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API Testing

What is API Testing?

API testing is the process of confirming that an API is working as expected. An issue at an application's API layer can lead to user-facing errors or latency, which can erode customer trust, and negatively impact the business. This makes testing the APIs very important

How does INGenious perform API Tests?

API Testing is one of the strong suites of the framework. It uses Java HTTP Client to fire requests, receive responses, validate the response status, response body and response tags.

It also allows us to store response tags which can be used for subsequent API calls or GUI flows. This makes API Testing and GUI Testing possible in a single flow coherently.

Set up API Configuration

  • To configure an API configuration from INGenious, follow the steps below:

    • Click on the Configuration icon browserConfig

    • Under API Configurations you will see the API Alias as default. Change the values as per requirement.

      apiDefault

Create New API Configuration

To create a new API configuration, follow the steps below :

  • Click on the Configuration icon browserConfig

  • Inside the API Configurations tab, Enter the API Alias and hit Enter . Alternatively you can also click on the add icon.

    apinewconfig

  • A new set of API configurations with default values will be added below.

User Added API Configuration Property

  • INGenious allows users to add API properties thru the API Configurations window.

Handling and integration of these configurations on the backend is the responsibility of the user.

addAndRemovePropertyButtons

  • Add a new property

    1. Click the Add Property button addProperty.
    2. Add the property key (e.g., autoReconnect, timeout, sslMode).
    3. Provide the corresponding property value.
    4. Click Save to apply the changes.

  • Remove a property

    1. Select the property you want to remove.
    2. Click the Remove Property button renmoveProperty.
    3. Click Save to apply the changes.

How to create an API Test Case?

  • A request should contain a setEndPoint action. This action is always marked in Blue. This is where you put the endpoint to which the request is supposed to be fired. This action comes with an editor for convenience of data set up.

  • Optionally, specify the required API configuration by adding #apiAliasName in the Condition column. If omitted, the default configurations will be automatically loaded.

  • You can have steps to add headers/authentication etc. (if required)

  • A request should contain an HTTP Method/Verb (Post/Put/Get/Delete/Patch) . This action is always marked in Green. This also comes with an editor for convenience.

  • You can have steps to validate/store response status codes, specific tags or even the entire response body.

  • A request should contain a closeConnection action. This action is always marked in Brown.

api_testcase_example

The above is an example of a postRestRequest and then assertResponseCode followed by storeJSONelementInDataSheet

Payload Data Parameterization

Data Parameterization can be done using the built-in editor. If you mouse-hover on the Input column, corresponding to the Post/Put request steps as well as the setEndPoint step, an option to open up the Editor comes up.

Inside this editor, we can paste the entire Payload and then parameterize the specific JSON/XML tags based on our needs.

If we press Ctrl+Space the list of all available DataSheets : ColumnNames along with all user-defined variables show up. We can then select the appropriate item from where we want to parameterize.

We need to press Esc to close the editor

editor

Assert/Store Response Tags

We can access the Response Tags using xpath for XMLs and jsonPath for JSONs.

The corresponding xpath or jsonPath for the tag, should be entered in the Condition column like as shown below :

api2

Example for writing Xpath 
<root xmlns:foo="http://www.foo.org/" xmlns:bar="http://www.bar.org">
    <actors>
        <actor id="1">Christian Bale</actor>
        <actor id="2">Liam Neeson</actor>
        <actor id="3">Michael Caine</actor>
    </actors>
</root>

XPath for retrieving Liam Neeson is /root/actors/actor[2]/text() or simply //actor[2]/text()

Example for writing JSONPath

Example 1 :

{ 
"name":"TestName",
"salary":"12300",
"age":"29"
}

JSON Path for retrieving TestName is $.name

Example 2 :

{
    "page": 2,
    "per_page": 6,
    "total": 12,
    "total_pages": 2,
    "data": [
        {
            "id": 7,
            "email": "michael.lawson@xyz.com",
            "first_name": "Michael",
            "last_name": "Lawson"
        },
        {
            "id": 8,
            "email": "lindsay.ferguson@xyz.com",
            "first_name": "Lindsay",
            "last_name": "Ferguson"
        },
        {
            "id": 9,
            "email": "tobias.funke@xyz.com",
            "first_name": "Tobias",
            "last_name": "Funke"
        },
        {
            "id": 10,
            "email": "byron.fields@xyz.com",
            "first_name": "Byron",
            "last_name": "Fields"
        },
        {
            "id": 11,
            "email": "george.edwards@xyz.com",
            "first_name": "George",
            "last_name": "Edwards"
        },
        {
            "id": 12,
            "email": "rachel.howell@xyz.com",
            "first_name": "Rachel",
            "last_name": "Howell"
        }
    ],
    "additional": {
        "url": "https://xyz.com",
        "text": "Happy Testing!"
    }
}

JSON Path for retrieving byron.fields@ing.com is $.data[3].email [Index starts with 0]

To learn more about JSONPath visit this GitHub page.

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