MVVM – Unit Testing

The idea behind unit testing is to take discrete chunks of code (units) and write test methods that use the code in an expected way, and then test to see if they get the expected results.

  • Being code themselves, unit tests are compiled just like the rest of the project.

  • They are also executed by the test-running software, which can speed through each test, effectively giving the thumbs up or thumbs down to indicate whether the test has passed or failed, respectively.

Let’s take a look at an example created earlier. Following is the implementation of Student Model.

using System.ComponentModel;

namespace MVVMDemo.Model {
 
   public class StudentModel {}
	
   public class Student : INotifyPropertyChanged { 
      private string firstName; 
      private string lastName;

      public string FirstName { 
         get { return firstName; }
			
         set { 
            if (firstName != value) { 
               firstName = value; 
               RaisePropertyChanged("FirstName");
               RaisePropertyChanged("FullName"); 
            } 
         }
      }

      public string LastName { 
         get { return lastName; } 
			
         set { 
            if (lastName != value) { 
               lastName = value; 
               RaisePropertyChanged("LastName");
               RaisePropertyChanged("FullName");
            } 
         } 
      }

      public string FullName { 
         get { 
            return firstName + " " + lastName; 
         } 
      }

      public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;

      private void RaisePropertyChanged(string property) { 
         if (PropertyChanged != null) { 
            PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(property)); 
         } 
      } 
   } 
}

Following is the implementation of StudentView.

<UserControl x:Class="MVVMDemo.Views.StudentView" 
   xmlns = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation" 
   xmlns:x = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml" 
   xmlns:mc = "http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006" 
   xmlns:d = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008" 
   xmlns:local = "clr-namespace:MVVMDemo.Views" 
   xmlns:viewModel = "clr-namespace:MVVMDemo.ViewModel" 
   xmlns:data = "clr-namespace:MVVMDemo.Model" 
   xmlns:vml = "clr-namespace:MVVMDemo.VML" 
   vml:ViewModelLocator.AutoHookedUpViewModel = "True" 
   mc:Ignorable = "d" 
   d:DesignHeight = "300" d:DesignWidth = "300">

   <UserControl.Resources> 
      <DataTemplate DataType = "{x:Type data:Student}"> 
		
         <StackPanel Orientation = "Horizontal"> 
            <TextBox Text = "{Binding Path = FirstName, Mode = TwoWay}" 
               Width = "100" Margin = "3 5 3 5"/> 
					
            <TextBox Text = "{Binding Path = LastName, Mode = TwoWay}" 
               Width = "100" Margin = "0 5 3 5"/> 
					
            <TextBlock Text = "{Binding Path = FullName, Mode = OneWay}" 
               Margin = "0 5 3 5"/> 
         </StackPanel> 
			
      </DataTemplate> 
   </UserControl.Resources>

   <Grid> 
      <StackPanel Orientation = "Horizontal"> 
         <ListBox ItemsSource = "{Binding Students}"
            SelectedItem = "{Binding SelectedStudent}"/> 
				
         <Button Content = "Delete" 
            Command = "{Binding DeleteCommand}" 
            HorizontalAlignment = "Left" 
            VerticalAlignment = "Top" 
            Width = "75" /> 
      </StackPanel> 
   </Grid>

</UserControl>

Following is the StudentViewModel implementation.

using MVVMDemo.Model;
 
using System.Collections.ObjectModel; 
using System.Windows.Input; 
using System;

namespace MVVMDemo.ViewModel { 

   public class StudentViewModel { 
	
      public MyICommand DeleteCommand { get; set;}
		
      public StudentViewModel() { 
         LoadStudents(); 
         DeleteCommand = new MyICommand(OnDelete, CanDelete); 
      }

      public ObservableCollection<Student> Students { 
         get; 
         set; 
      }

      public void LoadStudents() { 
         ObservableCollection<Student> students = new ObservableCollection<Student>();

         students.Add(new Student { FirstName = "Mark", LastName = "Allain" }); 
         students.Add(new Student { FirstName = "Allen", LastName = "Brown" }); 
         students.Add(new Student { FirstName = "Linda", LastName = "Hamerski" });
			
         Students = students; 
      } 
		
      private Student _selectedStudent; 
		
      public Student SelectedStudent { 
         get { 
            return _selectedStudent; 
         } 
			
         set { 
            _selectedStudent = value;
            DeleteCommand.RaiseCanExecuteChanged(); 
         } 
      } 
		
      private void OnDelete() { 
         Students.Remove(SelectedStudent); 
      }

      private bool CanDelete() { 
         return SelectedStudent != null; 
      }
		
      public int GetStudentCount() { 
         return Students.Count; 
      } 
   } 
}

Following is the MainWindow.xaml file.

<Window x:Class = "MVVMDemo.MainWindow" 
   xmlns = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation" 
   xmlns:x = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml" 
   xmlns:d = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008" 
   xmlns:mc = "http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006" 
   xmlns:local = "clr-namespace:MVVMDemo" 
   xmlns:views = "clr-namespace:MVVMDemo.Views" 
   mc:Ignorable = "d" 
   Title = "MainWindow" Height = "350" Width = "525">

   <Grid> 
      <views:StudentView x:Name = "StudentViewControl"/> 
   </Grid>
 
</Window>

Following is the MyICommand implementation, which implements the ICommand interface.

using System; 
using System.Windows.Input;

namespace MVVMDemo { 

   public class MyICommand : ICommand { 
      Action _TargetExecuteMethod; 
      Func<bool> _TargetCanExecuteMethod;

      public MyICommand(Action executeMethod) { 
         _TargetExecuteMethod = executeMethod; 
      }

      public MyICommand(Action executeMethod, Func<bool> canExecuteMethod) { 
         _TargetExecuteMethod = executeMethod;
         _TargetCanExecuteMethod = canExecuteMethod; 
      }

      public void RaiseCanExecuteChanged() {
         CanExecuteChanged(this, EventArgs.Empty); 
      }
		
      bool ICommand.CanExecute(object parameter) { 
		
         if (_TargetCanExecuteMethod != null) { 
            return _TargetCanExecuteMethod();
         } 
			
         if (_TargetExecuteMethod != null) { 
            return true; 
         } 
			
         return false; 
      }
		
      // Beware - should use weak references if command instance lifetime
         is longer than lifetime of UI objects that get hooked up to command
			
      // Prism commands solve this in their implementation
		
      public event EventHandler CanExecuteChanged = delegate { };

      void ICommand.Execute(object parameter) { 
         if (_TargetExecuteMethod != null) { 
            _TargetExecuteMethod(); 
         } 
      } 
   }
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, you will see the following output on your main window.

MVVM Unit Testing MainWindow

To write a unit test for the above example, let’s add a new Test Project to the Solution.

Add New Project

Add reference to the project by a right-click on References.

Add New References

Select the existing project and click Ok.

Reference Manager MVVM Test

Let us now add a simple Test which will check the Student Count as shown in the following code.

using System; 

using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting; 
using MVVMDemo.ViewModel;

namespace MVVMTest { 
   [TestClass] 
	
   public class UnitTest1 { 
      [TestMethod] 
		
      public void TestMethod1() { 
         StudentViewModel sViewModel = new StudentViewModel(); 
         int count = sViewModel.GetStudentCount();
         Assert.IsTrue(count == 3); 
      } 
   } 
}

To execute this test, select Test → Run → All Tests menu option.

Execute MVVM Test

You can see in the Test Explorer that the Test is Passed, because in the StudentViewModel, three students are added. Change the count condition from 3 to 4 as shown in the following code.

using System; 

using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting; 
using MVVMDemo.ViewModel;

namespace MVVMTest { 
   [TestClass] 
	
   public class UnitTest1 { 
      [TestMethod] public void TestMethod1() {
         StudentViewModel sViewModel = new StudentViewModel(); 
         int count = sViewModel.GetStudentCount();
         Assert.IsTrue(count == 4);
      } 
   } 
}

When the test plan is executed again, you will see that that the test failed because student count is not equal to 4.

MVVM Test Failed

We recommend you to execute the above example in a step-by-step method for better understanding.

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