How to trigger $onInit or $onChanges implictly in unit testing Angular component controller?

Question

I\'m using Angular 1.5.5 and Jasmine as test framework. Currently I have to do something like this so that the test passes:

function createController(bindings) {         


        

Answer 1

You would require to take reference of controller from compiled version of element. As shown below:

describe('Component: Test Method', function () {

        beforeEach(inject(function (_$rootScope_) {
            scope = _$rootScope_.$new();
        }));


        it('should set value of selectedPackage to null after $onChanges event', inject(function ($compile) {
            // Trigger 1st $onChanges
            scope.selectedPackage = 'packageCode';

            var element = angular.element('');
            element = $compile(element)(scope);
            scope.$digest();

            //Extract the Controller reference from compiled element
            var elementController = element.isolateScope().$ctrl;

            // Assert
            expect(elementController.selectedPackage).toBeNull();
        }));
    });
});