Laravel & Mockery: Unit testing the update method without hitting the database

Question

Alright so I'm pretty new to both unit testing, mockery and laravel. I'm trying to unit test my resource controller, but I'm stuck at the update function. Not sure if I'm doing something wrong or just thinking wrong.

Here's my controller:

class BooksController extends \BaseController {

    // Change template.
    protected $books;

    public function __construct(Book $books)
    {
        $this->books = $books;
    }

    /**
     * Store a newly created book in storage.
     *
     * @return Response
     */
    public function store()
    {
        $data       = Input::except(array('_token'));
        $validator  = Validator::make($data, Book::$rules);

        if($validator->fails())
        {
            return Redirect::route('books.create')
                ->withErrors($validator->errors())
                ->withInput();
        }

        $this->books->create($data);

        return Redirect::route('books.index');
    }

    /**
     * Update the specified book in storage.
     *
     * @param  int  $id
     * @return Response
     */
    public function update($id)
    {
        $book       = $this->books->findOrFail($id);
        $data       = Input::except(array('_token', '_method'));
        $validator = Validator::make($data, Book::$rules);

        if($validator->fails())
        {
            // Change template.
            return Redirect::route('books.edit', $id)->withErrors($validator->errors())->withInput();
        }

        $book->update($data);

        return Redirect::route('books.show', $id);
    }
}

And here are my tests:

public function testStore()
{
    // Add title to Input to pass validation.
    Input::replace(array('title' => 'asd', 'content' => ''));

    // Use the mock object to avoid database hitting.
    $this->mock
        ->shouldReceive('create')
        ->once()
        ->andReturn('truthy');

    // Pass along input to the store function.
    $this->action('POST', 'books.store', null, Input::all());

    $this->assertRedirectedTo('books');
}

public function testUpdate()
{
    Input::replace(array('title' => 'Test', 'content' => 'new content'));

    $this->mock->shouldReceive('findOrFail')->once()->andReturn(new Book());
    $this->mock->shouldReceive('update')->once()->andReturn('truthy');

    $this->action('PUT', 'books.update', 1, Input::all());      

    $this->assertRedirectedTo('books/1');
}

The issue is, when I do it like this, I get Mockery\Exception\InvalidCountException: Method update() from Mockery_0_Book should be called exactly 1 times but called 0 times. because of the $book->update($data) in my controller. If I were to change it to $this->books->update($data), it would be mocked properly and the database wouldn't be touched, but it would update all my records when using the function from frontend.

I guess I simply just want to know how to mock the $book-object properly.

Am I clear enough? Let me know otherwise. Thanks!

Answer 1

Try mocking out the findOrFail method not to return a new Book, but to return a mock object instead that has an update method on it.

$mockBook = Mockery::mock('Book[update]');
$mockBook->shouldReceive('update')->once();
$this->mock->shouldReceive('findOrFail')->once()->andReturn($mockBook);