java - How to mock a builder with mockito

Question

I have a builder:

class Builder{
     private String name;
     private String address;
     public Builder setName(String name){
         this.name = name;
         return this;
    }
     public Builder setAddress(String address){
         this.address = address;
         return this;
    }

}

Mocking the builder in mockito will gives me null for every method. So is there an easy way to get the builder return itself on every function call, without mocking every function itself using when().thenReturn.

Answer 1

The problem with using RETURN_DEEP_STUBS is that you'll get a different mock each time you call a method. I think from your question that you want to use a default Answer that actually returns the mock on which it was called, for each method that has the right return type. This could look something like the following. Note that I haven't tested this, so it may contain typos, but I hope that the intention is clear in any case.

import static org.mockito.Mockito.RETURNS_DEFAULTS;
import org.mockito.invocation.InvocationOnMock;
import org.mockito.stubbing.Answer;

public class SelfReturningAnswer implements Answer<Object> {

    public Object answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
        Object mock = invocation.getMock();
        if(invocation.getMethod().getReturnType().isInstance(mock)){
            return mock;
        }
        return RETURNS_DEFAULTS.answer(invocation);
    }
}

Then, when you create your mock, specify this as your default answer. This will make your mock return itself from each method that it can; but it will behave like an ordinary mock when you call a method whose return type is wrong for the mock.

Create your mock like this

Builder mockBuilder = mock( Builder.class, new SelfReturningAnswer());

or create a constant for this class and write something like

@Mock(answer = SELF_RETURNING) private Builder mockBuilder;

Hope that helps.