Invoking Delegates from a dispatcher - multithreading

I've been stuck on this all morning, even though it seems like it should be very easy (wondering if I'm missing something fundamental). I have the following code in a class-
public class myClass
{
private Dispatcher m_Dispatcher;
private void myMethod() { ... }
private void invokeTheMethod(object sender, PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
m_Dispatcher.Invoke(myMethod); //XYZ
}
}
The dispatcher is attached to the thread that instance of myClass is running on. The invokeTheMethod method is called from another thread, and I'd like to run myMethod on the thread of m_Dispatcher. However, if I try to run this code, I get an exception at XYZ saying "Object reference not an instance of an object". Is this because I haven't declared myMethod in the form of a delegate? - I have tried different ways to declare myMethod as a delegate, but I can't get any of them to compile. Any suggestions are very much appreciated.
Thanks,
Chris

The error you get
Object reference not an instance of an object (NullReferenceException)
refers to the field m_Dispatcher. It is null. That is why you cannot call the Invoke method on it.
Even if there is an instance of Dispatcher "attached to the thread", there is no way for myClass to get hold of that instance.
What you could do is to supply the instance of Dispatcher to myClass when you create an instance of myClass. Something like this:
public class myClass
{
// Here is the 'injection' of the instance in the constructor of this class
public myClass(Dispatcher dispatcher) {
m_Dispatcher = dispatcher;
}
private Dispatcher m_Dispatcher;
private void myMethod() { ... }
private void invokeTheMethod(object sender, PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
m_Dispatcher.Invoke(myMethod); //XYZ
}
}
As a side note, you should read up some on coding conventions as your casing is considered wrong by the majority of the C# development community. Here is a good start: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/vstudio/w2a9a9s3.aspx

Related

Mockito: How to test a class's void method?

Unit test noob here.
I have three classes: Db1Dao, Db2Dao, ExecuteClass where Db1Dao, Db2Dao are database access objects for two different databases. My goal is to fetch some data from db1 using Db1Dao and run executeClass.execute() to "put" the processed data into db2 using Db2Dao.
My ExecuteClass looks like this:
class ExecuteClass {
private Db1Dao db1Dao;
private Db2Dao db2Dao;
public void execute() {
...
List<String> listOfString = getExternalData(someParam);
List<Metadata> metadatum = db1Dao.get(someInputs);
... I do something to generate a list of new class `A` based on listOfString & metadatum ...
try {
db2Dao.put(listOfA);
} catch (PutException e){
...
}
}
public List<String> getExternalData(SomeClass someParam){
... do something
return listOfString;
}
}
Now I want to test:
Given a specific listOfString (returned by getExternalData) and a specific metadatum (returned by db1Dao.get):
Will I get the desired listOfA?
Am I able to call db2Dao.put and its input parameter is listOfA?
Particularly, I have hard-coded sample listOfString and metadatum and desired listOfA (and they will be passed via an object MockData, see the following code) but I don't know how to write the test using Mockito. The following is a test class I wrote but it does not work:
class TestClass extends BaseTest {
#Mock
private Db1Dao db1Dao;
#Mock
private Db2Dao db2Dao;
private ExecuteClass executeClass;
#BeforeEach
public void setUp() {
MockitoAnnotations.initMocks(this);
executeClass = new ExecuteClass(db1Dao, db2Dao);
}
#ParameterizedTest
#MethodSource("MockDataProvider")
public void executeClassTest(final MockData mockData) throws PutException {
Mockito.when(db1Dao.get(Mockito.any(), ...))
.thenReturn(mockData.getMetadatum());
ExecuteClass executeClassSpy = Mockito.spy(executeClass);
Mockito.when(executeClassSpy.getExternalData(Mockito.any()))
.thenReturn(mockData.getListOfString());
executeClassSpy.execute();
// executeClass.execute(); not working neither...
List<A> listOfA = mockData.getDesiredListOfA();
Mockito.verify(db2Dao).put(listOfA);
}
}
Could anyone please let me know? Thank you in advance!!
You should not create a spy of the same class you want to test. Instead, try to write a unit test for the smallest amount of code (e.g. a public method) and mock every external operator (in your case Db1Dao and Db2Dao).
If testing a public method involves calling another public method of the same class, make sure to mock everything inside the other public method (in your case getExternalData). Otherwise, this other public method might be a good candidate for an extra class to have clear separation of concerns.
So, remove the ExecuteClass executeClassSpy = Mockito.spy(executeClass); and make sure you setup everything with Mockito what's called within getExternalData.
To now actually, verify that Db2Dao was called with the correct parameter, either use your current approach with verifying the payload. But here it's important to 100% create the same data structure you get while executing your application code.
Another solution would be to use Mockito's #Captor. This allows you to capture the value of why verifying the invocation of a mock. Later on, you can also write assertions on the captured value:
#Captor
private ArgumentCaptor<ClassOfListOfA> argumentCaptor;
#Test
public void yourTest() {
Mockito.verify(db2Dao).put(argumentCaptor.capture());
assertEquals("StringValue", argumentCaptur.getValue().getWhateverGetterYouHave);
}
The following code worked for me.
I partially accepted #rieckpil's answer. I used #Captor which is very handy.
The reason I had to mock getExternalData() is because its implementation is still a "TODO".
class TestClass extends BaseTest {
#Mock
private Db1Dao db1Dao;
#Mock
private Db2Dao db2Dao;
#Captor
private ArgumentCaptor<List<A>> argumentCaptor;
private ExecuteClass executeClass;
#BeforeEach
public void setUp() {
MockitoAnnotations.initMocks(this);
executeClass = new ExecuteClass(db1Dao, db2Dao);
}
#ParameterizedTest
#MethodSource("MockDataProvider")
public void executeClassTest(final MockData mockData) throws PutException {
Mockito.when(db1Dao.get(Mockito.any(), ...))
.thenReturn(mockData.getMetadatum());
ExecuteClass executeClassSpy = Mockito.spy(executeClass);
Mockito.when(executeClassSpy.getExternalData(Mockito.any()))
.thenReturn(mockData.getListOfString());
executeClassSpy.execute();
List<A> listOfA = mockData.getDesiredListOfA();
Mockito.verify(db2Dao).put(argumentCaptor.capture());
assertEquals(listOfA, argumentCaptor.getValue());
}
}

Closure Coercion not working in certain case

I'm calling a Java method from Groovy which expects an instance of a SAM interface as a parameter.
Normally Groovy is happy with passing in a closure in these cases, and will coerce it accordingly HOWEVER in this case, the interface extends another one and overrides the single method.
Note - It still only has one method, but it's been overriden.
In this instance Groovy doesn't automatically coerce the closure and the only way I seem to be able to call it is by using "AS".
I'm publishing an API to help kids to learn code and really don't want them to have to use "AS" because it would complicate things.
Here's some code that shows the issue...
Java
public interface BaseHandler<T> {
public void handle(T test);
}
public interface Handler extends BaseHandler<String> {
public void handle(String test);
}
public class LibraryClass {
public void method(Handler handler) {
handler.handle("WORLD!");
}
}
Groovy
LibraryClass bar = new LibraryClass();
bar.method({ name -> println "HELLO " + name})
Error
Caught: groovy.lang.MissingMethodException: No signature of method: Bar.doIt() is applicable for argument types: (testClosures$_run_closure1) values: [testClosures$_run_closure1#fe63b60]
Any help on how to get around this without using "AS" would be hugely appreciated
Groovy wants to implement the interface by coercion, but doesn't know which interface method it should implement. As there are 2:
the handle(String test) and a second one: handle(String test) (of the baseHandler)
The solution is to remove the handle(String test) from the handler (it adds nothing as the BaseHandler posesses this method already thanks to the generics).
Like this it works correctly:
public interface BaseHandler<T> {
public void handle(T test);
}
public interface Handler extends BaseHandler<String> {
}
public class LibraryClass {
public void method(Handler handler) {
handler.handle("WORLD!");
}
}

How to use PowerMockito to verify super method is called

I am testing a legacy code that use inheritance method. I am trying to mock super-method
to verity if the super-method is being call or not.
#RunWith(PowerMockRunner.class)
public class HumanTest {
#Test
public void test() throws NoSuchMethodException, SecurityException {
// 1. arrange
Human sut = PowerMockito.spy(new Human());
PowerMockito.doNothing().when((SuperHuman) sut).run(); // SuperHuman is the parent class
// 2. action
sut.run();
// 3. assert / verify
}
}
public class Human extends SuperHuman {
#Override
public void run() {
System.out.println("human run");
super.run();
}
}
public class SuperHuman {
public void run() {
System.out.println("superhuman run");
}
}
I was expecting that "human run" will be printed. But the actual result was none printed.
PowerMockito.doNothing().when((SuperHuman) sut).run(); // SuperHuman is the parent class
This won't work in your case since PowerMockito will mock method of Human even if you made cast.
I checked your code example and could say that it is possible to suppress invocation of super class method with:
Method toReplace = PowerMockito.method(SuperHuman.class, "run");
PowerMockito.suppress(toReplace);
But it seems that method replacment feature does not work for methods of super class:
createPartialMock should support mocking overridden methods in super classes.
So this does not work:
PowerMockito.replace(toReplace).with(new InvocationHandler() {
#Override
public Object invoke(Object proxy, Method method, Object[] args) throws Throwable {
System.out.println("Method of superclass has been invoked !");
return null;
}
});
But still you should be able to verify invocation of super method let's say indirectly, by mocking other classes which are invoked in super method only.
For instance check that System.out.println was invoked with "superhuman run" or something like this.

How to set members of mocked object

I remember reading an example which shows how to set member of a mocked object, for ex:
MyClass mockedClass = mock(MyClass.class);
//and something like this to set `someVariable` with some value
Mokito.set(mockedClass.someVariable, actual_value_intended_to_be_set);
Unfortunately I am not able to find that link again. Can someone give a reverence to
such examples or explain it here ?
If you want your mock's outward behavior to look like mockedClass.someVariable has actual_value_intended_to_be_set, you can write:
when(mockedClass.getSomeVariable()).thenReturn(actual_value_intended_to_be_set);
Happy mocking!
Is 'this' perhaps what you are looking for?
public class MyClassTest {
#InjectMocks private MyClass mockedClass;
#BeforeMethod(groups = { "unit" })
public void setup() throws Exception {
mockedClass = new MyClass();
MockitoAnnotations.initMocks(this);
Mockito.when(getSomeVariable()).thenReturn(actual_value_intended_to_be_set);
}
#Test(groups = { "unit" })
public void testMyClass() throws Exception {
//almost too trivial an example since you just setup this.
Assert.assertEquals(getSomeVariable(), actual_value_intended_to_be_set);
}
}
It creates your MyClass object and sets the return value as well.

Confusion with IDisposable

I have some nagging doubts about the correct way to implement IDisposable. Consider the following scenario...
public class Foo : IDisposable {...}
public class Bar : IDisposable {
private bool disposed = false;
private readonly Foo MyFoo;
public Bar() {
this.MyFoo = new Foo();
}
public Bar(Foo foo) {
this.MyFoo = foo;
}
~Bar() {
Dispose(false);
}
protected virtual void Dispose(bool disposing) {
if (!this.disposed) {
if (disposing) {
if (MyFoo != null) {
this.MyFoo.Dispose();
this.MyFoo = null;
}
}
this.disposed = true;
}
}
public void Dispose() {
Dispose(true);
GC.SuppressFinalize(this);
}
}
My questions are:
1) If a class creates a disposable object, should it call the Dispose() method on that object in its own Dispose() method?
2) If a disposable object is passed to a class as a reference, should that class still call the Dispose() method on that reference object, or should it leave it to the class that created the object in the first place?
The above pattern seems to crop up quite a lot (particularly with DI), but I don't seem to be able to find a concrete example of the correct way to structure this.
Refer to Excellent MSDN article
Garbage Collection: Automatic Memory Management in the Microsoft .NET Framework
1) If a class creates a disposable object, should it call the Dispose() method on that object in its own Dispose() method?
Yes it should. Otherwise also, Dispose will be called. But that will increase life of object by atleast 1 generation. This is due to the finalizer in the class definition. Refer to the article link above.
2) If a disposable object is passed to a class as a reference, should that class still call the Dispose() method on that reference object, or should it leave it to the class that created the object in the first place?
It is responsibility of caller (more specifically the class which has created an instance) to call the Dispose method.
~Bar() {
Dispose(false);
}
Whenever you find yourself writing code like this, take a deep breath first and ask "do I actually need a finalizer?" It is extremely rare that you need one, a finalizer is only required when you take ownership of an unmanaged resource yourself.
The first litmus test is "does the finalizer actually do anything?" That's clear if you follow the code. It calls Dispose(false) and that code only does something when the argument is true. What follows is that you don't need a finalizer. This is entirely normal, finalizers is something that Microsoft worries about. They wrote the .NET framework classes that wrap an unmanaged resource. FileStream, Socket, etcetera. And above all, the SafeHandle classes, designed to wrap operating system handles. They have their own finalizer, you don't rewrite one yourself.
So without a finalizer, the code entirely collapses to the simple and correct implementation, you only need to call the Dispose() method of any disposable objects you store yourself:
public class Bar : IDisposable {
private readonly Foo MyFoo;
public Bar() {
this.MyFoo = new Foo();
}
public void Dispose() {
MyFoo.Dispose();
}
}

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