Unit test of controller angularjs

Question

I have this simple controller, UserService is a service which return JSON

"use strict";

angular.module("controllers").controller('profileCtrl', ["$scope", "UserService", 
    function ($scope, UserService) {
       $scope.current_user = UserService.details(0);
    }
]);

I can not make the test. However this is my try

'use strict';

describe('profileCtrl', function () {
  var scope, ctrl;

  beforeEach(angular.mock.module('controllers'), function($provide){
    $provide.value("UserService", {
      details: function(num) { return "sdfsdf"; }
    });
  });

  it('should have a LoginCtrl controller', function() {
    expect(controllers.profileCtrl).toBeDefined();
  });

  beforeEach(angular.mock.inject(function($rootScope, $controller){
    scope = $rootScope.$new();
    $controller('profileCtrl', {$scope: scope});
  }));

  it('should fetch list of users', function(){
    expect(controllers.scope.current_user.length).toBe(6);
    expect(controllers.scope.current_user).toBe('sdfsdf');
  });
});

Answer 1

The usage of $controller is correct, that's the way to instantiate a controller for a unit test. You can mock the UserService instance it gets directly in the $controller invocation. You should be using its return value - this is the instance of your controller you're going to test.

You're trying to read stuff from controllers but its not defined anywhere in the test, I guess you're referring to the module.

This is how I would go about it + fiddle

//--- CODE --------------------------
angular.module('controllers', []).controller('profileCtrl', ["$scope", "UserService",

function ($scope, UserService) {
    $scope.current_user = UserService.details(0);
}]);

// --- SPECS -------------------------

describe('profileCtrl', function () {
    var scope, ctrl, userServiceMock;

    beforeEach(function () {
        userServiceMock = jasmine.createSpyObj('UserService', ['details']);
        userServiceMock.details.andReturn('sdfsdf');
        angular.mock.module('controllers');
        angular.mock.inject(function ($rootScope, $controller) {
            scope = $rootScope.$new();
            ctrl = $controller('profileCtrl', {
                $scope: scope,
                UserService: userServiceMock
            });
        });
    });

    it('should have a LoginCtrl controller', function () {
        expect(ctrl).toBeDefined();
    });

    it('should fetch list of users', function () {
        expect(scope.current_user).toBe('sdfsdf');
    });
});

You're welcome to change the fiddle online to see how it affects testing results.