Can sinon stub withArgs match some but not all arguments

Question

I have a function I am stubbing that gets called with multiple arguments. I want to check just the first argument. The rest are callback function, so I want to leave them alone. Thus, I might have the following 2 calls, using ajax as an example:

method.get = sinon.stub();
method.get(25,function(){/* success callback */},function(){/* error callback */});         
method.get(10,function(){/* success callback */},function(){/* error callback */});

I cannot use method.get.calls... because then it doesn't differentiate between the first one get(25) and the second get(10). But if I use method.get.withArgs(25).calls... then it does not match either, because withArgs() matches all arguments, which this does not (and never could, with callbacks like that).

How do I get sinon stubs to check and set responses based on just the 1st arg?

How come the behaviour that I am witnessing is opposite to what you are saying here? If I write ```const methodStub = stub(); methodStub.withArgs(25).returns(1);```, then ```console.log(methodStub(25));``` will print 1 and so will ```console.log(methodStub(25, 26));```. Do you think it might have changed since you posted this question? — Avius, Oct 01 '18 at 12:20
@Avius the information in the question is incorrect, `withArgs` **does not** match all arguments. I've added an answer below with the details. — Brian Adams, Oct 09 '18 at 01:02

Andrew Radford · Accepted Answer · 2019-02-18T19:33:58.017

146

https://sinonjs.org/releases/latest/matchers/#sinonmatchany

You can use sinon.match.any:

method.get.withArgs(25, sinon.match.any, sinon.match.any);

edited Feb 18 '19 at 19:33

answered Nov 03 '14 at 22:28

Andrew Radford

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Thanks. It would be nice if I could do `method.get.withFirstArgs(25)` and thus as long as `arg[0]` is `25` it would match, but I guess it doesn't exist. – deitch Nov 04 '14 at 04:24
2

Works great! [Here's a fixed link](http://sinonjs.org/releases/v3.2.1/matchers/#sinonmatchany) to the latest `sinon.match.any` docs. – WimpyProgrammer Aug 21 '17 at 04:44
match.any doesnt work with any function matching – Tukaram Bhosale Mar 16 '21 at 10:18

score 8 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 09 '18 at 00:55

Solution

withArgs can be used to match some but not all the arguments.

Specifically, method.get.withArgs(25) will check just the first argument.

Correction

This is incorrect:

withArgs() matches all arguments

Details

When withArgs is called it remembers the arguments it was passed here as matchingArguments.

Then when the stub is called it gets all matching fakes here.

matchingFakes is called without a second parameter so it returns all fakes that have matchingArguments that match the arguments passed to the stub starting at index 0 up to the length of matchingArguments. This means that a fake will match when its matchingArguments match the beginning of the arguments passed even if there are additional arguments.

Any matching fakes are then sorted by matchingArguments.length and the one that matches the most arguments is the one that is invoked.

The following test confirms this behavior and passes with sinon version 1.1.0 from 7 years ago, version 1.14.0 from the time this question was asked, and the current version 6.3.5:

import * as sinon from 'sinon';

test('withArgs', () => {

  const stub = sinon.stub();

  stub.withArgs(25).returns('first arg is 25!');
  stub.returns('default response');

  expect(stub(25)).toBe('first arg is 25!');  // SUCCESS
  expect(stub(25, function () { }, function () { })).toBe('first arg is 25!');  // SUCCESS
  expect(stub(10, function () { }, function () { })).toBe('default response');  // SUCCESS

});

You answered this on my birthday and it's exactly what I needed ✨ — Tyler Becks, Nov 01 '22 at 22:18

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 20 '16 at 14:27

2

If you just want to check the first argument you can use

method.get.withArgs(25).calledOnce

or

method.get.calledWith(25)

answered Jan 20 '16 at 14:27

igor

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score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 22 '18 at 10:01

this method works very well with spies if you want to check only one argument among many

it('should check only first argument', function ():void {
            myFunction('foo', 'bar', baz');
            expect(myFunctionSpy.firstCall.args[0]).to.equal('foo');
        });

However I don't understand why you are using stubs here. If you just want to check how the function is called you should use a spy. If you want to check how it's called AND change it's behaviour (ex: blocking ajax calls) then you should use a mock.

Sinon mocks have their own way of checking stuff. The only way I know for your case would be to use sinon.match.many for the arguments you don't want to check:

it('should check only first argument', async function (): Promise<void> {
                mock.expects('myFunction').withExactArgs('foo', sinon.match.any, sinon.match.any).returns('foo');
                await myFunction('foo', 'bar', baz');
                mock.verify();
            });

mock.verify() will proceed to the test AND reset the mock for other tests, in case of using a spy or a stub you should do it mannually with restore() or reset() after each test

PD: sorry about TypeScript syntax here :p

Can sinon stub withArgs match some but not all arguments

4 Answers4

Solution

Correction

Details

Linked