Test an Asp.Net Controller action method which uses User.Identity.Name?

Question

I have the following test method for an Asp.Net controller action method.

[TestMethod]
public void Get()
{
    var controller = new MyController();
    var result = controller.GetAListOfRecords();
    Assert.IsNotNull(result);
    Assert.IsTrue(result.Count() > 0);
}

And the action is

[Authorize(Roles = "Users")]
public IQueryable<MyModel> GetAListOfRecords()
{
    var user = User.Identity.Name; // null when called from the test method
    var q = from t in ........
            select t;
    return return string.IsNullOrEmpty(user) ? Enumerable.Empty<MyModel>().AsQueryable() : q;
}

However, the var user = User.Identity.Name will not get current user name in the test class (it will actually be assigned an empty string). Is it possible to set user in the test method?

Update: I tried the following in the test class but .....Identity.Name is read-only.

controller.RequestContext.Principal.Identity.Name = @"mdynycmas\wangyi";

Answer 1

Actually, you're using the User property on your Controller object. This property is using the underlying HttpContext.Current. You need to mock the HttpContextBase and return a test user, see for instance How to mock Controller.User using moq .

Answer 2

You need to implement some mocks in your unit tests. Also I suggest you to remove your direct dependency of HttpContext, and better create a wrapper object instead, so you can mock it easily. See more information in this link about this approach.

Hope it helps!