public abstract class

AssertThrows

extends Object
java.lang.Object
   ↳ org.springframework.test.AssertThrows

This class is deprecated.
favor use of JUnit 4's @Test(expected=...) support

Class Overview

Simple method object encapsulation of the 'test-for-Exception' scenario (for JUnit).

Used like so: 

 // the class under test
 public class Foo {
    public void someBusinessLogic(String name) {
        if (name == null) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("The 'name' argument is required");
        }
        // rest of business logic here...
    }
 }
The test for the above bad argument path can be expressed using the AssertThrows class like so: 
 public class FooTest {
    public void testSomeBusinessLogicBadArgumentPath() {
        new AssertThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class) {
            public void test() {
                new Foo().someBusinessLogic(null);
            }
        }.runTest();
    }
 }
This will result in the test passing if the Foo.someBusinessLogic(..) method threw an java.lang.IllegalArgumentException; if it did not, the test would fail with the following message: 
 "Must have thrown a [class java.lang.IllegalArgumentException]"
If the wrong type of Exception was thrown, the test will also fail, this time with a message similar to the following: 
 "junit.framework.AssertionFailedError: Was expecting a [class java.lang.UnsupportedOperationException] to be thrown, but instead a [class java.lang.IllegalArgumentException] was thrown"
The test for the correct Exception respects polymorphism, so you can test that any old Exception is thrown like so: 
 public class FooTest {
    public void testSomeBusinessLogicBadArgumentPath() {
        // any Exception will do...
        new AssertThrows(Exception.class) {
            public void test() {
                new Foo().someBusinessLogic(null);
            }
        }.runTest();
    }
 }
Intended for use with JUnit 4 and TestNG (as of Spring 3.0). You might want to compare this class with the junit.extensions.ExceptionTestCase class.

Summary

Public Constructors
AssertThrows(Class expectedException)
Create a new instance of the AssertThrows class.
AssertThrows(Class expectedException, String failureMessage)
Create a new instance of the AssertThrows class.
Public Methods
final Exception getActualException()
Expose the actual exception thrown from test(), if any.
void runTest()
The main template method that drives the running of the test logic and the checking of the resulting (expected) Exception.
void setFailureMessage(String failureMessage)
Set the extra, contextual failure message that will be included in the failure text if the text fails.
abstract void test()
Subclass must override this abstract method and provide the test logic.
Protected Methods
void checkExceptionExpectations(Exception actualException)
Does the donkey work of checking (verifying) that the Exception that was thrown in the body of a test is an instance of the getExpectedException() class (or an instance of a subclass).
String createMessageForNoExceptionThrown()
Creates the failure message used if the test fails (i.e.
String createMessageForWrongThrownExceptionType(Exception actualException)
Creates the failure message used if the wrong type of Exception is thrown in the body of the test.
void doFail()
Template method called when the test fails; i.e.
Class getExpectedException()
Return the Exception expected to be thrown during the execution of the surrounding test.
String getFailureMessage()
Return the extra, contextual failure message that will be included in the failure text if the text fails.
[Expand]
Inherited Methods
From class java.lang.Object

Public Constructors

public AssertThrows (Class expectedException)

Create a new instance of the AssertThrows class.

Parameters
expectedException the Exception expected to be thrown during the execution of the surrounding test
Throws
IllegalArgumentException if the supplied expectedException is null; or if said argument is not an Exception-derived class

public AssertThrows (Class expectedException, String failureMessage)

Create a new instance of the AssertThrows class.

Parameters
expectedException the Exception expected to be thrown during the execution of the surrounding test
failureMessage the extra, contextual failure message that will be included in the failure text if the text fails (can be null)
Throws
IllegalArgumentException if the supplied expectedException is null; or if said argument is not an Exception-derived class

Public Methods

public final Exception getActualException ()

Expose the actual exception thrown from test(), if any.

Returns
  • the actual exception, or null if none

public void runTest ()

The main template method that drives the running of the test logic and the checking of the resulting (expected) Exception.

See Also

public void setFailureMessage (String failureMessage)

Set the extra, contextual failure message that will be included in the failure text if the text fails.

public abstract void test ()

Subclass must override this abstract method and provide the test logic.

Throws
Exception if an error occurs during the execution of the aformentioned test logic

Protected Methods

protected void checkExceptionExpectations (Exception actualException)

Does the donkey work of checking (verifying) that the Exception that was thrown in the body of a test is an instance of the getExpectedException() class (or an instance of a subclass).

If you want to customise the failure message, consider overriding createMessageForWrongThrownExceptionType(Exception).

Parameters
actualException the Exception that has been thrown in the body of a test method (will never be null)

protected String createMessageForNoExceptionThrown ()

Creates the failure message used if the test fails (i.e. the expected exception is not thrown in the body of the test).

Returns
  • the failure message used if the test fails
See Also

protected String createMessageForWrongThrownExceptionType (Exception actualException)

Creates the failure message used if the wrong type of Exception is thrown in the body of the test.

Parameters
actualException the actual exception thrown
Returns
  • the message for the given exception

protected void doFail ()

Template method called when the test fails; i.e. the expected Exception is not thrown.

The default implementation simply fails the test via a call to fail(String).

If you want to customise the failure message, consider overriding createMessageForNoExceptionThrown(), and / or supplying an extra, contextual failure message via the appropriate constructor overload.

See Also

protected Class getExpectedException ()

Return the Exception expected to be thrown during the execution of the surrounding test.

protected String getFailureMessage ()

Return the extra, contextual failure message that will be included in the failure text if the text fails.