Can I create a mock db context which I can add to, then search?

Question

I have a simple document manager which is injected into my controller in an asp.net c# MVC project. The project is database-first and the Document table is indexed by documentId, an auto incrementing integer.

I have been trying to write a test which tests the following implementation of CreateNewDocument, which after successfully adding a document looks it up and returns the new document id.

The problem is that I can't find a way to mock MyEntityFrameWorkEntities which I can add a document to and then search for that document using linq. I think it doesn't work because the mocked _context.Document.Add doesn't really do anything.

My question is this: can I set up my mocks differently so I can leave the DocumentManager as it is and write a test which passes?

public class DocumentManager : IDocumentManager
{
    private readonly MyEntityFrameWorkEntities _context;

    public DocumentManager(MyEntityFrameWorkEntities context)
    {
        _context = context;
    }

    public int CreateNewDocument(int userId)
    {
        var newDocumentGuid = Guid.NewGuid(); 
        var newDocument = new Document
        {
            UserId = userId,
            DateCreated = DateTime.Now,
            DocumentGuid = newDocumentGuid
        };
        _context.Document.Add(newDocument);
        _context.SaveChanges();
        // the .First here doesn't return anything when called from tests
        return _context.Document.First(d => d.DocumentGuid == newDocumentGuid).DocumentId;
    }
}

public partial class MyEntityFrameWorkEntities : DbContext
{
    public MyEntityFrameWorkEntities() : base("name=MyEntityFrameWorkEntities")
    {
    }

    public virtual DbSet<Document> Document { get; set; }
    /* ...etc... */
}

and the test class:

[TestMethod]
public void TestCreateNewDocument()
{
    var mockContext = new Mock<MyEntityFrameWorkEntities>();

    var mockDocumentDbSet = GetQueryableMockDocumentDbSet();

    mockContext.Setup(m => m.Document).Returns(mockDocumentDbSet.Object);

    var documentManager = new DocumentManager(mockContext.Object);

    var newDocId = documentManager.CreateNewDocument(123);

    // This line doesn't get hit as the .First falls over before here
    Assert.AreNotEqual(newDocId, 0);
}

private static Mock<DbSet<Document>> GetQueryableMockDocumentDbSet()
{
    var data = new List<Document> { GetDocument(111, 11), GetDocument(222, 22), GetDocument(333, 33) }.AsQueryable();
    var mockDocumentDbSet = new Mock<DbSet<Document>>();
    mockDocumentDbSet.As<IQueryable<Document>>().Setup(m => m.Provider).Returns(data.Provider);
    mockDocumentDbSet.As<IQueryable<Document>>().Setup(m => m.Expression).Returns(data.Expression);
    mockDocumentDbSet.As<IQueryable<Document>>().Setup(m => m.ElementType).Returns(data.ElementType);
    mockDocumentDbSet.As<IQueryable<Document>>().Setup(m => m.GetEnumerator()).Returns(data.GetEnumerator());
    return mockDocumentDbSet;
}

private static Document GetDocument(int documentId, int userId)
{
    return new Document
    {
        DocumentId = documentId,
        UserId = userId,
        DateCreated = DateTime.Now.AddDays(-1),
        DocumentGuid = Guid.NewGuid(),
    };
}

Answer 1

You can set up your mock DbSet's Add() method with a callback which will add the item in to your backing List:

private static Mock<DbSet<Document>> GetQueryableMockDocumentDbSet()
{
    var data = new List<Document> { GetDocument(111, 11), GetDocument(222, 22), GetDocument(333, 33) };

    var mockDocumentDbSet = new Mock<DbSet<Document>>();
    mockDocumentDbSet.As<IQueryable<Document>>().Setup(m => m.Provider).Returns(data.AsQueryable().Provider);
    mockDocumentDbSet.As<IQueryable<Document>>().Setup(m => m.Expression).Returns(data.AsQueryable().Expression);
    mockDocumentDbSet.As<IQueryable<Document>>().Setup(m => m.ElementType).Returns(data.AsQueryable().ElementType);
    mockDocumentDbSet.As<IQueryable<Document>>().Setup(m => m.GetEnumerator()).Returns(data.GetEnumerator());
    mockDocumentDbSet.Setup(m => m.Add(It.IsAny<Document>())).Callback<Document>(data.Add);
    return mockDocumentDbSet;

}

Your subsequent call to First() should then be able to retrieve the item.

Answer 2

Consider mocking out at a higher abstraction layer. In this case, consider mocking out the Respository. You could go even higer and mock out the service itself.

Construct testable business layer logic