Kevin Service, Author at DMC, Inc.

NUnit Testing and Using Moq in C#

Kevin Service — Tue, 30 Aug 2022 11:55:10 +0000

*To the tune of Willy Wonka singing*
Come with me, and you’ll be, in a world of unit testing informationnnnn.

Unit testing! Unit testing is a great way to ensure that any updates or new functionality added to your code runs smoothly. With well-written tests, you can catch anything that may have been broken by changed methods.

Getting started can be a little tricky as there are some caveats and neat tricks that are hard to identify at first. In this blog you’ll learn how to get started with NUnit unit testing in C#, use Moq to help enhance these tests, and get testing like a pro.

Getting Started

To begin, open your project in Visual Studio Enterprise. If the project is opened in a Community or other edition of Visual Studio, you will not be able to view specific breakdowns of the code coverage by section. If you are not concerned with looking at code coverage, this shouldn’t be an issue.

Once the project is opened, select “Test” in the top menu and navigate down to “Test Explorer” to view a layout of all tests.

This should open the Test Explorer for you.

The Test Explorer

The Test Explorer is where you can view all the tests built in your project. To run all the tests at once, select the multi-layered play button in the top left corner. To run individual groups of tests, you can open nested tests and run either groups or individual tests by using the right-hand play button shown in the snapshot below.

Once you run all the tests using the play button in the top left corner, you will be able to view the passing or failing status of the test grouping based on the icon next to the grouping.

In this case, all our tests have passed and have a green check mark next to them. If a test inside the grouping fails, the grouping will be marked by a red X.

You can also use the highlighted icons to filter by passing tests, failing tests, or tests that are not run.

Where Tests Are Located

To locate tests, drill down into the test explorer and double click a test. This will take you to its location in your project

Viewing Code Coverage

To view the code coverage, once you have successfully opened the Test Explorer and run all your tests, return to the “Test” menu and select “Analyze Code Coverage for All Tests.”

This will bring up the “Code Coverage Results” window, which you can drill down into to view coverage by sections of the project.

Installing Necessary NuGet Packages

In order to run the tests, you will need to have a few NuGet packages installed in each section of the project with tests present. In this case, tests are present in both Mars.NUnit and in NUnit under Reports, so we will want our packages installed in both sections.

To do this, right click on the portion of the project you would like to install the packages and select “Manage NuGet Packages."

From here, the packages you will need to install are:

Microsoft.CodeCoverage
Microsoft.NET.Test.Sdk
MSTest.TestAdapter
NUnit
NUnit3TestAdapter

These packages and their respective versions are also listed in the screenshot below.

Writing your Tests and Using Moq

Writing unit tests is straightforward; the process can be as simple or as complex as you would like. For example, I created a method called AddTwo, which does exactly as the name implies: adds two to my input.

I also wrote a test with three test cases. This checks that when I add two my answer is what I expected.

As you can see, this is straightforward, and my tests are all passing. Let’s say, however, I had a method called ‘AddThree,’ which depended on a function ‘AddOne’ (the desired result), and ‘AddOne’ had either not been completed or was still in development.

This situation is a great example of where we can use Moq to make our lives easier. As shown below, I’ve created my function AddThree():

I’ve also defined AddOne to be a virtual method. This is so that we can use Moq to mock the method. If your method is private and unable to be scoped to, or virtual, you won’t be able to use Moq to get around this issue. I’ve now written a new test called TestAddThreeMethod and used Moq to mock a call of our AddOne method.

In this case, I’ve updated my AddOne function to erroneously try and add 5 to my function, which would throw off our expected addition of just one.

Using Moq, we can get around the AddOne method that our AddThree method uses and isolate AddThree, only testing AddThree's functionality.

What I’ve done in the above image is set up a Mock class of my AddingFunctionsClass. In the line below, I’ve instantiated that whenever AddOne gets called inside my mockFunctionClass, it will instead default to using what I have entered in my Returns(), which is my number + 1, the correct output of AddOne.

You could also hardcode AddOne to return a single value each time, however, this would then no longer show our tests as passing.

Using SetupSequence

SetupSequence is another powerful tool to use in Moq. Let’s say we have a method that gets called multiple times in a function, but we want it to return variable elements for each time it is called. This can be accomplished by using the SetupSequence. For example, we could set our AddOne method to return different results for each time it was called, as shown below.

If we had called AddOne three times in this scenario, the first time it would return our input plus one, then 3, then 5.

Another handy feature of Moq is being able to simply skip over methods altogether. Let’s say you have a method that doesn’t return a result but does some Initialization features. You could follow this process, and simply not set a return for the method. This will then simply skip over the method any time it is called.

This statement says any time we call AddOne, don’t return anything, and don’t run AddOne either.

These are some basics and helpful tricks with Moq to get you going. There is a multitude of more options that can make Moq a powerful tool. With these tools, you’ll be able to write effective and useful tests quickly and make sure that your code runs smoothly and as expected!

Troubleshooting

It is possible that when unzipping the project and after building the project, the tests refuse to run. Here are some common tricks that we used to ensure the tests were properly compiling:

Attempt a Rebuild of the whole project and then try running all tests again.
Attempt doing a Clean of the whole project and then building.
Try uninstalling the NUnit and NUnit 3 Adapters Nuget packages and clean the project. Reinstall the packages, rebuild the full project, and then try running all tests again.
Some tests may not run after getting errors about other sections in the Report folder. Try building these sections in the Reports folder individually, doing a Build all, then running the tests.

Learn more about DMC's C# programming services and contact us today for your next project!

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DMC Chicago Welcomes New Hires

Kevin Service — Mon, 21 Jan 2019 11:47:42 +0000

Each month, DMC has a Monthly Company Meeting where the company goes around, discusses what’s new, and gives updates to the different things going on in each office. In the most favorite part of the meeting, one office shares an office update video, giving a short update and also trying to provide everyone with a good share of laughs. This started a few months back in the Boston office and is now a monthly tradition.

Chicago just recently pulled on board a bunch of new employees and decided to make an interview themed video to share the new employees takes on their first few weeks at DMC. Join Sudheep for the zany adventure!

Check it below or on our YouTube channel along with all of our other office update videos.

Learn more about DMC's company culture.

Wish you were with us? Check out our careers page

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Defying Gravity and Going Skydiving in Reno

Kevin Service — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 14:10:20 +0000

Like every child growing up, I admired airplanes soaring through the sky. They seemed not only majestic but proof of man’s infallible ingenuity and perseverance. The Wright Brothers showed the world we simply had to push the limits with an incredible feat of engineering and determination. I had the same gut reaction anyone else would have: “Man, it’d be fun to jump out of one of those and hurtle towards the ground at 125 miles per hour!”

From Slack to the Skies

Growing up pretending I was Batman (and still pretending I’m Batman, let’s be honest), it was a dream to go skydiving. Finally, out of the state where my mom couldn't track me down should I ever board a plane with a parachute strapped to my back, I asked my Reno colleagues to join me via Slack:

Turns out, my teammates had the same gut reaction

Learn to Fly

After DMC approved our idea and asked us kindly not to die, we packed up to go skydiving. Mentally preparing in the car ride, we blasted some fitting music including “Learn to Fly” by the Foo Fighters and topping it off with “Freebird.” After a quick orientation at the skydiving facility, we suited up into camo suits to get us in the ‘jumping from 1200 feet’ kind of mood.

Holy Jumpsuit Batman!

As fate would have it, my instructor was Batman. This is not a joke, he introduced himself to people as Batman. He also wore a Batman jumpsuit. He took my sizes and grabbed a brightly colored red and green jumpsuit. Handing it to me, he said, “this should fit.”

I couldn’t believe it. It was Robin’s jumpsuit! Robin, the superhero that no one likes, gets defeated by the Joker, and was voted off in a massive fan backlash to be killed in the comics. The superhero that probably could’ve spelled doom to the Batman franchise and effectively did until Christopher Nolan reignited my faith in humanity – err I mean Batman.

I couldn’t have been happier with wearing a Robin jumpsuit.

Freefallin'

First up to fly were David (who was celebrating his birthday), Katherine, and Brian, shown in their protective headgear below. The horns on Brian’s head make him sturdier in case of impact.

David and Katherine were raving about their time, and although a little light-headed, Brian shared their enthusiasm.

Dylan and I were up next, and after some jokes on our instructor’s parts about forgetting the parachutes (not funny), we rolled up the door and stuck our legs out. This is the part where your stomach drops, fear kicks in, and no one makes a sound.

On the count of three, we launched ourselves out into a quite literally breathtaking free fall over Lake Tahoe.

The whole fall felt like pure adrenaline and euphoria.

Carolyn and Maddie plummeted out of the sky after us and were equally as thrilled.

We had an absolute blast skydiving and in Reno. Read about some of the other fun times we had in Reno.

Learn more about DMC's company culture.

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5 Reasons DMC Laps Michael Phelps in Technical Solutions

Kevin Service — Tue, 23 Aug 2016 14:51:32 +0000

Michael Phelps has clearly made a splash in the Rio Olympics. The 31 year-old swimmer has grabbed a hefty six medals in this Olympics alone. Retiring with a grand total of 28 medals, Phelps is most decorated Olympian of all time. If this didn't already make him an American hero, the record medal count that he crushed was last held by Larisa Latynina of the Soviet Union with 18 medals. He also tops out the list of most individual gold medals with 13, breaking a record last set in 152 BCE by Leonidas of Rhodes. Many argue that Phelps is one of the best, if not the best, athletes of all time.

However, when DMC steps up to the mark to offer customers custom technical solutions in a timely manner with a smile, Phelps is the one taking second.

Here are five reasons why DMC glides past Michael Phelps when it comes to technical solutions.

1. Hiring Smart People

DMC boasts an incredible team of employees that come to work with fresh ideas every day. In fact, it's our #1 core value. DMC hires bright employees from top notch schools across the country, with an eagerness to learn. Employees at DMC can pick up new technologies faster than Michael Phelp’s 100 meter freestyle.

As a child, Michael Phelps was afraid of sticking his head under the water while swimming. That doesn’t sound like the quickest way to pick up 28 medals.

2. Sharing Information

DMC has a wealth of expertise when it comes to SCADA, LabVIEW, Web application development, IoT, and Microsoft consulting services, among other technologies. We are happy to share this knowledge and training with our clients to help them take ownership of their systems.

No client should be caught in the undertow of dealing with a platform they don’t fully understand. Do you think Michael Phelps would give up that secret to Olympic greatness? Us neither.

3. Telling It Like It Is

DMC places a high priority on being honest and fair with our clients in every dealing and project. This approach fosters a strong rapport with our clients and we pride ourselves on maintaining these strong relationships.

Listen to any press conference of Michael Phelps after losing a race. He uses euphemisms, clichés, and dodged questions to avoid addressing the problem. You won’t get any of that from DMC.

4. Industries Served

DMC serves a broad range of industries. We have worked in industries spanning from Automotive to Telecommunications, and have excelled in each of these. DMC isn’t afraid to dip its toes into new waters and try its hand at different industries.

Phelps just swims. That’s it. You won’t see him trying out competitive ping pong anytime soon (Oh, we’re really good at ping pong too).

5. Make Things Happen

DMC is committed to delivering quality work on a proper timeline. Our customer service policy that can be spotted around the office is, “If it is within reason, make it happen.” Employees at DMC take this to heart and strive to accomplish the goals of our customers.

The argument can be made that Michael Phelps made a few world records happen and made himself the greatest Olympian ever with a record that might not be broken for another 2,000 years. We’ll cut him some slack and call it a draw.

Medal Ceremony

After tallying up the count, DMC takes the podium in four of the five categories with a nail biter tie in the final. DMC is the heat leader when it comes to technical solutions, and a great choice for your next project.

Learn more about DMC's customer service policy.

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