How to use Visual Studio test for a method which returns datatable

Question

I'm new to visual studio tests, I created a new test method to test a method which returns a datatable based on the tablename passed, but I'm confused as to how to test such a method, since the results are variable based on what's in the backend store at any point in time

[TestMethod()]
        public void GetTableDataTest()
        {
            string tableName = "SomeTable"; // TODO: Initialize to an appropriate value
            DataTable expected = null; // TODO: Initialize to an appropriate value
            DataTable actual;
            actual = LogManager.GetTableData(tableName);
            Assert.AreEqual(expected, actual);
            Assert.Inconclusive("Verify the correctness of this test method.");
        }

Also can someone please point me to a some good blog resources?

Answer 1

A proper unit test does not access a live database. A unit test should operate against mock or fake objects. That is, you'll have to make sure that the LogManager.GetTableData() can be designed to return fake data when being run from the unit test.

For example, the fake data could be a list of static log entries called "Log Entry 1" through "Log Entry 5". Then the unit test verifies that the method in fact had 5 log entries, and each had the right name.

The real question here boils down to "What exactly is it that you are trying to test?" Define the scenario and then we can help you write the test.