Question

I have a method which uses StreamReader which i would like to unit test. Ive split the creation of the StreamReader into a separate class and tried to mock that class but my unit test is still giving me errors.

Class/Interface used to abstract the StreamReader

public interface IPathReader
{
    TextReader CreateReader(string path);
}

public class PathReader : IPathReader
{
    public TextReader CreateReader(string filePath)
    {
        return new StreamReader(filePath);
    }
}

Class containing GetLastRowInFile (method im trying to unit test).

public interface IIOManager
{
    int GetLastRowInFile(string filePath, List<String> errorMessageList);
}


public class IOManager : IIOManager
{
    private IPathReader _reader;

    public IOManager(IPathReader reader)
    {
        this._reader = reader;
    }

    //...

    public int GetLastRowInFile(string filePath, List<String> errorMessage)
    {
        int numberOfRows = 0;
        string dataRow;

        try
        {
            using (StreamReader rowReader = (StreamReader)_reader.CreateReader(filePath))
            {
                while ((rowReader.Peek()) > -1)
                {
                    dataRow = rowReader.ReadLine();
                    numberOfRows++;
                }
                return numberOfRows;
            }
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            errorMessage.Add(ex.Message);
            return -1;
        }
    }
}

StreamReader doesnt contain a default constructor so i dont believe i can mock it directly, hence the need to take the creation of StreamReader out of GetLastRowInFile.

Questions

1. Should the return type of CreateReader be TextReader?
2. Do i need to explicitly cast the returned TextReader back to a StringReader before assigning it to rowReader?
3. When i create a mock of the IPathReader interface and set up CreateReader to return a StringReader instead, what happens when it gets assigned to rowReader. I thought it wasnt possible to cast something on the same inheritance level?

Inheritance Hierarchy

The Unit Test is as follows and it keeps returning -1

    [Test]
    public void GetLastRowInFile_ReturnsNumberOfRows_Returns3()
    {
        string testString = "first Row" + Environment.NewLine + "second Line" + Environment.NewLine + "Third line";
        List<String> errorMessageList = new List<string>();

        Mock<IPathReader> mock = new Mock<IPathReader>();
        mock.Setup(x => x.CreateReader(It.IsAny<string>())).Returns(new StringReader(testString));

        IOManager testObject = new IOManager(mock.Object);

        int i = testObject.GetLastRowInFile(testString, errorMessageList);              //Replace with It.IsAny<string>()
        Assert.AreEqual(i, 3);
        Assert.AreEqual(errorMessageList.Count, 0);
    }

Im assuming there is fundamental that im missing so id really appreciate some help with this.Thanks for your time.

EDIT

Test Method:

    public void GetLastRowInFile_ReturnsNumberOfRows_Returns3()
    {
        StubGetLastRowInFile myStub = new StubGetLastRowInFile();
        List<String> errorMessageList = new List<string>();
        IOManager testObject = new IOManager(myStub);
        int i = testObject.GetLastRowInFile(It.IsAny<string>(), errorMessageList);
        Assert.AreEqual(i, 3);
        Assert.AreEqual(errorMessageList.Count, 0);
    }

Stub declaration:

public class StubGetLastRowInFile : IPathReader
{
    public TextReader CreateReader(string path)
    {
        //string testString = "first Row" + Environment.NewLine + "second Line" + Environment.NewLine + "Third line";
        string testString = "04/01/2010 00:00,1.4314,1.4316";
        UTF8Encoding encoding = new UTF8Encoding();
        UnicodeEncoding uniEncoding = new UnicodeEncoding();

        byte[] testArray = encoding.GetBytes(testString);

        MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream(testArray);

        StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(ms);

        return sr;
    }
}

EDIT 2

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.IO;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Data;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Collections;
using System.Reflection;
using System.ComponentModel;

namespace FrazerMann.CsvImporter.Entity
{
    public interface IPathReader
    {
        TextReader CreateReader(string path);
    }

    public class PathReader : IPathReader
    {
        public TextReader CreateReader(string filePath)
        {
            return new StreamReader(filePath);
        }
    }


public interface IIOManager
{
    Stream OpenFile(string path);

    int GetLastRowInFile(string filePath, List<String> errorMessageList);

    int GetNumberOfColumnsInFile(string filePath, List<string> errorMessageList);

    bool IsReadOnly(string filePath);
}


public class IOManager : IIOManager
{
    private IPathReader _reader;

    public IOManager(IPathReader reader)
    {
        this._reader = reader;
    }


    public Stream OpenFile(string path)
    {
        return new FileStream(path, FileMode.Open);
    }


    public int GetNumberOfColumnsInFile(string filePath, List<String> errorMessageList)
    {
        int numberOfColumns = 0;
        string lineElements;

        try
        {
            using (StreamReader columnReader = (StreamReader)_reader.CreateReader(filePath))
            {
                lineElements = columnReader.ReadLine();
                string[] columns = lineElements.Split(',');
                numberOfColumns = columns.Length;
            }
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            errorMessageList.Add(ex.Message);
            numberOfColumns = -1;
        }
        return numberOfColumns;
    }


    public int GetLastRowInFile(string filePath, List<String> errorMessage)
    {
        int numberOfRows = 0;
        string dataRow;

        try
        {
            using (StreamReader rowReader = (StreamReader)_reader.CreateReader(filePath))
            {
                while ((rowReader.Peek()) > -1)
                {
                    dataRow = rowReader.ReadLine();
                    numberOfRows++;
                }
                return numberOfRows;
            }
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            errorMessage.Add(ex.Message);
            return -1;
        }
    }


    public bool IsReadOnly(string filePath)
    {
        FileInfo fi = new FileInfo(filePath);
        return fi.IsReadOnly;
    }
}


public interface IVerificationManager
{
    void ValidateCorrectExtension(string filePath, List<String> errorMessageList);

    void ValidateAccessToFile(string filePath, List<String> errorMessageList);

    void ValidateNumberOfColumns(string filePath, int dataTypeCount, List<String> errorMessageList);

    int ValidateFinalRow(int finalRow, string filePath, List<String> errorMessageList);

    void ValidateRowInputOrder(int initialRow, int finalRow, List<String> errorMessageList);

    void EnumeratedDataTypes(UserInputEntity inputs, List<String> errorMessageList);

    int GetProgressBarIntervalsForDataVerification(int initialRow, int finalRow, List<String> errorMessageList);
}


public class VerificationManager : IVerificationManager
{
    private IIOManager _iomgr;

    public VerificationManager(IIOManager ioManager)
    {
        this._iomgr = ioManager;
    }

    public void ValidateCorrectExtension(string filePath, List<String> errorMessageList)
    {
        if (filePath.EndsWith(".txt", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) | filePath.EndsWith(".csv", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase)) { }
        else
        {
            errorMessageList.Add("Selected file does not have a compatable extension.");
        }
    }

    public void ValidateAccessToFile(string filePath, List<String> errorMessageList)
    {
        try
        {

            if (_iomgr.IsReadOnly(filePath) == true) { }
            else
            {
                errorMessageList.Add("Can not read/write to the specified file.");
            }
        }
        catch (Exception e)
        {
            errorMessageList.Add(e.Message);
        }
    }

    public void ValidateNumberOfColumns(string filePath, int userSpecifiedColumnCount, List<String> errorMessageList)
    {
        int numberOfColumnsInFile = _iomgr.GetNumberOfColumnsInFile(filePath, errorMessageList);

        if (userSpecifiedColumnCount != numberOfColumnsInFile) errorMessageList.Add("Number of columns specified does not match number present in file.");
    }

//**TEST APPLIES HERE**

    public int ValidateFinalRow(int finalRow, string filePath, List<String> errorMessageList)
    {
        int totalNumberOfRowsInFile = 0;

        totalNumberOfRowsInFile = _iomgr.GetLastRowInFile(filePath, errorMessageList);

        if (totalNumberOfRowsInFile != -1)
        {
            if (finalRow == 0)
            {
                return totalNumberOfRowsInFile;
            }
            else
            {
                if (finalRow > totalNumberOfRowsInFile)
                {
                    errorMessageList.Add("Specified 'Final Row' value is greater than the total number of rows in the file.");
                }
            }
        }
        return 0;
    }

    public void ValidateRowInputOrder(int initialRow, int finalRow, List<String> errorMessageList)
    {
        if (initialRow > finalRow)
        {
            errorMessageList.Add("Initial row is greater than the final row.");
        }
    }

    public void EnumeratedDataTypes(UserInputEntity inputs, List<String> errorMessageList)
    {
        inputs.EnumeratedDataTypes = new int[inputs.DataTypes.Count];
        try
        {
            for (int i = 0; i < inputs.DataTypes.Count; i++)
            {
                inputs.EnumeratedDataTypes[i] = (int)Enum.Parse(typeof(Enumerations.ColumnDataTypes), inputs.DataTypes[i].ToUpper());
            }
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            errorMessageList.Add(ex.Message);
        }
    }

    public int GetProgressBarIntervalsForDataVerification(int initialRow, int finalRow, List<String> errorMessageList)
    {
        int progressBarUpdateInverval = -1;

        try
        {
            int dif = (finalRow - initialRow) + 1;
            progressBarUpdateInverval = dif / 100;

            if (progressBarUpdateInverval == 0)
            {
                progressBarUpdateInverval = 1;
            }
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            errorMessageList.Add(ex.Message);
        }
        return progressBarUpdateInverval;
    }
}



public class EntityVerification
{

    private VerificationManager _vmgr;

    public EntityVerification(VerificationManager vManager)
    {
        this._vmgr = vManager;
    }


    public void VerifyUserInputManager(UserInputEntity inputs, List<string> errorMessageList)
    {
        _vmgr.ValidateCorrectExtension(inputs.CsvFilePath ,errorMessageList);
        _vmgr.ValidateCorrectExtension(inputs.ErrorLogFilePath, errorMessageList);

        _vmgr.ValidateAccessToFile(inputs.CsvFilePath, errorMessageList);
        _vmgr.ValidateAccessToFile(inputs.ErrorLogFilePath, errorMessageList);

        _vmgr.ValidateNumberOfColumns(inputs.CsvFilePath, inputs.DataTypes.Count, errorMessageList);

        inputs.FinalRow = _vmgr.ValidateFinalRow(inputs.FinalRow, inputs.CsvFilePath, errorMessageList);

        _vmgr.ValidateRowInputOrder(inputs.InitialRow, inputs.FinalRow, errorMessageList);

        _vmgr.EnumeratedDataTypes(inputs, errorMessageList);

        inputs.ProgressBarUpdateIntervalForDataVerification = _vmgr.GetProgressBarIntervalsForDataVerification(inputs.InitialRow, inputs.FinalRow, errorMessageList);
    }
}
}

Test Method (applies to the third last method in the VerificationManager class)

    [Test]
    public void ValidateFinalRow_FinalRowReturned_Returns6()
    {
        List<String> errorMessageList = new List<string>();                             //Remove if replaced

        Mock<IIOManager> mock = new Mock<IIOManager>();
        mock.Setup(x => x.GetLastRowInFile(It.IsAny<String>(), errorMessageList)).Returns(6);

        VerificationManager testObject = new VerificationManager(mock.Object);
        int i = testObject.ValidateFinalRow(0, "Random", errorMessageList);             //Replace with It.IsAny<string>()  and It.IsAny<List<string>>()
        Assert.AreEqual(i, 6);
    }

Answer 1

It’s not clear why you want to use mocking here.

Yes, using TextReader instead of requiring StreamReader would give you more flexibility. There are very few cases where it’s explicitly specifying StreamReader as a parameter or return type.

If you want to provide test data for a StreamReader, simply create a StreamReader wrapping a MemoryStream

When you return a StringReader, that will indeed cause an exception when it’s cast (or in the mocking framework itself). Unfortunately your exception handling is over-broad, so it’s harder to see that problem. Your catch block should probably only catch IOException – if indeed anything. (If the resource can’t be read, do you really want to return -1? Why not just let the exception bubble up?) Catching Exception should be very rare – basically only at the top level of a grand operation (e.g. a web service request) to avoid killing a process when it can continue with other operations.