bonobomock

Naggy, Nice, and Strict Mocks

Note: If your project uses C++03, auto is unavailable. Explicitly declare the mock type instead — see Explicit Mock Object Types.

By default, BONOBO_MOCK creates a naggy mock (gMock’s default). When a mocked function is called, and it does not have an EXPECT_CALL expectation set up, the test prints an “Uninteresting mock function call” warning but still passes. This is fine for most cases, but sometimes you want stricter or more lenient behavior:

• BONOBO_MOCK_STRICT – fails the test on any unexpected call.
• BONOBO_MOCK_NICE – silently ignores unexpected calls (no warning, no failure).

These variants map directly to gMock’s StrictMock<> and NiceMock<> wrappers. For more background, see the GoogleTest documentation.

When to use each

• Naggy (default): Good starting point. Warnings surface forgotten expectations without breaking the build.
• Strict: Use when every call matters and an unexpected call indicates a bug (e.g. verifying that a function is called exactly N times and no more).
• Nice: Use when the function under test makes many calls you don’t care about and the warnings are noise (e.g. logging, metrics).

Example: static function

Given a static function:

class SampleClass {
public:
    static bool sample_function(bool in) {
        return in;
    }
};

Naggy mock (default)

TEST(NaggyMock, StaticMethod) {
    auto mock = BONOBO_MOCK(&SampleClass::sample_function);

    // No EXPECT_CALL set -- calling the function prints
    // an "Uninteresting mock function call" warning,
    // but the test still passes.
    SampleClass::sample_function(true);
}

Strict mock

TEST(StrictMock, StaticMethod) {
    auto mock = BONOBO_MOCK_STRICT(&SampleClass::sample_function);

    // No EXPECT_CALL set -- the test FAILS with
    // "Uninteresting mock function call".
    SampleClass::sample_function(true);
}

Nice mock

TEST(NiceMock, StaticMethod) {
    auto mock = BONOBO_MOCK_NICE(&SampleClass::sample_function);

    // No EXPECT_CALL set -- the call is silently ignored.
    // No warning, no failure.
    SampleClass::sample_function(true);
}

Available macros

The _STRICT and _NICE variants are available for every mock type:

Function type	Naggy (default)	Strict	Nice
Free / static / non-virtual	BONOBO_MOCK	BONOBO_MOCK_STRICT	BONOBO_MOCK_NICE
Virtual (Itanium ABI + C++11)	BONOBO_MOCK	BONOBO_MOCK_STRICT	BONOBO_MOCK_NICE
Virtual (SunPro / C++03)	BONOBO_MOCK_VIRTUAL	BONOBO_MOCK_VIRTUAL_STRICT	BONOBO_MOCK_VIRTUAL_NICE
Virtual on instance	BONOBO_MOCK_VIRTUAL_ON	BONOBO_MOCK_VIRTUAL_STRICT_ON	BONOBO_MOCK_VIRTUAL_NICE_ON
Private (non-const)	BONOBO_MOCK_PRIVATE_NON_CONST	BONOBO_MOCK_PRIVATE_STRICT_NON_CONST	BONOBO_MOCK_PRIVATE_NICE_NON_CONST
Private (const)	BONOBO_MOCK_PRIVATE_CONST	BONOBO_MOCK_PRIVATE_STRICT_CONST	BONOBO_MOCK_PRIVATE_NICE_CONST

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