Moby UnitTesting Panel
This panel allows to provide unit tests for any Biomoby service.
First, select a service you wish to provide a test for from the
service tree. It will populate the Service Input Data table on
the left with the definition of data for the selected service.
The Moby Unit Test Cases subpanel on the bottom right of
the main panel allows you to provide one or all of the following items:
a regular expression that matches the selected services’ output, an
XPATH expression, when applied to the selected services’ output returns
some matching nodes, or a sample service output that when compared, on a
content basis, to the selected services’ output is an exact match.
How to create input data
There are two ways to prepare data for a service call: using the
Service Input Data
table, or having them already in an XML format expected by Biomoby
services. The table supports almost all possible data inputs a Biomoby
service can ask for (except a collection of inputs – this will be added
later; ask me if you need it sooner). The description how to enter data
in the table is in a separate document (because the same table is used
in a standalone client)
docs/CreateInputClient.html
(in your local jMoby directory), or from
jMoby
site
. Here only shortly, what the table does:
It displays a full structure of a given data type and then it
allows:
- to enter ID (for any part),
- to enter Namespace (for any part),
- to enter value (for primitive types),
- to add, clone and again remove the members that
are related to their parents by a HAS relationship (HAS means that a
parent can have zero, one or more of these members), - and to convert everything into XML
representation.
An alternative is to check the box Take an input from
this XML file, and to give a file name with input data. This is how you
can create such file in the first place:
- Select service, fill the Service Input Data.
- Check the box No real call, just show/echo input.
Make sure that Show input as XML is checked. - Click on Call service.
- Click on the Save icon in the bottom-left console.
Providing Unit Test Information
In the bottom right subpanel,
Moby Unit Test Cases
, there are 3 tabs. The tabs are
Regex Tester
tab, the
XPath Tester
tab, and the the
Service Output XML Tester
tab. These tabs allow you to enter test case information for a
particular service that is applied to the output of the service given
the sample input entered in
Service Input Data
widget.
The Regex Tester Tab
This tab consists of 2 components:
A text box for entering a regular
expression to test against service output and a text area for viewing
any matches when you hit the ‘Test Regular Expression’ button.
The XPATH Tester Tab
This tab consists of a single component. A text box for entering an
XPATH expression to test against service output. Once you are satisfied
that you have a suffienct test case, you can see if the expression
entered actually matches any nodes in the output XML by hitting the
‘Test XPATH Expression’ button. If the expression entered matches the
output XML, the button will turn green. If there are no matches, the
button will turn red.
The Service Output Tester Tab
This tab allows you to enter the XML that you expect the service to
output when called with our sample input. You can choose to enter this
XML by hand or to copy over service results from the
Service Results
window using the convenient ‘Copy’ button. Once you are satisfied with
the XML in the ‘Expected service output XML’ textarea you can compare it
to the actual service output XML with the ‘Test’ button. This test will
compare the actual contents of the XML messages, ignoring XML
element/attribute ordering and whitespace. Any differences found will be
shown to you in a pop up window.
Saving Unit Test Information
In order to save the unit testing information that you entered in this
panel for the selected service, all that you have to do is click on the
Save Your Unit Test
button. This will prompt you for a place to save the test case
information.
Download Unit Test
Some service providers will have already provided unit test information
for their services. If you happen to select such a service, clicking on
the
Download Unit Test
button will fill in the test case information for the selected service.
You may then test the service (XPATH, regex) and compare its expected
output to the actual service output.