Serialization settings can be customized at three levels:
- Method: Will run the verification in the current test method.
- Class: Will run for all verifications in all test methods for a test class.
- Global: Will run for test methods on all tests.
Note that the output is technically not valid json.
- Names and values are not quoted.
- Newlines are not escaped.
The reason for these is that it makes approval files cleaner and easier to read and visualize/understand differences.
To use strict json call VerifierSettings.UseStrictJson
:
VerifierSettings.UseStrictJson();
Then this result in
- The default
.received.
and.verified.
extensions for serialized verification to be.json
. JsonTextWriter.QuoteChar
to be"
.JsonTextWriter.QuoteName
to betrue
.
Then when an object is verified:
var target = new TheTarget
{
Value = "Foo"
};
await Verify(target);
The resulting file will be:
{
"Value": "Foo"
}
The default JsonSerializerSettings
are:
var settings = new JsonSerializerSettings
{
Formatting = Formatting.Indented,
ReferenceLoopHandling = ReferenceLoopHandling.Ignore,
DefaultValueHandling = DefaultValueHandling.Ignore,
Culture = CultureInfo.InvariantCulture
};
VerifierSettings.ModifySerialization(settings =>
settings.AddExtraSettings(serializerSettings =>
serializerSettings.TypeNameHandling = TypeNameHandling.All));
[Fact]
public Task AddExtraSettings()
{
var target = new DateOnly(2000, 1, 1);
var verifySettings = new VerifySettings();
verifySettings.ModifySerialization(settings =>
settings.AddExtraSettings(serializerSettings =>
serializerSettings.DefaultValueHandling = DefaultValueHandling.Include));
return Verify(target, verifySettings);
}
[Fact]
public Task AddExtraSettingsFluent()
{
var target = new DateOnly(2000, 1, 1);
return Verify(target)
.ModifySerialization(settings =>
settings.AddExtraSettings(serializerSettings =>
serializerSettings.DefaultValueHandling = DefaultValueHandling.Include));
}
JsonTextWriter.QuoteName is set to false. The reason for this is that it makes approval files cleaner and easier to read and visualize/understand differences.
By default empty collections are ignored during verification.
To disable this behavior globally use:
VerifierSettings.ModifySerialization(_ => _.DontIgnoreEmptyCollections());
By default guids are sanitized during verification. This is done by finding each guid and taking a counter based that that specific guid. That counter is then used replace the guid values. This allows for repeatable tests when guid values are changing.
var guid = Guid.NewGuid();
var target = new GuidTarget
{
Guid = guid,
GuidNullable = guid,
GuidString = guid.ToString(),
OtherGuid = Guid.NewGuid(),
};
await Verify(target);
Results in the following:
{
Guid: Guid_1,
GuidNullable: Guid_1,
GuidString: Guid_1,
OtherGuid: Guid_2
}
Strings containing inline Guids can also be scrubbed. To enable this behavior, use:
VerifierSettings.ScrubInlineGuids();
To disable this behavior use:
var settings = new VerifySettings();
settings.ModifySerialization(_ => _.DontScrubGuids());
await Verify(target, settings);
Or with the fluent api:
await Verify(target)
.ModifySerialization(_ => _.DontScrubGuids());
To disable this behavior globally use:
VerifierSettings.ModifySerialization(_ => _.DontScrubGuids());
By default dates (DateTime
and DateTimeOffset
) are sanitized during verification. This is done by finding each date and taking a counter based that that specific date. That counter is then used replace the date values. This allows for repeatable tests when date values are changing.
var dateTime = DateTime.Now;
var dateTimeOffset = DateTimeOffset.Now;
var target = new DateTimeTarget
{
DateTime = dateTime,
DateOnly = new(dateTime.Year, dateTime.Month, dateTime.Day),
DateOnlyNullable = new(dateTime.Year, dateTime.Month, dateTime.Day),
DateOnlyString = new DateOnly(dateTime.Year, dateTime.Month, dateTime.Day).ToString(),
DateTimeNullable = dateTime,
DateTimeString = dateTime.ToString("F"),
DateTimeOffset = dateTimeOffset,
DateTimeOffsetNullable = dateTimeOffset,
DateTimeOffsetString = dateTimeOffset.ToString("F"),
};
await Verify(target);
Results in the following:
{
DateTime: DateTime_1,
DateTimeNullable: DateTime_1,
DateOnly: Date_1,
DateOnlyNullable: Date_1,
DateTimeOffset: DateTimeOffset_1,
DateTimeOffsetNullable: DateTimeOffset_1,
DateTimeString: DateTimeOffset_2,
DateTimeOffsetString: DateTimeOffset_2,
DateOnlyString: Date_1
}
To disable this behavior use:
var target = new
{
Date = DateTime.Now
};
var settings = new VerifySettings();
settings.ModifySerialization(_ => _.DontScrubDateTimes());
return Verify(target, settings);
Or using the fluent api use:
var target = new
{
Date = DateTime.Now
};
return Verify(target)
.ModifySerialization(_ => _.DontScrubDateTimes());
Or globally use:
VerifierSettings.ModifySerialization(_ => _.DontScrubDateTimes());
By default numeric properties (int
, uint
, long
, ulong
, and their nullable counterparts) suffixed with Id
are sanitized during verification. This is done by finding each id and taking a counter based that that specific id. That counter is then used replace the id values. This allows for repeatable tests when id are bing generated.
[Fact]
public Task NumericIdScrubbing()
{
var target = new
{
Id = 5,
OtherId = 5,
YetAnotherId = 4,
PossibleNullId = (int?) 5,
ActualNullId = (int?) null
};
return Verify(target);
}
Results in the following:
{
Id: Id_1,
OtherId: Id_1,
YetAnotherId: Id_2,
PossibleNullId: Id_1
}
A custom "is member a numeric Id" convention is supported.
To define a convention use:
[Fact]
public Task TreatAsNumericId()
{
var target = new IdConventionTarget
{
TheProperty = 5
};
return Verify(target)
.ModifySerialization(
settings => settings.TreatAsNumericId(
member => member.Name == "TheProperty"));
}
To define a convention globally use:
VerifierSettings.ModifySerialization(
settings => settings.TreatAsNumericId(
member => member.Name == "TheProperty"));
To disable this globally use:
[Fact]
public Task NumericIdScrubbingDisabled()
{
var target = new
{
Id = 5,
OtherId = 5,
YetAnotherId = 4,
PossibleNullId = (int?) 5,
ActualNullId = (int?) null
};
return Verify(target)
.ModifySerialization(_ => _.DontScrubNumericIds());
}
To disable this behavior globally use:
VerifierSettings.ModifySerialization(_ => _.DontScrubNumericIds());
By default values of bool
and bool?
are ignored during verification. So properties that equate to 'false' will not be written,
To disable this behavior globally use:
VerifierSettings.ModifySerialization(_ => _.DontIgnoreFalse());
DateTime
, DateTimeOffset
, Guid
, bool
, and empty collection behavior can also be controlled at the verification level:
var settings = new VerifySettings();
settings.ModifySerialization(_ =>
{
_.DontIgnoreEmptyCollections();
_.DontScrubGuids();
_.DontScrubDateTimes();
_.DontIgnoreFalse();
});
await Verify(target, settings);
await Verify(target)
.ModifySerialization(_ =>
{
_.DontIgnoreEmptyCollections();
_.DontScrubGuids();
_.DontScrubDateTimes();
_.DontIgnoreFalse();
});
await Verify(target)
.ModifySerialization(_ =>
{
_.DontIgnoreEmptyCollections();
_.DontScrubGuids();
_.DontScrubDateTimes();
_.DontIgnoreFalse();
});
Extra Json.NET settings can be made:
VerifierSettings.AddExtraSettings(_ =>
{
_.TypeNameHandling = TypeNameHandling.All;
});
var settings = new VerifySettings();
settings.AddExtraSettings(_ =>
{
_.TypeNameHandling = TypeNameHandling.All;
});
One common use case is to register a custom JsonConverter. As only writing is required, to help with this there is WriteOnlyJsonConverter
, and WriteOnlyJsonConverter<T>
.
class CompanyConverter :
WriteOnlyJsonConverter<Company>
{
public override void Write(VerifyJsonWriter writer, Company company)
{
writer.WriteProperty(company, company.Name, "Name");
}
}
VerifierSettings.AddExtraSettings(
_ =>
{
_.Converters.Add(new CompanyConverter());
});
VerifyJsonWriter
exposes the following members:
Counter
property that gives programmatic access to the counting behavior used by Guid, Date, and Id scrubbing.Serializer
property that exposes the currentJsonSerializer
.Serialize(object value)
is a convenience method that callsJsonSerializer.Serialize
passing in the writer instance and thevalue
parameter.WriteProperty<T, TMember>(T target, TMember value, string name)
method that writes a property name and value while respecting other custom serialization settings eg member converters, ignore rules etc.
[Fact]
public Task ScopedSerializer()
{
var person = new Person
{
GivenNames = "John",
FamilyName = "Smith"
};
var settings = new VerifySettings();
settings.AddExtraSettings(_ => _.TypeNameHandling = TypeNameHandling.All);
return Verify(person, settings);
}
[Fact]
public Task ScopedSerializerFluent()
{
var person = new Person
{
GivenNames = "John",
FamilyName = "Smith"
};
return Verify(person)
.AddExtraSettings(_ => _.TypeNameHandling = TypeNameHandling.All);
}
Result:
{
$type: VerifyObjectSamples.Person,
GivenNames: John,
FamilyName: Smith
}
To ignore all members that match a certain type:
[Fact]
public Task IgnoreType()
{
var target = new IgnoreTypeTarget
{
ToIgnore = new()
{
Property = "Value"
},
ToIgnoreNullable = new()
{
Property = "Value"
},
ToInclude = new()
{
Property = "Value"
},
ToIncludeNullable = new()
{
Property = "Value"
},
ToIgnoreStruct = new ("Value"),
ToIgnoreStructNullable = new ("Value"),
ToIncludeStruct = new ("Value"),
ToIncludeStructNullable = new ("Value"),
};
var settings = new VerifySettings();
settings.ModifySerialization(_ =>
{
_.IgnoreMembersWithType<ToIgnore>();
_.IgnoreMembersWithType<ToIgnoreStruct>();
});
return Verify(target, settings);
}
[Fact]
public Task IgnoreTypeFluent()
{
var target = new IgnoreTypeTarget
{
ToIgnore = new()
{
Property = "Value"
},
ToIgnoreNullable = new()
{
Property = "Value"
},
ToInclude = new()
{
Property = "Value"
},
ToIncludeNullable = new()
{
Property = "Value"
},
ToIgnoreStruct = new ("Value"),
ToIgnoreStructNullable = new ("Value"),
ToIncludeStruct = new ("Value"),
ToIncludeStructNullable = new ("Value"),
};
return Verify(target)
.ModifySerialization(_ =>
{
_.IgnoreMembersWithType<ToIgnore>();
_.IgnoreMembersWithType<ToIgnoreStruct>();
});
}
Or globally:
VerifierSettings.ModifySerialization(
_ => _.IgnoreMembersWithType<ToIgnore>());
Result:
{
ToInclude: {
Property: Value
},
ToIncludeNullable: {
Property: Value
},
ToIncludeStruct: {
Property: Value
},
ToIncludeStructNullable: {
Property: Value
}
}
To ignore instances of a type based on delegate:
[Fact]
public Task AddIgnoreInstance()
{
var target = new IgnoreInstanceTarget
{
ToIgnore = new()
{
Property = "Ignore"
},
ToInclude = new()
{
Property = "Include"
}
};
var settings = new VerifySettings();
settings.ModifySerialization(
_ => _.IgnoreInstance<Instance>(x => x.Property == "Ignore"));
return Verify(target, settings);
}
[Fact]
public Task AddIgnoreInstanceFluent()
{
var target = new IgnoreInstanceTarget
{
ToIgnore = new()
{
Property = "Ignore"
},
ToInclude = new()
{
Property = "Include"
}
};
return Verify(target)
.ModifySerialization(
_ => { _.IgnoreInstance<Instance>(x => x.Property == "Ignore"); });
}
Or globally:
VerifierSettings.ModifySerialization(
_ => _.IgnoreInstance<Instance>(x => x.Property == "Ignore"));
Result:
{
ToInclude: {
Property: Include
}
}
Members with an ObsoleteAttribute are ignored:
class WithObsolete
{
[Obsolete]
public string ObsoleteProperty { get; set; }
public string OtherProperty { get; set; }
}
[Fact]
public Task WithObsoleteProp()
{
var target = new WithObsolete
{
ObsoleteProperty = "value1",
OtherProperty = "value2"
};
return Verify(target);
}
Result:
{
OtherProperty: value2
}
Obsolete members can be included using IncludeObsoletes
:
[Fact]
public Task WithObsoletePropIncluded()
{
var target = new WithObsolete
{
ObsoleteProperty = "value1",
OtherProperty = "value2"
};
var settings = new VerifySettings();
settings.ModifySerialization(_ => _.IncludeObsoletes());
return Verify(target, settings);
}
[Fact]
public Task WithObsoletePropIncludedFluent()
{
var target = new WithObsolete
{
ObsoleteProperty = "value1",
OtherProperty = "value2"
};
return Verify(target)
.ModifySerialization(_ => _.IncludeObsoletes());
}
Or globally:
VerifierSettings.ModifySerialization(_ => _.IncludeObsoletes());
Result:
{
ObsoleteProperty: value1,
OtherProperty: value2
}
To ignore members of a certain type using an expression:
[Fact]
public Task IgnoreMemberByExpression()
{
var target = new IgnoreExplicitTarget
{
Include = "Value",
Field = "Value",
Property = "Value",
PropertyWithPropertyName = "Value"
};
var settings = new VerifySettings();
settings.ModifySerialization(_ =>
{
_.IgnoreMember<IgnoreExplicitTarget>(x => x.Property);
_.IgnoreMember<IgnoreExplicitTarget>(x => x.PropertyWithPropertyName);
_.IgnoreMember<IgnoreExplicitTarget>(x => x.Field);
_.IgnoreMember<IgnoreExplicitTarget>(x => x.GetOnlyProperty);
_.IgnoreMember<IgnoreExplicitTarget>(x => x.PropertyThatThrows);
});
return Verify(target, settings);
}
[Fact]
public Task IgnoreMemberByExpressionFluent()
{
var target = new IgnoreExplicitTarget
{
Include = "Value",
Field = "Value",
Property = "Value"
};
return Verify(target)
.ModifySerialization(_ =>
{
_.IgnoreMember<IgnoreExplicitTarget>(x => x.Property);
_.IgnoreMember<IgnoreExplicitTarget>(x => x.Field);
_.IgnoreMember<IgnoreExplicitTarget>(x => x.GetOnlyProperty);
_.IgnoreMember<IgnoreExplicitTarget>(x => x.PropertyThatThrows);
});
}
Or globally
VerifierSettings.ModifySerialization(_ =>
{
_.IgnoreMember<IgnoreExplicitTarget>(x => x.Property);
_.IgnoreMember<IgnoreExplicitTarget>(x => x.PropertyWithPropertyName);
_.IgnoreMember<IgnoreExplicitTarget>(x => x.Field);
_.IgnoreMember<IgnoreExplicitTarget>(x => x.GetOnlyProperty);
_.IgnoreMember<IgnoreExplicitTarget>(x => x.PropertyThatThrows);
});
Result:
{
Include: Value
}
To ignore members of a certain type using type and name:
[Fact]
public Task IgnoreMemberByName()
{
var target = new IgnoreExplicitTarget
{
Include = "Value",
Field = "Value",
Property = "Value",
PropertyByName = "Value"
};
var settings = new VerifySettings();
settings.ModifySerialization(_ =>
{
// For all types
_.IgnoreMember("PropertyByName");
// For a specific type
_.IgnoreMember(typeof(IgnoreExplicitTarget), "Property");
// For a specific type generic
_.IgnoreMember<IgnoreExplicitTarget>("Field");
// For a specific type with expression
_.IgnoreMember<IgnoreExplicitTarget>(_ => _.PropertyThatThrows);
});
return Verify(target, settings);
}
[Fact]
public Task IgnoreMemberByNameFluent()
{
var target = new IgnoreExplicitTarget
{
Include = "Value",
Field = "Value",
Property = "Value",
PropertyByName = "Value"
};
return Verify(target)
.ModifySerialization(_ =>
{
// For all types
_.IgnoreMember("PropertyByName");
// For a specific type
_.IgnoreMember(typeof(IgnoreExplicitTarget), "Property");
// For a specific type generic
_.IgnoreMember<IgnoreExplicitTarget>("Field");
// For a specific type with expression
_.IgnoreMember<IgnoreExplicitTarget>(_ => _.PropertyThatThrows);
});
}
Or globally:
VerifierSettings.ModifySerialization(_ =>
{
// For all types
_.IgnoreMember("PropertyByName");
// For a specific type
_.IgnoreMember(typeof(IgnoreExplicitTarget), "Property");
// For a specific type generic
_.IgnoreMember<IgnoreExplicitTarget>("Field");
// For a specific type with expression
_.IgnoreMember<IgnoreExplicitTarget>(_ => _.PropertyThatThrows);
});
Result:
{
Include: Value,
GetOnlyProperty: asd
}
Members that throw exceptions can be excluded from serialization based on the exception type or properties.
By default members that throw NotImplementedException
or NotSupportedException
are ignored.
Note that this is global for all members on all types.
Ignore by exception type:
[Fact]
public Task CustomExceptionProp()
{
var target = new WithCustomException();
var settings = new VerifySettings();
settings.ModifySerialization(_ => _.IgnoreMembersThatThrow<CustomException>());
return Verify(target, settings);
}
[Fact]
public Task CustomExceptionPropFluent()
{
var target = new WithCustomException();
return Verify(target)
.ModifySerialization(_ => _.IgnoreMembersThatThrow<CustomException>());
}
Or globally:
VerifierSettings.ModifySerialization(_ => _.IgnoreMembersThatThrow<CustomException>());
Result:
{}
Ignore by exception type and expression:
[Fact]
public Task ExceptionMessageProp()
{
var target = new WithExceptionIgnoreMessage();
var settings = new VerifySettings();
settings.ModifySerialization(
_ => _.IgnoreMembersThatThrow<Exception>(x => x.Message == "Ignore"));
return Verify(target, settings);
}
[Fact]
public Task ExceptionMessagePropFluent()
{
var target = new WithExceptionIgnoreMessage();
return Verify(target)
.ModifySerialization(
_ => _.IgnoreMembersThatThrow<Exception>(x => x.Message == "Ignore"));
}
Or globally:
VerifierSettings.ModifySerialization(
_ => _.IgnoreMembersThatThrow<Exception>(x => x.Message == "Ignore"));
Result:
{}
Certain types, when passed directly in to Verify, are written directly without going through json serialization.
The default mapping is:
{typeof(string), (target, _) => (string) target},
{typeof(StringBuilder), (target, _) => ((StringBuilder) target).ToString()},
{typeof(bool), (target, _) => ((bool) target).ToString(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)},
{typeof(short), (target, _) => ((short) target).ToString(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)},
{typeof(ushort), (target, _) => ((ushort) target).ToString(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)},
{typeof(int), (target, _) => ((int) target).ToString(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)},
{typeof(uint), (target, _) => ((uint) target).ToString(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)},
{typeof(long), (target, _) => ((long) target).ToString(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)},
{typeof(ulong), (target, _) => ((ulong) target).ToString(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)},
{typeof(decimal), (target, _) => ((decimal) target).ToString(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)},
#if NET5_0_OR_GREATER
{typeof(Half), (target, settings) => ((Half) target).ToString(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)},
#endif
#if NET6_0_OR_GREATER
{
typeof(DateOnly), (target, _) =>
{
var date = (DateOnly) target;
return date.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
}
},
{
typeof(TimeOnly), (target, _) =>
{
var time = (TimeOnly) target;
return time.ToString("h:mm tt", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
}
},
#endif
{typeof(float), (target, _) => ((float) target).ToString(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)},
{typeof(double), (target, _) => ((double) target).ToString(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)},
{typeof(Guid), (target, _) => ((Guid) target).ToString()},
{
typeof(DateTime), (target, _) =>
{
var dateTime = (DateTime) target;
return dateTime.ToString("yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ss.FFFFFFFz");
}
},
{
typeof(DateTimeOffset), (target, _) =>
{
var dateTimeOffset = (DateTimeOffset) target;
return dateTimeOffset.ToString("yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ss.FFFFFFFz", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
}
},
{
typeof(XmlNode), (target, settings) =>
{
var converted = (XmlNode) target;
var document = XDocument.Parse(converted.OuterXml);
return new(document.ToString(), "xml");
}
},
{
typeof(XDocument), (target, settings) =>
{
var converted = (XDocument) target;
return new(converted.ToString(), "xml");
}
},
{
typeof(XElement), (target, settings) =>
{
var converted = (XElement) target;
return new(converted.ToString(), "xml");
}
}
This bypasses the Guid and DateTime scrubbing mentioned above.
Extra types can be added to this mapping:
VerifierSettings.TreatAsString<ClassWithToString>(
(target, settings) => target.Property);
The value of a member can be mutated before serialization:
[Fact]
public Task MemberConverterByExpression()
{
var input = new MemberTarget
{
Field = "FieldValue",
Property = "PropertyValue"
};
// using only the member
VerifierSettings.MemberConverter<MemberTarget, string>(
expression: x => x.Field,
converter: member => $"{member}_Suffix");
// using target and member
VerifierSettings.MemberConverter<MemberTarget, string>(
expression: x => x.Property,
converter: (target, member) => $"{target}_{member}_Suffix");
return Verify(input);
}
Serialized properties can optionally be sorted alphabetically, ie ignoring the order they are defined when using reflection.
static class ModuleInitializer
{
[ModuleInitializer]
public static void Init()
{
VerifierSettings.SortPropertiesAlphabetically();
}
}
A JsonAppender allows extra content (key value pairs) to be optionally appended to the output being verified. JsonAppenders can use the current context to determine what should be appended or if anything should be appended.
Register a JsonAppender:
VerifierSettings.RegisterJsonAppender(
context =>
{
if (ShouldInclude(context))
{
return new ToAppend("theData", "theValue");
}
return null;
});
When when content is verified:
[Fact]
public Task WithJsonAppender()
{
return Verify("TheValue");
}
The content from RegisterJsonAppender will be included in the output:
{
target: TheValue,
theData: theValue
}
If the target is a stream or binary file:
[Fact]
public Task Stream()
{
return Verify(FileHelpers.OpenRead("sample.txt"));
}
Then the appended content will be added to the *.00.verified.txt
file:
{
target: null,
theData: theValue
}
See Converters for more information on *.00.verified.txt
files.
Examples of extensions using JsonAppenders are Recorders in Verify.SqlServer and Recorders in Verify.EntityFramework.