IHttpActionResult and Integration Testing Web API v2 Put in MS Test

Question

VS2013 auto generated a web api v2 controller for me based on my EF context. I am trying to unit test the put part of the controller. No matter what i do i can't get my asserts to check the StatusCodeResult return. The auto generated code looks like this:

 // PUT api/Vendor/5
    public IHttpActionResult PutVendor(int id, Vendor vendor)
    {
        if (!ModelState.IsValid)
        {
            return BadRequest(ModelState);
        }

        if (id != vendor.Id)
        {
            return BadRequest();
        }

        db.Entry(vendor).State = EntityState.Modified;

        try
        {
            db.SaveChanges();
        }
        catch (DbUpdateConcurrencyException)
        {
            if (!VendorExists(id))
            {
                return NotFound();
            }
            else
            {
                throw;
            }
        }

        return StatusCode(HttpStatusCode.NoContent);
    }

My Integration test looks like this:

        [TestMethod]
    public void PutVendor_UpdateVendorRecord_ReturnsTrue()
    {
        // Arrange
        //CleanUpVendors();

        var controller = new VendorController(ctx);
        const string vendorName = "Unit Test Company";

        // Add vendor to database
        ctx.Vendors.Add(new Vendor { Active = true, Name = vendorName });
        ctx.SaveChanges();

        var myVendor = (from v in ctx.Vendors
                        where v.Name == vendorName
                        select v).FirstOrDefault();

        // Get Newly Inserted ID
        Assert.IsNotNull(myVendor, "Vendor is Null");
        myVendor.Name = "New Name";

        // Act
        var httpActionResult = controller.PutVendor(myVendor.Id, myVendor);
        //var response = httpActionResult as OkNegotiatedContentResult<Vendor>;
        var response = httpActionResult as OkNegotiatedContentResult<Vendor>;

        // Assert


    }

Is there something wrong with my test? What should my Asserts look like?

This assert returns true:

Assert.IsInstanceOfType(httpActionResult, typeof(System.Web.Http.Results.StatusCodeResult));

but I don't think it is actually testing anything except that there was some kind of return. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Considering your comment about in-memory database change you are planning for, following are some examples of how you could do write tests in your scenario:

    PeopleController people = new PeopleController();

    // mismatched person Id returns BadRequest
    Person person = new Person();
    person.Id = 11;
    person.Name = "John updated";

    IHttpActionResult result = people.PutPerson(10, person).Result;

    Assert.IsInstanceOfType(result, typeof(BadRequestResult));

    // ---------------------------------------------------

    // non-existing person
    Person person = new Person();
    person.Id = 1000;
    person.Name = "John updated";

    IHttpActionResult result = people.PutPerson(1000, person).Result;

    Assert.IsInstanceOfType(result, typeof(NotFoundResult));

    // --------------------------------------------------------

    //successful update of person information and its verification
    Person person = new Person();
    person.Id = 10;
    person.Name = "John updated";

    IHttpActionResult result = people.PutPerson(10, person).Result;

    StatusCodeResult statusCodeResult = result as StatusCodeResult;

    Assert.IsNotNull(statusCodeResult);
    Assert.AreEqual<HttpStatusCode>(HttpStatusCode.NoContent, statusCodeResult.StatusCode);

    //retrieve the person to see if the update happened successfully
    IHttpActionResult getPersonResult = people.GetPerson(10).Result;

    OkNegotiatedContentResult<Person> negotiatedResult = getPersonResult as OkNegotiatedContentResult<Person>;
    Assert.IsNotNull(negotiatedResult);
    Assert.AreEqual<string>(person.Name, negotiatedResult.Content.Name);