CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#unit-testingoutput
ScottishTapWater
ScottishTapWater

Reputation: 4836

Redirect Standard Output to List<string> or Stream

I'm writing test code for the following method:

public static void PrintAll<T>(this IEnumerable<T> collection)
{
    foreach (T item in collection)
    {
        Console.Write(item.ToString());
    }
}

So essentially what I think needs to be done is that I can fill an array with random data, output it using this method, store it in a stream/collection and then output it using the standard foreach loop and compare the two.

I understand that Console.Write() doesn't actually write to the console it writes to my application's standard output.

I know how to redirect this for other Process objects but have no clue how to redirect my own application's standard output, any ideas?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 872

Answers (1)

msitt
msitt

Reputation: 1237

You can use Console.SetOut to set the output of the console temporarily to a string.

For example:

StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
StringWriter sw = new StringWriter(sb);
// Save the standard output.
TextWriter tmp = Console.Out;
Console.SetOut(sw);
// Code which calls Console.Write
Console.SetOut(tmp);
string actual = sb.ToString();

Remember to dispose the StringWriter object.

Upvotes: 3

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