Documentation Home Behavior-Driven JavaScript
This page is for an older version of Jasmine (2.0)
The current stable version of Jasmine is: 5.5 - You can also look at the docs for the next release: Edge

ajax.js

Testing ajax calls

We have written a plugin called jasmine-ajax that allows ajax calls to be mocked out in tests. To use it, you need to download the mock-ajax.js file and add it to your jasmine helpers so it gets loaded before any specs that use it.

 
describe("mocking ajax", function() {

Basic Usage Across An Entire Suite

 
  describe("suite wide usage", function() {

When you want to mock out all ajax calls across an entire suite, use install() in a beforeEach.

 
    beforeEach(function() {
    jasmine.Ajax.install();
  });

Because jasmine-ajax stubs out the global XMLHttpRequest for the page, you'll want to uninstall() in an afterEach so specs or setup that expect to make a real ajax request can.

 
    afterEach(function() {
    jasmine.Ajax.uninstall();
  });

  it("specifying response when you need it", function() {
    var doneFn = jasmine.createSpy("success");

Make your requests as normal. Jasmine-Ajax mocks out your request at the XMLHttpRequest object, so should be compatible with other libraries that do ajax requests.

 
      var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
    xhr.onreadystatechange = function(args) {
      if (this.readyState == this.DONE) {
        doneFn(this.responseText);
      }
    };

    xhr.open("GET", "/some/cool/url");
    xhr.send();

At this point the ajax request won't have returned, so any assertions about intermediate states (like spinners) can be run here.

 
      expect(jasmine.Ajax.requests.mostRecent().url).toBe('/some/cool/url');
    expect(doneFn).not.toHaveBeenCalled();

Now we tell the request what it's response should look like

 
      jasmine.Ajax.requests.mostRecent().response({

HTTP response code

 
        "status": 200,

You can also specify the content type of the response

 
        "contentType": 'text/plain',

responseText to return, this should be a string.

 
        "responseText": 'awesome response'
    });

Now that we've told the request to respond, our callback gets called.

 
      expect(doneFn).toHaveBeenCalledWith('awesome response');
  });

You can also specify responses ahead of time and they will respond immediately when the request is made.

 
    it("allows responses to be setup ahead of time", function () {
    var doneFn = jasmine.createSpy("success");

Call stubRequest with the url you want to return immediately. Then andReturn receives the same type of argument as response

 
      jasmine.Ajax.stubRequest('/another/url').andReturn({
      "responseText": 'immediate response'
    });

Make your requests as normal

 
      var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
    xhr.onreadystatechange = function(args) {
      if (this.readyState == this.DONE) {
        doneFn(this.responseText);
      }
    };

    xhr.open("GET", "/another/url");
    xhr.send();

    expect(doneFn).toHaveBeenCalledWith('immediate response');
  });
});

If you only want to use it in a single spec, you can use withMock. withMock takes a function that will be called after ajax has been mocked, and the mock will be uninstalled when the function completes.

 
  it("allows use in a single spec", function() {
  var doneFn = jasmine.createSpy('success');
  jasmine.Ajax.withMock(function() {
    var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
    xhr.onreadystatechange = function(args) {
      if (this.readyState == this.DONE) {
        doneFn(this.responseText);
      }
    };

    xhr.open("GET", "/some/cool/url");
    xhr.send();

    expect(doneFn).not.toHaveBeenCalled();

    jasmine.Ajax.requests.mostRecent().response({
      "status": 200,
      "responseText": 'in spec response'
    });

    expect(doneFn).toHaveBeenCalledWith('in spec response');
  });
});
});