How to test, with Mockery, a controller that uses an Ardent Model? - testing

Question

I am trying to test this function in a Laravel controller:
/**
* Store a newly created resource in storage.
*
* #return Response
*/
public function store()
{
$project = $this->project->create(Input::all());
if ( $errors = $project->errors()->all() ) {
return Redirect::route('projects.create')
->withInput()
->withErrors($errors);
}
return Redirect::route('projects.index')
->with('flash', Lang::get('projects.project_created'));
}
My (wrong) test looks like this:
public function testStoreFails()
{
$this->mock->shouldReceive('create')
->once()
->andReturn(Mockery::mock(array(
false,
'errors' => array()
)));
$this->call('POST', 'projects');
$this->assertRedirectedToRoute('projects.create');
$this->assertSessionHasErrors();
}
The problem is, basically, that Ardent sets $project to false when the validation fails, but it also sets errors on that same object, that can be retreived with ->errors()->all().
I'm quite lost trying to find out what to return in the mock.
Note: The constructor injects the model:
public function __construct(Project $project)
{
$this->project = $project;
$this->beforeFilter('auth');
}

Answer 1

– Edited by following comments in answer –
If I'm understanding what you are trying to do properly, you could do this:
Mock the create() method to return a mocked Project.
Mock the save() method to return false.
Mock a MessageBag instance, which is the object that errors() would return. This mock should have a mocked all() method.
Make the mocked errors() method to return the MessageBag mock.
Assuming $this->mock is a mock of the Project class here:
// given that $this->mock = Mockery::mock('Project')
public function testStoreFails()
{
// Mock the create() method to return itself
$this->mock->shouldReceive('save')->once()->andReturn(false);
// Mock MessageBag and all() method
$errors = Mockery::mock('Illuminate\Support\MessageBag');
$errors->shouldReceive('all')->once()->andReturn(array('foo' => 'bar'));
// Mock errors() method from model and make it return the MessageBag mock
$this->mock->shouldReceive('errors')->andReturn($errors);
// Proceed to make the post call
$this->call('POST', 'projects');
$this->assertRedirectedToRoute('projects.create');
$this->assertSessionHasErrors();
}