WorkManager: Call doWork() immediately for test purposes

Question

If I have a PeriodicWorkRequest I can set a time intervall - which minimum is 15 minutes. But how can I test if my doWork() method is working without waiting for 15 minutes?

Is it maybe possible to use OneTimeWorkRequest for test purposes?

Thanks in advance

Answer 1

Yes, there is nothing stopping you from using OneTimeWorkRequest.

val work = OneTimeWorkRequest.Builder(MyWorker::class.java).build()
WorkManager.getInstance().enqueue(work)

Bear in mind, that this will not allow you to test that your Worker will fire after a set number of minutes, like when using PeriodicWorkRequest. It will however let you test that your code works, without needing to wait.

Answer 2

Yes, the minimum time interval for PeriodicWorkRequest is 15 minutes and it can't be changed since it is hardcoded in PeriodicWorkRequest.MIN_PERIODIC_INTERVAL_MILLIS.

However, for test purpose you can call doWork() method of your PeriodicWorkRequest whenever you want with the help of WorkManagerTestInitHelper available in androidx.work.testing.

Add the following dependency in the build.gradle file for your app or module:

//Current stable release is 2.3.4
androidTestImplementation "androidx.work:work-testing:2.3.4"

Next, you need to use setPeriodDelayMet method available with TestDriver which can be used to indicate that an interval is complete and executes PeriodicWorkRequest sooner than MIN_PERIODIC_INTERVAL_MILLIS (15 minutes). Sample code:

@Test
public void testPeriodicWork(Context context) throws Exception {
    // Setup input data
    Data input = new Data.Builder().put(KEY_1, 1).put(KEY_2, 2).build();

    // Create periodic work request
    PeriodicWorkRequest request = new PeriodicWorkRequest.Builder(MyWorker.class, 15,  TimeUnit.MINUTES)
                                       .setInputData(input)
                                       .build();
    // Enqueue periodic request
    WorkManager.getInstance(context).enqueueUniquePeriodicWork(WORKER_TAG, ExistingPeriodicWorkPolicy.REPLACE, request);

    // Initialize testDriver
    TestDriver testDriver = WorkManagerTestInitHelper.getTestDriver();

    // Tells the testing framework the period delay is met, this will execute your code in doWork() in MyWorker class
    testDriver.setPeriodDelayMet(request.getId());

}

Read more about testing PeriodicWorkRequest at Testing Periodic Work