How do I use Mockito to mock a protected method?

junit mocking mockito protected
Dave picture Dave · Dec 4, 2015 · Viewed 61.8k times · Source

I’m using Mockito 1.9.5. How do I mock what is coming back from a protected method? I have this protected method …

protected JSONObject myMethod(final String param1, final String param2)
{
…
}

However, when I attempt to do this in JUnit:

    final MyService mymock = Mockito.mock(MyService.class, Mockito.CALLS_REAL_METHODS);        
    final String pararm1 = “param1”;
    Mockito.doReturn(myData).when(mymock).myMethod(param1, param2);

On the last line, I get a compilation error “The method ‘myMethod’ is not visible.” How do I use Mockito to mock protected methods? I’m open to upgrading my version if that’s the answer.

Answer

John B picture John B · Dec 4, 2015

This is not an issue with Mockito, but with plain old java. From where you are calling the method, you don't have visibility. That is why it is a compile-time issue instead of a run-time issue.

A couple options:

  • declare your test in the same package as the mocked class
  • change the visibilty of the method if you can
  • create a local (inner) class that extends the mocked class, then mock this local class. Since the class would be local, you would have visibility to the method.

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