Apex trigger: Test class Assertion failed

Question

I am new to Apex triggers. Could you please help me with an issue I have with my test class? I have a Master-Child relationship between Person account and a custom object called Staff_and_duty_travel__c (Person account being the master), but I am not always sure I'll have a value in the Associated_account__c field of Staff_and_duty_travel__c. Therefore, I wrote an Apex Trigger before insert on this object.

The Trigger checks if there is a value in Associated_account__c. If not, it uses the field Staff_email_address__c of the record to search in the emails fields of the Person Accounts (Customer_Email__pc and Secondary_Email__pc) if an account already exists with this email. If yes, it gives the id of this account to the field Associated_account__c. If not, it creates the account with the values contained in the record and it gives the id of this new account to the field Associated_account__c.

The trigger seems to work fine (I created several records to test every scenario), but my Test class fails.

Here is my trigger:

trigger SDT_Master_Child_Relation on Staff_and_duty_travel__c (before insert) {

Set<String> staffEmailAdress = new Set <String> ();
List<Account> accountsList = new List<Account> ();
Id assocAccountId;
RecordType personAccountRecordType =  [SELECT Id FROM RecordType WHERE Name = 'Person Account' and SObjectType = 'Account' Limit 1];


//We create the list of all the email adresses from the bookings that are inserted
for (Staff_and_duty_travel__c Travel : Trigger.New)
{
    staffEmailAdress.add(Travel.Staff_email_address__c);
}

//We create the list of all the accounts containing one of the emails from the bookings that are inserted
for(Account acc :[select Id, Customer_Email__pc, Secondary_Email__pc from Account where Customer_Email__pc IN:staffEmailAdress OR Secondary_Email__pc IN:staffEmailAdress])
{
           accountsList.add(acc);
}


//For every booking that is inserted, we associate an account.
for (Staff_and_duty_travel__c Travel : Trigger.New)
{
    assocAccountId=Null;

    //We check if an account is already associated
    assocAccountId=Travel.Associated_account__c;

    //If not, we associate one.
    If (assocAccountId==Null){

        //We check if an account with the Staff email exists
        for (Account acc2 : accountsList){
            if(acc2.Customer_Email__pc.equals(Travel.Staff_email_address__c) || acc2.Secondary_Email__pc.equals(Travel.Staff_email_address__c)) {
                assocAccountId=acc2.Id;
            }
        }
        //If not, we create thew account
        if (assocAccountId==Null){
            //Create the account
            Account newPersonAccount = new Account();
            newPersonAccount.FirstName = Travel.Staff_First_Name__c;
            newPersonAccount.LastName = Travel.Staff_Last_name__c;
            newPersonAccount.Customer_Email__pc = Travel.Staff_email_address__c;
            newPersonAccount.PersonHomePhone=Travel.Staff_phone_number__c;
            newPersonAccount.RecordTypeId = personAccountRecordType.Id;
            insert newPersonAccount;
            assocAccountId=newPersonAccount.Id;
        }
    }
    //We associate the account
    Travel.Associated_account__c=assocAccountId;
}

}

Here is my Test class (I have put in bold the assertions that fail):

@isTest
public class SDT_Master_Child_Relation_Test {

static testMethod void testAssociateAccount(){
        RecordType personAccountRecordType =  [SELECT Id FROM RecordType WHERE Name = 'Person Account' and SObjectType = 'Account' Limit 1];

        //Create a test account
        Account accTest=new Account (RecordTypeId = personAccountRecordType.Id,
                                     FirstName='Test',
                                     LastName='TestAccountTrigger', 
                                     Customer_Email__pc='[email protected]',
                                     Secondary_Email__pc='[email protected]');
        insert accTest;

        //Create four travels to test the tfour possibilities
        Staff_and_duty_travel__c travelTest1=new Staff_and_duty_travel__c (Staff_Last_name__c='AccountAlreadyAssociated', 
                                                                           Staff_First_Name__c='TestTrigger',
                                                                           Staff_phone_number__c='0486786',
                                                                           Staff_email_address__c='[email protected]',
                                                                           Associated_account__c=accTest.Id);
        Staff_and_duty_travel__c travelTest2=new Staff_and_duty_travel__c (Staff_Last_name__c='FirstEmail', 
                                                                           Staff_First_Name__c='TestTrigger',
                                                                           Staff_phone_number__c='0486786',
                                                                           Staff_email_address__c='[email protected]');
        Staff_and_duty_travel__c travelTest3=new Staff_and_duty_travel__c (Staff_Last_name__c='SecondEmail', 
                                                                           Staff_First_Name__c='TestTrigger',
                                                                           Staff_phone_number__c='0486786',
                                                                           Staff_email_address__c='[email protected]');
        Staff_and_duty_travel__c travelTest4=new Staff_and_duty_travel__c (Staff_Last_name__c='ThirdEmail', 
                                                                           Staff_First_Name__c='TestTrigger',
                                                                           Staff_phone_number__c='0486786',
                                                                           Staff_email_address__c='[email protected]');

        List<Staff_and_duty_travel__c> travels = new List<Staff_and_duty_travel__c>{travelTest1, travelTest2, travelTest3, travelTest4};

        //Run the test
        Test.startTest();
        insert travels;
        Test.stopTest();

        //We check for each of the travels if the account has been associated
        //For travelTest1:
        System.assert(travelTest1.Associated_account__c==accTest.Id);

        //For travelTest2:
        System.assert(travelTest2.Associated_account__c==accTest.Id);

        //For travelTest3:
        System.assert(travelTest3.Associated_account__c==accTest.Id);

        //For travelTest4, we have to check if an account has been created with the right values, then if it has been associated to the travel:
        Account accTest4=[select Id, FirstName,LastName,PersonHomePhone
                         from Account
                         where RecordTypeId = :personAccountRecordType.Id and Customer_Email__pc=:travelTest4.Staff_email_address__c ];
        System.assert(accTest4.FirstName==travelTest4.Staff_First_Name__c);
        System.assert(accTest4.LastName==travelTest4.Staff_Last_name__c);
        System.assert(accTest4.PersonHomePhone==travelTest4.Staff_phone_number__c);
        System.assert(travelTest4.Associated_account__c==accTest4.Id);   
    }
}

I get the "System.AssertException: Assertion Failed" error for the assertion I have put in bold. I don't understand where is the problem coming from, so any help is appreciated. Regards, Constance

Answer 1

You will need to re query the data after it has been inserted. Otherwise, the system is still looking at the initial data you added.

Something like this should help.

//We check for each of the travels if the account has been associated
        //For travelTest1:
        System.assertequals(accTest.Id, [Select id, Associated_account__c from Staff_and_duty_travel__c where id = travelTest1.id].Associated_account__c);

        //For travelTest2:
        System.assertequals(accTest.Id, [Select id, Associated_account__c from Staff_and_duty_travel__c where id = travelTest2.id].Associated_account__c);

        //For travelTest3:
        System.assertequals(accTest.Id, [Select id, Associated_account__c from Staff_and_duty_travel__c where id = travelTest3.id].Associated_account__c);

        //For travelTest4, we have to check if an account has been created with the right values, then if it has been associated to the travel:
        Account accTest4=[select Id, FirstName,LastName,PersonHomePhone
                         from Account
                         where RecordTypeId = :personAccountRecordType.Id and Customer_Email__pc=:travelTest4.Staff_email_address__c ];
        System.assert(accTest4.FirstName==travelTest4.Staff_First_Name__c);
        System.assert(accTest4.LastName==travelTest4.Staff_Last_name__c);
        System.assert(accTest4.PersonHomePhone==travelTest4.Staff_phone_number__c);
        System.assertequals(accTest4.Id, [Select id, Associated_account__c from Staff_and_duty_travel__c where id = travelTest4.id].Associated_account__c);

I also see that you have a start test line after you insert your account. You should probably move the insert accTest to be within the start/stop test section.