sinonjs
Lolex 
JavaScript implementation of the timer APIs; setTimeout, clearTimeout, setImmediate, clearImmediate, setInterval, clearInterval, requestAnimationFrame, cancelAnimationFrame, requestIdleCallback, and cancelIdleCallback, along with a clock instance that controls the flow of time. Lolex also provides a Date implementation that gets its time from the clock.
In addition in browser environment lolex provides a performance implementation that gets its time from the clock. In Node environments lolex provides a nextTick implementation that is synchronized with the clock - and a process.hrtime shim that works with the clock.
Lolex can be used to simulate passing time in automated tests and other situations where you want the scheduling semantics, but don't want to actually wait (however, from version 2.0 lolex supports those of you who would like to wait too).
Lolex is extracted from Sinon.JS and targets the same runtimes.
Installation
Lolex can be used in both Node and browser environments. Installation is as easy as
npm install lolexIf you want to use Lolex in a browser you can use the pre-built
version available in the repo
and the npm package. Using npm you only need to reference ./node_modules/lolex/lolex.js in your <script> tags.
You are always free to build it yourself, of course.
Usage
To use lolex, create a new clock, schedule events on it using the timer
functions and pass time using the tick method.
// In the browser distribution, a global `lolex` is already available
var lolex = require("lolex");
var clock = lolex.createClock();
clock.setTimeout(function () {
console.log("The poblano is a mild chili pepper originating in the state of Puebla, Mexico.");
}, 15);
// ...
clock.tick(15);Upon executing the last line, an interesting fact about the Poblano will be printed synchronously to the screen. If you want to simulate asynchronous behavior, you have to use your imagination when calling the various functions.
The next, runAll, runToFrame, and runToLast methods are available to advance the clock. See the
API Reference for more details.
Faking the native timers
When using lolex to test timers, you will most likely want to replace the native
timers such that calling setTimeout actually schedules a callback with your
clock instance, not the browser's internals.
Calling install with no arguments achieves this. You can call uninstall
later to restore things as they were again.
// In the browser distribution, a global `lolex` is already available
var lolex = require("lolex");
var clock = lolex.install();
// Equivalent to
// var clock = lolex.install(typeof global !== "undefined" ? global : window);
setTimeout(fn, 15); // Schedules with clock.setTimeout
clock.uninstall();
// setTimeout is restored to the native implementationTo hijack timers in another context pass it to the install method.
var lolex = require("lolex");
var context = {
setTimeout: setTimeout // By default context.setTimeout uses the global setTimeout
}
var clock = lolex.install({target: context});
context.setTimeout(fn, 15); // Schedules with clock.setTimeout
clock.uninstall();
// context.setTimeout is restored to the original implementationUsually you want to install the timers onto the global object, so call install
without arguments.
Automatically incrementing mocked time
Since version 2.0 Lolex supports the possibility to attach the faked timers
to any change in the real system time. This basically means you no longer need
to tick() the clock in a situation where you won't know when to call tick().
Please note that this is achieved using the original setImmediate() API at a certain
configurable interval config.advanceTimeDelta (default: 20ms). Meaning time would
be incremented every 20ms, not in real time.
An example would be:
var lolex = require("lolex");
var clock = lolex.install({shouldAdvanceTime: true, advanceTimeDelta: 40});
setTimeout(() => {
console.log('this just timed out'); //executed after 40ms
}, 30);
setImmediate(() => {
console.log('not so immediate'); //executed after 40ms
});
setTimeout(() => {
console.log('this timed out after'); //executed after 80ms
clock.uninstall();
}, 50);API Reference
var clock = lolex.createClock([now[, loopLimit]])
Creates a clock. The default
epoch is 0.
The now argument may be a number (in milliseconds) or a Date object.
The loopLimit argument sets the maximum number of timers that will be run when calling runAll() before assuming that we have an infinite loop and throwing an error. The default is 1000.
var clock = lolex.install([config])
Installs lolex using the specified config (otherwise with epoch 0 on the global scope). The following configuration options are available
| Parameter | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
config.target |
Object | global | installs lolex onto the specified target context |
config.now |
Number/Date | 0 | installs lolex with the specified unix epoch |
config.toFake |
String[] | ["setTimeout", "clearTimeout", "setImmediate", "clearImmediate","setInterval", "clearInterval", "Date", "requestAnimationFrame", "cancelAnimationFrame", "requestIdleCallback", "cancelIdleCallback", "hrtime"] | an array with explicit function names to hijack. When not set, lolex will automatically fake all methods except nextTick e.g., lolex.install({ toFake: ["setTimeout","nextTick"]}) will fake only setTimeout and nextTick |
config.loopLimit |
Number | 1000 | the maximum number of timers that will be run when calling runAll() |
config.shouldAdvanceTime |
Boolean | false | tells lolex to increment mocked time automatically based on the real system time shift (e.g. the mocked time will be incremented by 20ms for every 20ms change in the real system time) |
config.advanceTimeDelta |
Number | 20 | relevant only when using with shouldAdvanceTime: true. increment mocked time by advanceTimeDelta ms every advanceTimeDelta ms change in the real system time. |
var id = clock.setTimeout(callback, timeout)
Schedules the callback to be fired once timeout milliseconds have ticked by.
In Node.js setTimeout returns a timer object. Lolex will do the same, however
its ref() and unref() methods have no effect.
In browsers a timer ID is returned.
clock.clearTimeout(id)
Clears the timer given the ID or timer object, as long as it was created using
setTimeout.
var id = clock.setInterval(callback, timeout)
Schedules the callback to be fired every time timeout milliseconds have ticked
by.
In Node.js setInterval returns a timer object. Lolex will do the same, however
its ref() and unref() methods have no effect.
In browsers a timer ID is returned.
clock.clearInterval(id)
Clears the timer given the ID or timer object, as long as it was created using
setInterval.
var id = clock.setImmediate(callback)
Schedules the callback to be fired once 0 milliseconds have ticked by. Note
that you'll still have to call clock.tick() for the callback to fire. If
called during a tick the callback won't fire until 1 millisecond has ticked
by.
In Node.js setImmediate returns a timer object. Lolex will do the same,
however its ref() and unref() methods have no effect.
In browsers a timer ID is returned.
clock.clearImmediate(id)
Clears the timer given the ID or timer object, as long as it was created using
setImmediate.
clock.requestAnimationFrame(callback)
Schedules the callback to be fired on the next animation frame, which runs every
16 ticks. Returns an id which can be used to cancel the callback. This is
available in both browser & node environments.
clock.cancelAnimationFrame(id)
Cancels the callback scheduled by the provided id.
clock.requestIdleCallback(callback[, timeout])
Queued the callback to be fired during idle periods to perform background and low priority work on the main event loop. Callbacks which have a timeout option will be fired no later than time in milliseconds. Returns an id which can be used to cancel the callback.
clock.cancelIdleCallback(id)
Cancels the callback scheduled by the provided id.
clock.countTimers()
Returns the number of waiting timers. This can be used to assert that a test finishes without leaking any timers.
clock.hrtime(prevTime?)
Only available in Node.js, mimicks process.hrtime().
clock.nextTick(callback)
Only available in Node.js, mimics process.nextTick to enable completely synchronous testing flows.
clock.performance.now()
Only available in browser environments, mimicks performance.now().
clock.tick(time) / await clock.tickAsync(time)
Advance the clock, firing callbacks if necessary. time may be the number of
milliseconds to advance the clock by or a human-readable string. Valid string
formats are "08" for eight seconds, "01:00" for one minute and "02:34:10"
for two hours, 34 minutes and ten seconds.
The tickAsync() will also break the event loop, allowing any scheduled promise
callbacks to execute before running the timers.
clock.next() / await clock.nextAsync()
Advances the clock to the the moment of the first scheduled timer, firing it.
The nextAsync() will also break the event loop, allowing any scheduled promise
callbacks to execute before running the timers.
clock.reset()
Removes all timers and ticks without firing them, and sets now to config.now
that was provided to lolex.install or to 0 if config.now was not provided.
Useful to reset the state of the clock without having to uninstall and install it.
clock.runAll() / await clock.runAllAsync()
This runs all pending timers until there are none remaining. If new timers are added while it is executing they will be run as well.
This makes it easier to run asynchronous tests to completion without worrying about the number of timers they use, or the delays in those timers.
It runs a maximum of loopLimit times after which it assumes there is an infinite loop of timers and throws an error.
The runAllAsync() will also break the event loop, allowing any scheduled promise
callbacks to execute before running the timers.
clock.runMicrotasks()
This runs all pending microtasks scheduled with nextTick but none of the timers and is mostly useful for libraries using lolex underneath and for running nextTick items without any timers.
clock.runToFrame()
Advances the clock to the next frame, firing all scheduled animation frame callbacks, if any, for that frame as well as any other timers scheduled along the way.
clock.runToLast() / await clock.runToLastAsync()
This takes note of the last scheduled timer when it is run, and advances the clock to that time firing callbacks as necessary.
If new timers are added while it is executing they will be run only if they would occur before this time.
This is useful when you want to run a test to completion, but the test recursively
sets timers that would cause runAll to trigger an infinite loop warning.
The runToLastAsync() will also break the event loop, allowing any scheduled promise
callbacks to execute before running the timers.
clock.setSystemTime([now])
This simulates a user changing the system clock while your program is running. It affects the current time but it does not in itself cause e.g. timers to fire; they will fire exactly as they would have done without the call to setSystemTime().
clock.uninstall()
Restores the original methods on the target that was passed to
lolex.install, or the native timers if no target was given.
Date
Implements the Date object but using the clock to provide the correct time.
Performance
Implements the now method of the Performance object but using the clock to provide the correct time. Only available in environments that support the Performance object (browsers mostly).
lolex.withGlobal
In order to support creating clocks based on separate or sandboxed environments (such as JSDOM), Lolex exports a factory method which takes single argument global, which it inspects to figure out what to mock and what features to support. When invoking this function with a global, you will get back an object with timers, createClock and install - same as the regular Lolex exports only based on the passed in global instead of the global environment.
Running tests
Lolex has a comprehensive test suite. If you're thinking of contributing bug fixes or suggesting new features, you need to make sure you have not broken any tests. You are also expected to add tests for any new behavior.
On node:
npm testOr, if you prefer more verbose output:
$(npm bin)/mocha ./test/lolex-test.jsIn the browser
Mochify is used to run the tests in
PhantomJS. Make sure you have phantomjs installed. Then:
npm test-headlessLicense
BSD 3-clause "New" or "Revised" License (see LICENSE file)