Phoenix.ChannelTest (Phoenix v1.5.6) View Source

Conveniences for testing Phoenix channels.

In channel tests, we interact with channels via process communication, sending and receiving messages. It is also common to subscribe to the same topic the channel subscribes to, allowing us to assert if a given message was broadcast or not.

Channel testing

To get started, define the module attribute @endpoint in your test case pointing to your application endpoint.

Then you can directly create a socket and subscribe_and_join/4 topics and channels:

{:ok, _, socket} =
  socket(UserSocket, "user:id", %{some_assigns: 1})
  |> subscribe_and_join(RoomChannel, "room:lobby", %{"id" => 3})

You usually want to set the same ID and assigns your UserSocket.connect/3 callback would set. Alternatively, you can use the connect/3 helper to call your UserSocket.connect/3 callback and initialize the socket with the socket id:

{:ok, socket} = connect(UserSocket, %{"some" => "params"}, %{})
{:ok, _, socket} = subscribe_and_join(socket, "room:lobby", %{"id" => 3})

Once called, subscribe_and_join/4 will subscribe the current test process to the "room:lobby" topic and start a channel in another process. It returns {:ok, reply, socket} or {:error, reply}.

Now, in the same way the channel has a socket representing communication it will push to the client. Our test has a socket representing communication to be pushed to the server.

For example, we can use the push/3 function in the test to push messages to the channel (it will invoke handle_in/3):

push(socket, "my_event", %{"some" => "data"})

Similarly, we can broadcast messages from the test itself on the topic that both test and channel are subscribed to, triggering handle_out/3 on the channel:

broadcast_from(socket, "my_event", %{"some" => "data"})

Note only broadcast_from/3 and broadcast_from!/3 are available in tests to avoid broadcast messages to be resent to the test process.

While the functions above are pushing data to the channel (server) we can use assert_push/3 to verify the channel pushed a message to the client:

assert_push "my_event", %{"some" => "data"}

Or even assert something was broadcast into pubsub:

assert_broadcast "my_event", %{"some" => "data"}

Finally, every time a message is pushed to the channel, a reference is returned. We can use this reference to assert a particular reply was sent from the server:

ref = push(socket, "counter", %{})
assert_reply ref, :ok, %{"counter" => 1}

Checking side-effects

Often one may want to do side-effects inside channels, like writing to the database, and verify those side-effects during their tests.

Imagine the following handle_in/3 inside a channel:

def handle_in("publish", %{"id" => id}, socket) do
  Repo.get!(Post, id) |> Post.publish() |> Repo.update!()
  {:noreply, socket}
end

Because the whole communication is asynchronous, the following test would be very brittle:

push(socket, "publish", %{"id" => 3})
assert Repo.get_by(Post, id: 3, published: true)

The issue is that we have no guarantees the channel has done processing our message after calling push/3. The best solution is to assert the channel sent us a reply before doing any other assertion. First change the channel to send replies:

def handle_in("publish", %{"id" => id}, socket) do
  Repo.get!(Post, id) |> Post.publish() |> Repo.update!()
  {:reply, :ok, socket}
end

Then expect them in the test:

ref = push(socket, "publish", %{"id" => 3})
assert_reply ref, :ok
assert Repo.get_by(Post, id: 3, published: true)

Leave and close

This module also provides functions to simulate leaving and closing a channel. Once you leave or close a channel, because the channel is linked to the test process on join, it will crash the test process:

leave(socket)
** (EXIT from #PID<...>) {:shutdown, :leave}

You can avoid this by unlinking the channel process in the test:

Process.unlink(socket.channel_pid)

Notice leave/1 is async, so it will also return a reference which you can use to check for a reply:

ref = leave(socket)
assert_reply ref, :ok

On the other hand, close is always sync and it will return only after the channel process is guaranteed to have been terminated:

:ok = close(socket)

This mimics the behaviour existing in clients.

To assert that your channel closes or errors asynchronously, you can monitor the channel process with the tools provided by Elixir, and wait for the :DOWN message. Imagine an implementation of the handle_info/2 function that closes the channel when it receives :some_message:

def handle_info(:some_message, socket) do
  {:stop, :normal, socket}
end

In your test, you can assert that the close happened by:

Process.monitor(socket.channel_pid)
send(socket.channel_pid, :some_message)
assert_receive {:DOWN, _, _, _, :normal}

Link to this section Summary

Functions

assert_broadcast(event, payload, timeout \\ Application.fetch_env!(:ex_unit, :assert_receive_timeout))

Asserts the channel has broadcast a message within timeout.

assert_push(event, payload, timeout \\ Application.fetch_env!(:ex_unit, :assert_receive_timeout))

Asserts the channel has pushed a message back to the client with the given event and payload within timeout.

assert_reply(ref, status, payload \\ Macro.escape(%{}), timeout \\ Application.fetch_env!(:ex_unit, :assert_receive_timeout))

Asserts the channel has replied to the given message within timeout.

broadcast_from(socket, event, message)

Broadcast event from pid to all subscribers of the socket topic.

broadcast_from!(socket, event, message)

Same as broadcast_from/3, but raises if broadcast fails.

close(socket, timeout \\ 5000)

Emulates the client closing the socket.

connect(handler, params, connect_info \\ quote do %{} end)

Initiates a transport connection for the socket handler.

join(socket, topic)

See join/4.

join(socket, topic, payload)

See join/4.

join(socket, channel, topic, payload \\ %{})

Joins the channel under the given topic and payload.

leave(socket)

Emulates the client leaving the channel.

push(socket, event, payload \\ %{})

Pushes a message into the channel.

refute_broadcast(event, payload, timeout \\ Application.fetch_env!(:ex_unit, :refute_receive_timeout))

Asserts the channel has not broadcast a message within timeout.

refute_push(event, payload, timeout \\ Application.fetch_env!(:ex_unit, :refute_receive_timeout))

Asserts the channel has not pushed a message to the client matching the given event and payload within timeout.

refute_reply(ref, status, payload \\ Macro.escape(%{}), timeout \\ Application.fetch_env!(:ex_unit, :refute_receive_timeout))

Asserts the channel has not replied with a matching payload within timeout.

socket(socket_module)

Builds a socket for the given socket_module.

socket(socket_module, socket_id, socket_assigns)

Builds a socket for the given socket_module with given id and assigns.

subscribe_and_join(socket, topic)

See subscribe_and_join/4.

subscribe_and_join(socket, topic, payload)

See subscribe_and_join/4.

subscribe_and_join(socket, channel, topic, payload \\ %{})

Subscribes to the given topic and joins the channel under the given topic and payload.

subscribe_and_join!(socket, topic)

See subscribe_and_join!/4.

subscribe_and_join!(socket, topic, payload)

See subscribe_and_join!/4.

subscribe_and_join!(socket, channel, topic, payload \\ %{})

Same as subscribe_and_join/4, but returns either the socket or throws an error.

Link to this section Functions

assert_broadcast(event, payload, timeout \\ Application.fetch_env!(:ex_unit, :assert_receive_timeout))

(macro)

Asserts the channel has broadcast a message within timeout.

Before asserting anything was broadcast, we must first subscribe to the topic of the channel in the test process:

@endpoint.subscribe("foo:ok")

Now we can match on event and payload as patterns:

assert_broadcast "some_event", %{"data" => _}

In the assertion above, we don't particularly care about the data being sent, as long as something was sent.

The timeout is in milliseconds and defaults to the :assert_receive_timeout set on the :ex_unit application (which defaults to 100ms).

assert_push(event, payload, timeout \\ Application.fetch_env!(:ex_unit, :assert_receive_timeout))

(macro)

Asserts the channel has pushed a message back to the client with the given event and payload within timeout.

Notice event and payload are patterns. This means one can write:

assert_push "some_event", %{"data" => _}

In the assertion above, we don't particularly care about the data being sent, as long as something was sent.

The timeout is in milliseconds and defaults to the :assert_receive_timeout set on the :ex_unit application (which defaults to 100ms).

NOTE: Because event and payload are patterns, they will be matched. This means that if you wish to assert that the received payload is equivalent to an existing variable, you need to pin the variable in the assertion expression.

Good:

expected_payload = %{foo: "bar"}
assert_push "some_event", ^expected_payload

Bad:

expected_payload = %{foo: "bar"}
assert_push "some_event", expected_payload
# The code above does not assert the payload matches the described map.

assert_reply(ref, status, payload \\ Macro.escape(%{}), timeout \\ Application.fetch_env!(:ex_unit, :assert_receive_timeout))

(macro)

Asserts the channel has replied to the given message within timeout.

Notice status and payload are patterns. This means one can write:

ref = push(channel, "some_event")
assert_reply ref, :ok, %{"data" => _}

In the assertion above, we don't particularly care about the data being sent, as long as something was replied.

The timeout is in milliseconds and defaults to the :assert_receive_timeout set on the :ex_unit application (which defaults to 100ms).

broadcast_from(socket, event, message)

Broadcast event from pid to all subscribers of the socket topic.

The test process will not receive the published message. This triggers the handle_out/3 callback in the channel.

Examples

iex> broadcast_from(socket, "new_message", %{id: 1, content: "hello"})
:ok

broadcast_from!(socket, event, message)

Same as broadcast_from/3, but raises if broadcast fails.

close(socket, timeout \\ 5000)

Emulates the client closing the socket.

Closing socket is synchronous and has a default timeout of 5000 milliseconds.

connect(handler, params, connect_info \\ quote do %{} end)

(macro)

Initiates a transport connection for the socket handler.

Useful for testing UserSocket authentication. Returns the result of the handler's connect/3 callback.

join(socket, topic)

See join/4.

join(socket, topic, payload)

See join/4.

join(socket, channel, topic, payload \\ %{})

Joins the channel under the given topic and payload.

The given channel is joined in a separate process which is linked to the test process.

It returns {:ok, reply, socket} or {:error, reply}.

leave(socket)

Specs

leave(Phoenix.Socket.t()) :: reference()

Emulates the client leaving the channel.

push(socket, event, payload \\ %{})

Specs

push(Phoenix.Socket.t(), String.t(), map()) :: reference()

Pushes a message into the channel.

The triggers the handle_in/3 callback in the channel.

Examples

iex> push(socket, "new_message", %{id: 1, content: "hello"})
reference

refute_broadcast(event, payload, timeout \\ Application.fetch_env!(:ex_unit, :refute_receive_timeout))

(macro)

Asserts the channel has not broadcast a message within timeout.

Like assert_broadcast, the event and payload are patterns.

The timeout is in milliseconds and defaults to the :refute_receive_timeout set on the :ex_unit application (which defaults to 100ms). Keep in mind this macro will block the test by the timeout value, so use it only when necessary as overuse will certainly slow down your test suite.

refute_push(event, payload, timeout \\ Application.fetch_env!(:ex_unit, :refute_receive_timeout))

(macro)

Asserts the channel has not pushed a message to the client matching the given event and payload within timeout.

Like assert_push, the event and payload are patterns.

refute_reply(ref, status, payload \\ Macro.escape(%{}), timeout \\ Application.fetch_env!(:ex_unit, :refute_receive_timeout))

(macro)

Asserts the channel has not replied with a matching payload within timeout.

Like assert_reply, the event and payload are patterns.

socket(socket_module)

(macro)

Builds a socket for the given socket_module.

The socket is then used to subscribe and join channels. Use this function when you want to create a blank socket to pass to functions like UserSocket.connect/3.

Otherwise, use socket/3 if you want to build a socket with existing id and assigns.

Examples

socket(MyApp.UserSocket)

socket(socket_module, socket_id, socket_assigns)

(macro)

Builds a socket for the given socket_module with given id and assigns.

Examples

socket(MyApp.UserSocket, "user_id", %{some: :assign})

subscribe_and_join(socket, topic)

See subscribe_and_join/4.

subscribe_and_join(socket, topic, payload)

See subscribe_and_join/4.

subscribe_and_join(socket, channel, topic, payload \\ %{})

Subscribes to the given topic and joins the channel under the given topic and payload.

By subscribing to the topic, we can use assert_broadcast/3 to verify a message has been sent through the pubsub layer.

By joining the channel, we can interact with it directly. The given channel is joined in a separate process which is linked to the test process.

If no channel module is provided, the socket's handler is used to lookup the matching channel for the given topic.

It returns {:ok, reply, socket} or {:error, reply}.

subscribe_and_join!(socket, topic)

See subscribe_and_join!/4.

subscribe_and_join!(socket, topic, payload)

See subscribe_and_join!/4.

subscribe_and_join!(socket, channel, topic, payload \\ %{})

Same as subscribe_and_join/4, but returns either the socket or throws an error.

This is helpful when you are not testing joining the channel and just need the socket.