How to mock localStorage in JavaScript unit tests?

Question

Are there any libraries out there to mock localStorage?

I\'ve been using Sinon.JS for most of my other javascript mocking and have found it is really gr

Answer 1

You don't have to pass the storage object to each method that uses it. Instead, you can use a configuration parameter for any module that touches the storage adapter.

Your old module

// hard to test !
export const someFunction (x) {
  window.localStorage.setItem('foo', x)
}

// hard to test !
export const anotherFunction () {
  return window.localStorage.getItem('foo')
}

Your new module with config "wrapper" function

export default function (storage) {
  return {
    someFunction (x) {
      storage.setItem('foo', x)
    }
    anotherFunction () {
      storage.getItem('foo')
    }
  }
}

When you use the module in testing code

// import mock storage adapater
const MockStorage = require('./mock-storage')

// create a new mock storage instance
const mock = new MockStorage()

// pass mock storage instance as configuration argument to your module
const myModule = require('./my-module')(mock)

// reset before each test
beforeEach(function() {
  mock.clear()
})

// your tests
it('should set foo', function() {
  myModule.someFunction('bar')
  assert.equal(mock.getItem('foo'), 'bar')
})

it('should get foo', function() {
  mock.setItem('foo', 'bar')
  assert.equal(myModule.anotherFunction(), 'bar')
})

The MockStorage class might look like this

export default class MockStorage {
  constructor () {
    this.storage = new Map()
  }
  setItem (key, value) {
    this.storage.set(key, value)
  }
  getItem (key) {
    return this.storage.get(key)
  }
  removeItem (key) {
    this.storage.delete(key)
  }
  clear () {
    this.constructor()
  }
}

When using your module in production code, instead pass the real localStorage adapter

const myModule = require('./my-module')(window.localStorage)