Recipe13.8.Testing Application Functionality

Recipe 13.8. Testing Application Functionality

Problem

You want to verify that your application, deployed and running on an application server, does what it's supposed to do for a specific use case or scenario.

Solution

Use the JWebUnit acceptance testing framework.

Discussion

JWebUnit, an extension of the JUnit testing framework, leverages JUnit and Http-Unit for web application acceptance testing. JUnit provides the test harness and basic assertion methods, and HttpUnit (http://httpunit.sourceforge.net) provides a mechanism for programmatically sending requests and reading responses from a web application. JWebUnit exercises a running web application by programmatically sending requests, clicking links, filling out and submitting forms, and inspecting the response.

To get started with JWebUnit, download it from the project site, http://jwebunit.sourceforge.net. The source distribution includes everything you need; the JWebUnit Jar file, dependent Jar files, documentation, and the JWebUnit source code. Create a test directory structure in your application's project directory like that shown in Figure 13-10. You will need to copy the Jar files included with JWebUnit to your test/lib directory.

Figure 13-10. Project structure with "test" directory

The easiest way to create a new JWebUnit test class is to subclass net.sourceforge.jwebunit.WebTestCase.

If you have been using your own extension of the JUnit TestCase and cannot subclass WebTestCase, you can delegate calls to the net.sourceforge.jwebunit.WebTester class. The source for the WebTestCase class shows how this is done.

Example 13-11 shows a simple test case verifying that the jsc-ch13 web application is up and running.

Example 13-11. Simple JWebUnit test case

package com.oreilly.strutsckbk.ch13; import net.sourceforge.jwebunit.TestContext; import net.sourceforge.jwebunit.WebTestCase; public class SimpleWebTest extends WebTestCase {     public SimpleWebTest(String name) {         super(name);     }     public void setUp( ) throws Exception {         TestContext testContext = getTestContext( );         testContext.setBaseUrl("http://localhost/jsc-ch13");         // Use the message resources properties file         testContext.setResourceBundleName(             "org.apache.struts.webapp.example.ApplicationResources"         );     }          public void testAppAvailable( ) {         beginAt("/index.jsp");         // use the title text from the testContext resource bundle         assertTitleEqualsKey("index.title");     } }

You can run this test using any of the JUnit test runners. Like any other JUnit test, a successful test run is rather boring to look at; it's more interesting to look at a failed test. Figure 13-11 shows the results from Eclipse's JUnit test runner when the SimpleWebTest of Example 13-11 fails because the application server isn't running.

Figure 13-11. Failed run of a JWebUnit test case

Every JWebUnit test has a test context. This context, typically configured in the setUp( ) method, contains information applicable to the test case such as the base URL. In Example 13-11 this value was set to the web application's context:

testContext.setBaseUrl("http://localhost/jsc-ch13");

You can use JWebUnit to test the internationalization features of your web application. The test context allows you to specify the resource bundle for your localized text as well as the locale being tested. JWebUnit looks up properties from the resource bundle using that locale. The locale that you set in the test context is only used on the client side to look up resource bundle properties. To mimic the browser's locale settings, you must set the Accept-Language header to the locale being tested. The Struts MailReader can be localized for Russian. Example 13-12 tests this localization by verifying that the response title has the correct value.

Example 13-12. Using JWebUnit to test internationalization

package com.oreilly.strutsckbk.ch13; import java.util.Locale; import net.sourceforge.jwebunit.TestContext; import net.sourceforge.jwebunit.WebTestCase; public class LocaleWebTest extends WebTestCase {     public LocaleWebTest(String name) {         super(name);     }     public void setUp( ) throws Exception {         testContext = getTestContext( );         testContext.setBaseUrl("http://localhost/jsc-ch13");         testContext.setResourceBundleName(             "org.apache.struts.webapp.example.ApplicationResources"         );     }          public void testRussian( ) {         testContext.setLocale(new Locale("ru"));         testContext.getWebClient( ).setHeaderField("Accept-Language","ru");         beginAt("/index.jsp");         assertTitleEqualsKey("index.title");     }          private TestContext testContext; }

Want more you say? JWebUnit shines at testing application scenarios and use cases. Say you wanted to verify the registration process of the Struts MailReader. The following simple case illustrates this process:

The users browse to the application's welcome page.
The users click the "Register" link.
The registration form is displayed.
The users fill out the registration form with their full name, username, password, and email information.
The users submit the form.
The main menu page is displayed with a heading message personalized for the users.

You can create a JWebUnit test case that implements this use case, as shown in Example 13-13.

Example 13-13. Testing user registration

package com.oreilly.strutsckbk.ch13; import com.meterware.httpunit.HttpUnitOptions; import net.sourceforge.jwebunit.TestContext; import net.sourceforge.jwebunit.WebTestCase; public class RegistrationWebTest extends WebTestCase {     public RegistrationWebTest(String name) {         super(name);     }     public void setUp( ) throws Exception {         // disable JavaScript handling         HttpUnitOptions.setScriptingEnabled(false);         TestContext testContext = getTestContext( );         testContext.setBaseUrl("http://localhost/jsc-ch13");         testContext.setResourceBundleName("org.apache.struts.         webapp.example.ApplicationResources");     }          public void testRegistration( ) {         // start at the welcome page         beginAt("/index.jsp");         // find the registration link and click it         String regLinkText = getMessage("index.registration");         clickLinkWithText(regLinkText);         // check that the registration form is displayed         assertFormElementPresent("username");         // use the current time as part of the username for repeatability         long ts = System.currentTimeMillis( );         // fill out the form         setFormElement("username","t"+ts);         setFormElement("password","gotech");         setFormElement("password2","gotech");         String fullName = "George P. Burdell";         setFormElement("fullName", fullName);         setFormElement("fromAddress","gpburdell@matech.com");         setFormElement("replyToAddress","gpburdell@matech.com");         // submit the form         submit( );                  // check that the main menu is displayed with the name included         assertTextPresent(getMessage("mainMenu.heading")+' '+fullName);     }     public void tearDown( ) {         // logoff to clean up the session         gotoPage("/Logoff.do");             } }

This test shows off the power of JWebUnit and, though hidden from view, HttpUnit. For complete details, download JWebUnit and give it a try!

Recipe13.8.Testing Application Functionality