sample-json

Json sample

This sample deals with Json message payloads when sending and receiving messages to the todo sample application. Read about this feature in reference guide

Objectives

The todo-list sample application provides a REST API for managing todo entries. We call this API and receive Json message structures for validation in our test cases.

We can use Json as message payloads directly in the test cases.

http()
    .client(todoClient)
    .send()
    .post("/api/todolist")
    .type(MessageType.JSON)
    .contentType(ContentType.APPLICATION_JSON.getMimeType())
    .body("{ \"id\": \"${todoId}\", \"title\": \"${todoName}\", \"description\": \"${todoDescription}\", \"done\": ${done}}");

As you can see we are able to send the Json data as payload. You can add test variables in message payloads. In a receive action we are able to use an expected Json message payload. Citrus performs a Json object comparison where each element is checked to meet the expected values.

http()
    .client(todoClient)
    .receive()
    .response(HttpStatus.OK)
    .type(MessageType.JSON)
    .body("{ \"id\": \"${todoId}\", \"title\": \"${todoName}\", \"description\": \"${todoDescription}\", \"done\": ${done}}");

The Json message payload can be difficult to read when used as String concatenation. Fortunately we can also use file resources as message payloads.

http()
    .client(todoClient)
    .receive()
    .response(HttpStatus.OK)
    .type(MessageType.JSON)
    .body(new ClassPathResource("templates/todo.json"));    

An alternative approach would be to use JsonPath expressions when validating incoming Json messages.

http()
    .client(todoClient)
    .receive()
    .response(HttpStatus.OK)
    .type(MessageType.JSON)
    .validate("$.id", "${todoId}")
    .validate("$.title", "${todoName}")
    .validate("$.description", "${todoDescription}");

Each expression is evaluated and checked for expected values. In case a JsonPath expression can not be evaluated or does not meet the expected value the test ends with failure.

Run

NOTE: This test depends on the todo-app WAR which must have been installed into your local maven repository using mvn clean install beforehand.

The sample application uses Maven as build tool. So you can compile, package and test the sample with Maven.

 mvn clean verify -Dsystem.under.test.mode=embedded

This executes the complete Maven build lifecycle. The embedded option automatically starts a Jetty web container before the integration test phase. The todo-list system under test is automatically deployed in this phase. After that the Citrus test cases are able to interact with the todo-list application in the integration test phase.

During the build you will see Citrus performing some integration tests. After the tests are finished the embedded Jetty web container and the todo-list application are automatically stopped.

System under test

The sample uses a small todo list application as system under test. The application is a web application that you can deploy on any web container. You can find the todo-list sources here. Up to now we have started an embedded Jetty web container with automatic deployments during the Maven build lifecycle. This approach is fantastic when running automated tests in a continuous build.

Unfortunately the Jetty server and the sample application automatically get stopped when the Maven build is finished. There may be times we want to test against a standalone todo-list application.

You can start the sample todo list application in Jetty with this command.

 mvn jetty:run

This starts the Jetty web container and automatically deploys the todo list app. Point your browser to

http://localhost:8080/todolist/

You will see the web UI of the todo list and add some new todo entries.

Now we are ready to execute some Citrus tests in a separate JVM.

Citrus test

Once the sample application is deployed and running you can execute the Citrus test cases. Open a separate command line terminal and navigate to the sample folder.

Execute all Citrus tests by calling

 mvn verify

You can also pick a single test by calling

 mvn verify -Dit.test=<testname>

You should see Citrus performing several tests with lots of debugging output in both terminals (sample application server and Citrus test client). And of course green tests at the very end of the build.

Of course you can also start the Citrus tests from your favorite IDE. Just start the Citrus test using the TestNG IDE integration in IntelliJ, Eclipse or Netbeans.

Further information

For more information on Citrus see www.citrusframework.org, including a complete reference manual.