CakePHP Controller Testing: Mocking $this->referer() - cakephp

Question

I have code in place so that if the "Add User" page is accessed from anywhere in the "Posts" section of the website, the user will be taken to the "Users" index after adding the user. But if the "Add User" page is accessed from any other section of the website, the user will be taken back to where they were after adding the user. I want to test this, but I don't know how. This is what I have so far:
Controller Code
<?php
App::uses('AppController', 'Controller');
class UsersController extends AppController {
public function add() {
if ($this->request->is('post')) {
$this->User->create();
if ($this->User->save($this->request->data)) {
$this->Session->setFlash(__('The user has been saved'));
return $this->redirect($this->request->data['User']['redirect']);
} else {
$this->Session->setFlash(__('The user could not be saved. Please, try again.'));
}
}
else {
if ($this->referer() == '/' || strpos($this->referer(), '/posts') !== false) {
$this->request->data['User']['redirect'] = Router::url(array('action' => 'index'));
}
else {
$this->request->data['User']['redirect'] = $this->referer();
}
}
}
public function index() {
$this->User->recursive = 0;
$this->set('users', $this->paginate());
}
}
Test Code
<?php
App::uses('UsersController', 'Controller');
class UsersControllerTest extends ControllerTestCase {
public function testAdd() {
$this->Controller = $this->generate('Users');
// The following line is my failed attempt at making $this->referer()
// always return "/posts".
$this->Controller->expects($this->any())->method('referer')->will($this->returnValue('/posts'));
$this->testAction('/users/add/', array('method' => 'get'));
$this->assertEquals('/users', $this->Controller->request->data['User']['redirect']);
}
}
What am I doing wrong?

Answer 1

You aren't mocking any methods
This line
$this->Controller = $this->generate('Users');
Only generates a test controller, you aren't specifying any methods to mock. To specify that some controller methods need to be mocked refer to the documentation:
$Posts = $this->generate('Users', array(
'methods' => array(
'referer'
),
...
));
The expectation is never triggered
Before asking this question, you probably had an internal conversation a bit like: "why is it saying that my expectation is never called? I'll just use $this->any() and ignore it.."
Don't use $this->any() unless it really doesn't matter if the mocked method is called at all. Looking at the controller code, you're expecting it to be called exactly once - so instead use $this->once():
public function testAdd() {
...
$this->Controller
->expects($this->once()) # <-
->method('referer')
->will($this->returnValue('/posts'));
...
}
The full list of available matchers is available in PHPUnit's documentation.