Helper for easier directive compiling

Small function to ease testing Angular 1.x directives.

Usually you would have to set up directive compiler, give it a template, manage its attributes, parent or isolate scopes. This helper abstracts these things so you can focus on tests.

Installing

1. install through npm

$ npm install ng-directive-compiler-helper --save-dev

1. include in test runner:

if using karma as test runner, make sure the following is in karma.conf.js:

files: [
  'node_modules/ng-directive-compiler-helper/lib/ng-directive-compiler-helper.js'
]

Quick reference

After including this package you will be able to use a global createCompiler function. It requires directive template, $rootScope and $compile services:

compile = createCompiler(templateString, $rootScope, $compile)

compile is now a function which can be used in two ways:

1. using callbackFn which is called after directive is compiled. callbackFn is passed with scope and element arguments * compile(callbackFn); * compile(parentScopeObject, callbackFn); * compile(parentScopeObject, elementAttributesObject, callbackFn);

most simple usage:

```js
compile((scope, element) => {
  expect(scope).toBeDefined();
  expect(element).toBeDefined();
});
```

1. using returned object which contains scope and element properties: * let compiled = compile(); * let compiled = compile(parrentScopeObject); * let compiled = compile(parrentScopeObject, elementAttributesObject);

most simple usage:

```js
expect(compile().scope).toBeDefined();
expect(compile().element).toBeDefined();
```

More usage examples:

1. setup compiler first using createCompiler:

let myDirectiveTemplate = '<my-directive></my-directive>';
let compile;

beforeEach(($rootScope, $compile) => {
  compile = createCompiler(myDirectiveTemplate, $rootScope, $compile);
});

1. use created compiler in tests:

it('should compile', () => {
  compile((scope, element) => {
    expect(scope).toBeDefined();
    // etc...
  });
});

// adjust parent scope
it('should have parent scope values', () => {
  compile({ parentScopeValue: true }, (scope, element) => {
    expect(scope.parentScopeValue).toBe(true);
  });
});

// adjust directive element attributes
it('should have additional attributes', () => {
  // first param === parentScope, empty in this case
  // note that attribute properties are kebab-case and not camelCase!
  compile({}, { 'new-attribute': 'hello' }, (scope, element) => {
    expect(element.attr('new-attribute')).toBe('hello');
  });
});

1. working with isolate scope directives:

it('should set isolate scope properties from attributes', () => {
  // note that attribute properties are kebab-case and not camelCase!
  compile({}, { 'isolate-scope-attribute': 'hello' }, scope => {
    expect(scope.isolateScopeAttribute).toBe('hello');
  });
});

1. working with drivers

// 1. define driver
let driver = {
  parent: e => e.find('.imaginary-parent-with-3-children'); // e - reference to element, passed if no other arguments given,
  children: parent => parent.children;
  alsoChildren: function() { return this.$.children; } // this.$ - also reference to element
};

// 2. hook driver when creating compiler (as last argument)
let compile = createCompiler(templateString, $rootScope, $compile, driver);

// 3. use in tests
it('should contain 3 items', () => {
  compile(function(scope, element, driver) { // <-- driver is passed as third argument
    expect(driver.parent().length).toBe(1);
    expect(driver.children(element).length).toBe(3);
    expect(driver.alsoChildren().length).toBe(3);
  })
});

testing like this should be cool because:

• driver can be reused for multiple tests, drying up the test suite
• no need to repeat selectors everywhere
• other more complicated logic can be reused (e.g. do some component setup for assertions)

Few notes about drivers

• if driver method is called without arguments, it automatically gets element reference (but ONLY if there are no arguments given):

  Note: the following examples assume you have let compile = createCompiler setup with driver.

  let driver = {
    myTitle: e => e.find('.title-element')
  }
  
  it('should have title', () => {
    compile((scope, element, driver) {
      expect(driver.myTitle().text()).toBe('some text');
    });
  });

• if driver method is called with arguments, element reference is available through this.$:

  let driver = {
    myListItem: function(n) {
      return this.$.find('.my-list').get(n);
    }
  };
  
  it('should have correct item', () => {
    compile(function(scope, element, driver) {
      expect(driver.myListItem(2).text()).toBe('my list item #3');
    });
  });

More examples

i use this helper thing to test one of mine angular projects, you can check here: argshook/orodarius

Contributing

Please provide tests for pull requests.

Testing with karma:

• single run npm run test
• watch tests npm run test:watch