how to mock variables inside a function in jest

Question

I want to test the 'canViewPage method in jest. How do mock the const userPages which is the values from the func getUserPage

   canViewPage(page){
     const userPages = getUsersPages();
    if(userPages.includes(page)){
      return true;
    }
    return false;
   }


  getUsersPages(){
    // here i hardcode a list of pages, for simplicity purposes
    const pages = ['home','about','contact'];
    return pages

  }

here is what i tried

test('test canViewPage', () => {
    const spy = jest.spyOn(canViewPage, 'userPages');
    spy.mockReturnValue(['home','about','contact']);

    expect(canViewPage('premiumPage')).toBe(false); 

    spy.mockRestore();
  });

I also tried this

test('test canViewPage', () => {
    const spy = jest.spyOn(canViewPage, 'getUsersPage');
    spy.mockReturnValue(['home','about','contact']);

    expect(canViewPage('premiumPage')).toBe(false); 

    spy.mockRestore();
  });

Answer 1

To mock the value of userPages you have to mock getUserPage. To achieve this, it depends on where and how getUserPage and canViewPage are defined. I'm going to assuming these two functions are defined in class MyAwesomeClass

// MyAwesomeClass.js
export default class MyAwesomeClass {
  canViewPage(page) {
    const userPages = this.getUsersPages();
    if (userPages.includes(page)) {
      return true;
    }
    return false;
  }


  getUsersPages() {
    // here i hardcode a list of pages, for simplicity purposes
    const pages = ['home', 'about', 'contact'];
    return pages;
  }
}

// test.js
import MyAwesomeClass from '<path to MyAwesomeClass.js>'
test('test canViewPage', () => {
  const instance = new MyAwesomeClass()
  const spy = jest.spyOn(instance, 'getUsersPages');
  spy.mockReturnValue(['mockItem1','mockItem2','mockItem3']);

  expect(instance.canViewPage('premiumPage')).toBe(false);
  expect(instance.canViewPage('mockItem1')).toBe(true);

  spy.mockRestore();
});

if canViewPage and getUsersPages are static methods within the class, you mock differently

test('test canViewPage', () => {
  const spy = jest.spyOn(MyAwesomeClass, 'getUsersPages');
  spy.mockReturnValue(['mockItem1','mockItem2','mockItem3']);

  expect(MyAwesomeClass.canViewPage('premiumPage')).toBe(false);
  expect(MyAwesomeClass.canViewPage('mockItem3')).toBe(true);

  spy.mockRestore();
});