I'm working with some code where I need to test the type of an exception thrown by a function (is it TypeError, ReferenceError, etc.?).
My current testing framework is AVA and I can test it as a second argument t.throws method, like here:
it('should throw Error with message \'UNKNOWN ERROR\' when no params were passed', (t) => {
const error = t.throws(() => {
throwError();
}, TypeError);
t.is(error.message, 'UNKNOWN ERROR');
});
I started rewriting my tests in Jest and couldn't find how to easily do that. Is it even possible?
In Jest you have to pass a function into expect(function).toThrow(<blank or type of error>).
Example:
test("Test description", () => {
const t = () => {
throw new TypeError();
};
expect(t).toThrow(TypeError);
});
Or if you also want to check for error message:
test("Test description", () => {
const t = () => {
throw new TypeError("UNKNOWN ERROR");
};
expect(t).toThrow(TypeError);
expect(t).toThrow("UNKNOWN ERROR");
});
If you need to test an existing function whether it throws with a set of arguments, you have to wrap it inside an anonymous function in expect().
Example:
test("Test description", () => {
expect(() => {http.get(yourUrl, yourCallbackFn)}).toThrow(TypeError);
});
It is a little bit weird, but it works and IMHO is good readable:
it('should throw Error with message \'UNKNOWN ERROR\' when no parameters were passed', () => {
try {
throwError();
// Fail test if above expression doesn't throw anything.
expect(true).toBe(false);
} catch (e) {
expect(e.message).toBe("UNKNOWN ERROR");
}
});
The Catch block catches your exception, and then you can test on your raised Error. Strange expect(true).toBe(false); is needed to fail your test if the expected Error will be not thrown. Otherwise, this line is never reachable (Error should be raised before them).
@Kenny Body suggested a better solution which improve a code quality if you use expect.assertions():
it('should throw Error with message \'UNKNOWN ERROR\' when no parameters were passed', () => {
expect.assertions(1);
try {
throwError();
} catch (e) {
expect(e.message).toBe("UNKNOWN ERROR");
}
});
See the original answer with more explanations: How to test the type of a thrown exception in Jest
To use this approach and not trigger no-conditional-expect rule (if you're using eslint-plugin-jest), documentation of this rule suggest to use error wrapper:
class NoErrorThrownError extends Error {}
const getError = async <TError>(call: () => unknown): Promise<TError> => {
try {
await call();
throw new NoErrorThrownError();
} catch (error: unknown) {
return error as TError;
}
};
describe('when the http request fails', () => {
it('includes the status code in the error', async () => {
const error = await getError(async () => makeRequest(url));
// check that the returned error wasn't that no error was thrown
expect(error).not.toBeInstanceOf(NoErrorThrownError);
expect(error).toHaveProperty('statusCode', 404);
});
});
I use a slightly more concise version:
expect(() => {
// Code block that should throw error
}).toThrow(TypeError) // Or .toThrow('expectedErrorMessage')