Search code examples
javascriptreactjstestingjestjsenzyme

Simulate a button click in Jest


Simulating a button click seems like a very easy/standard operation. Yet, I can't get it to work in Jest.js tests.

This is what I tried (and also doing it using jQuery), but it didn't seem to trigger anything:

import { mount } from 'enzyme';

page = <MyCoolPage />;
pageMounted = mount(page);

const button = pageMounted.find('#some_button');
expect(button.length).toBe(1); // It finds it alright
button.simulate('click'); // Nothing happens

Solution

  • #1 Using Jest

    This is how I use the Jest mock callback function to test the click event:

    import React from 'react';
    import { shallow } from 'enzyme';
    import Button from './Button';
    
    describe('Test Button component', () => {
      it('Test click event', () => {
        const mockCallBack = jest.fn();
    
        const button = shallow((<Button onClick={mockCallBack}>Ok!</Button>));
        button.find('button').simulate('click');
        expect(mockCallBack.mock.calls.length).toEqual(1);
      });
    });
    

    I am also using a module called enzyme. Enzyme is a testing utility that makes it easier to assert and select your React Components

    #2 Using Sinon

    Also, you can use another module called Sinon which is a standalone test spy, stubs and mocks for JavaScript. This is how it looks:

    import React from 'react';
    import { shallow } from 'enzyme';
    import sinon from 'sinon';
    
    import Button from './Button';
    
    describe('Test Button component', () => {
      it('simulates click events', () => {
        const mockCallBack = sinon.spy();
        const button = shallow((<Button onClick={mockCallBack}>Ok!</Button>));
    
        button.find('button').simulate('click');
        expect(mockCallBack).toHaveProperty('callCount', 1);
      });
    });
    

    #3 Using Your own Spy

    Finally, you can make your own naive spy (I don't recommend this approach unless you have a valid reason for that).

    function MySpy() {
      this.calls = 0;
    }
    
    MySpy.prototype.fn = function () {
      return () => this.calls++;
    }
    
    it('Test Button component', () => {
      const mySpy = new MySpy();
      const mockCallBack = mySpy.fn();
    
      const button = shallow((<Button onClick={mockCallBack}>Ok!</Button>));
    
      button.find('button').simulate('click');
      expect(mySpy.calls).toEqual(1);
    });