Unit Testing ASP.NET MVC Project that Has a Database Connection String Defined in Web.Configuration.WebconfigurationManager

Question

I have an ASP.NET MVC project that I would like to unit test. Most of the functions rely on a call to our database, who's connection string is defined as:

connStr.ProviderConnectionString = Web.Configuration.WebConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("ApplicationServices").ConnectionString

Is there some way to easily test this without making each unit test fire off the dev server with:

 <TestMethod(), _
 HostType("ASP.NET"), _
 AspNetDevelopmentServerHost("C:\Users\tyler.HQ\Development\LateralSports\Dev\Dev\Site", "/"), _
 UrlToTest("http://localhost:57110/")> _

Using the HostType allows the unit tests to run, but it is super slow.

Is there some configuration parameter I can swap around?

Thanks

Wyatt Barnett · Accepted Answer · 2011-12-09 22:42:42Z

2

You really should find a better way to get at the connection string. Options include:

Use the normal System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager rather than whatever that thing is.
Use dependency injection to abstract it away.
Avoid the DB in unit tests entirely -- it is a bit of an infrastructure concern after all.

answered Dec 9, 2011 at 22:42

Wyatt Barnett

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5 Comments

Tyler DeWitt Over a year ago

I'm intrigued by your last point. How are we supposed to check if data is persisted correctly if we don't test the DB? I convert most of my Entity objects to custom types (I only need pieces of the Entity object) when showing it to the user. I need to make sure my custom types correctly get mapped back to Entity types. I'm new to this, so I'm sure I'm doing something strangely.

Wyatt Barnett Over a year ago

So confirm that they get mapped back correctly. Let the guys responsible for the EF make sure they write to the database correctly.

TrueWill Over a year ago

+1. See also the Repository Pattern.

Tyler DeWitt Over a year ago

Gotchya. We are a small shop. I'm now responsible for the EF as well. Somebody else did all the configuration, so I was really confused. I'll check out your ideas. Thanks!

Wyatt Barnett Over a year ago

Gotcha. By "guys responsible for the EF" I mean the ADO.NET team at Microsoft, not your small shop :)

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