSet);

Is not working, cos it should be an EditText

Answer 1

Kotlin version of the @Be_Negative awesome answer,

Since there is no default ViewAction for setting text on TextView in Espresso, you have to create your own.

Step 1: Define a new ViewAction to set text on TextView such as,

fun setTextInTextView(value: String): ViewAction {
    return object : ViewAction {
        override fun getConstraints(): Matcher<View> {
            return CoreMatchers.allOf(ViewMatchers.isDisplayed(), ViewMatchers.isAssignableFrom(TextView::class.java))
        }

        override fun perform(uiController: UiController, view: View) {
            (view as TextView).text = value
        }

        override fun getDescription(): String {
            return "replace text"
        }
    }
}

And then use it as,

onView(withId(R.id.my_text_view)).perform(setTextInTextView("Espresso is awesome"))