How to unit test a component that has a ref prop - reactjs

Question

How do you unit test a component that has a ref prop ? i'm getting this error
● Should render › should render
TypeError: Cannot add property current, object is not extensible
I looked at another question Unit testing React component ref, but there is no solution for that question.
this is the test
CommentList.test.tsx
import "#testing-library/jest-dom";
import React from "react";
import { CommentListComponent as CommentList } from "./CommentList";
import { render, getByText, queryByText, getAllByTestId } from "#testing-library/react";
const props = {
user: {},
postId: null,
userId: null,
currentUser: {},
ref: {},
comments: [
{
author: { username: "barnowl", gravatar: "https://api.adorable.io/avatars/400/bf1eed82fbe37add91cb4192e4d14de6.png", bio: null },
comment_body: "fsfsfsfsfs",
createdAt: "2020-05-27T14:32:01.682Z",
gifUrl: "",
id: 520,
postId: 28,
updatedAt: "2020-05-27T14:32:01.682Z",
userId: 9,
},
{
author: { username: "barnowl", gravatar: "https://api.adorable.io/avatars/400/bf1eed82fbe37add91cb4192e4d14de6.png", bio: null },
comment_body: "fsfsfsfsfs",
createdAt: "2020-05-27T14:32:01.682Z",
gifUrl: "",
id: 519,
postId: 27,
updatedAt: "2020-05-27T14:32:01.682Z",
userId: 10,
},
],
deleteComment: jest.fn(),
};
describe("Should render <CommentList/>", () => {
it("should render <CommentList/>", () => {
const commentList = render(<CommentList {...props} />);
expect(commentList).toBeTruthy();
});
});
This is the component.
CommentList.tsx
import React, { Fragment, useState, Ref } from "react";
import Grid from "#material-ui/core/Grid";
import OurSecondaryButton from "../../../common/OurSecondaryButton";
import CommentListContainer from "../commentListContainer/commentListContainer";
function CommentList(props: any, ref: Ref<HTMLDivElement>) {
const [showMore, setShowMore] = useState<Number>(2);
const [openModal, setOpenModal] = useState(false);
const [showLessFlag, setShowLessFlag] = useState<Boolean>(false);
const the_comments = props.comments.length;
const inc = showMore as any;
const min = Math.min(2, the_comments - inc);
const showComments = (e) => {
e.preventDefault();
if (inc + 2 && inc <= the_comments) {
setShowMore(inc + 2);
setShowLessFlag(true);
} else {
setShowMore(the_comments);
}
};
const handleClickOpen = () => {
setOpenModal(true);
};
const handleCloseModal = () => {
setOpenModal(false);
};
const showLessComments = (e) => {
e.preventDefault();
setShowMore(2);
setShowLessFlag(false);
};
const isBold = (comment) => {
return comment.userId === props.userId ? 800 : 400;
};
// show comments by recent, and have the latest comment at the bottom, with the previous one just before it.
const filterComments = props.comments
.slice(0)
.sort((a, b) => {
const date1 = new Date(a.createdAt) as any;
const date2 = new Date(b.createdAt) as any;
return date2 - date1;
})
.slice(0, inc)
.reverse();
const showMoreComments = () => {
return filterComments.map((comment, i) => (
<div key={i}>
<CommentListContainer ref={ref} comment={comment} openModal={openModal} handleCloseModal={handleCloseModal} isBold={isBold} handleClickOpen={handleClickOpen} {...props} />
</div>
));
};
console.log(ref);
return (
<Grid>
<Fragment>
<div data-testid="comment-list-div" style={{ margin: "30px 0px" }}>
{props.comments.length > 2 ? (
<Fragment>
{min !== -1 && min !== -2 ? (
<Fragment>
{min !== 0 ? (
<OurSecondaryButton onClick={(e) => showComments(e)} component="span" color="secondary">
View {min !== -1 && min !== -2 ? min : 0} More Comments
</OurSecondaryButton>
) : (
<OurSecondaryButton onClick={(e) => showLessComments(e)} component="span" color="secondary">
Show Less Comments
</OurSecondaryButton>
)}
</Fragment>
) : (
<OurSecondaryButton onClick={(e) => showLessComments(e)} component="span" color="secondary">
Show Less Comments
</OurSecondaryButton>
)}
</Fragment>
) : null}
</div>
</Fragment>
{showLessFlag === true ? (
// will show most recent comments below
showMoreComments()
) : (
<Fragment>
{/* filter based on first comment */}
{filterComments.map((comment, i) => (
<div key={i}>
<CommentListContainer ref={ref} comment={comment} openModal={openModal} handleCloseModal={handleCloseModal} isBold={isBold} handleClickOpen={handleClickOpen} {...props} />
</div>
))}
</Fragment>
)}
</Grid>
);
}
export default React.forwardRef(CommentList) as React.RefForwardingComponent<HTMLDivElement, any>;

Answer 1

I fixed it, i had to import
import CommentList from "./CommentList";
instead of
import { CommentListComponent as CommentList } from "./CommentList";
and do this to the props
ref: {
current: undefined,
},
and comment/remove this line of code from commentList
// // prevents un-necesary re renders
// // export default React.memo(CommentList);
// // will be useful for unit testing.
// export { CommentList as CommentListComponent };