Fixd

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Language
Java
Version
fixd-1.0.3 (May 1, 2015)
Created
Jun 29, 2013
Updated
Dec 8, 2018 (Retired)
Owner
Luis Antunes (lantunes)
Contributor
Luis Antunes (lantunes)
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Fixd

Fixd is an HTTP server fixture for testing web clients. Unlike a mock web server, it is backed by a fully functional HTTP server, bound to a port of your choosing. Its fluent interface allows you to quickly and easily script responses to client requests. Its clear, declarative interface also makes the setup portion of your unit tests easy to read and understand.

Fixd is backed by a lean, high-performance Java HTTP server, requiring little overhead, and allowing a server instance to be created per test. You no longer have to share a single, expensive fixture between all tests.

With Fixd, you can:

  • create complex routing rules, based on HTTP method, content type, and URI patterns
  • use sessions for tests that require state between requests
  • capture requests and make assertions on them
  • configure asynchronous HTTP responses
  • setup asynchronous HTTP subscribe-broadcast scenarios
  • delay responses for tests that require a delayed response

Finally, Fixd is not limited to being used in the context of unit tests. It can also be used as a standalone HTTP server, in any context. In this sense, it can also be viewed as a Java micro web framework.

Table of Contents

Getting Started

Download the latest .jar. It depends on SLF4J, and the Simple Framework (http://www.simpleframework.org), amongst others. Or, add the following dependency to your pom.xml:

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.bigtesting</groupId>
    <artifactId>fixd</artifactId>
    <version>1.0.5</version>
</dependency>

Or, if you are using Gradle:

dependencies {
    compile "org.bigtesting:fixd:1.0.5"
}

Next, you should declare an org.bigtesting.fixd.ServerFixture field, like "server", and initialize it before each test:

@Before
public void beforeEachTest() throws Exception {
  /*
   * Instantiate the server fixture before each test.
   * It could also have been initialized as part of the
   * server field declaration, as JUnit will 
   * instantiate this Test class for each of its tests.
   */
  server = new ServerFixture(8080);
  server.start();
}

You can also use the ServerFixture no-arg constructor, and bind to an automatically chosen port. You can then get the actual port number by calling ServerFixture.getPort().

Then, we can write some tests. Here's a test demonstrating a simple GET:

server.handle(Method.GET, "/")
      .with(200, "text/plain", "Hello");
        
Response resp = new AsyncHttpClient()
                .prepareGet("http://localhost:8080/")
                .execute()
                .get();
       
assertEquals("Hello", resp.getResponseBody().trim());

Path Parameters

You can also use path parameters as part of your request, and access them in the body of your response:

server.handle(Method.GET, "/name/:name")
      .with(200, "text/plain", "Hello :name");
       
Response resp = new AsyncHttpClient()
                .prepareGet("http://localhost:8080/name/Tim")
                .execute()
                .get();
       
assertEquals("Hello Tim", resp.getResponseBody().trim());

Splat Parameters

You can use splat parameters as part of your request, and access them in the body of your response:

server.handle(Method.GET, "/firstName/*/lastName/*")
      .with(200, "text/plain", "Hello *[0] *[1]");
       
Response resp = new AsyncHttpClient()
                .prepareGet("http://localhost:8080/firstName/John/lastName/Doe")
                .execute()
                .get();
       
assertEquals("Hello John Doe", resp.getResponseBody().trim());

In the example above, the 0 and 1 represent the indices of the splat parameters in the request path.

Request Values

You can access the request body in the body of your response:

server.handle(Method.PUT, "/name")
      .with(200, "text/plain", "Hello [request.body]");
//supported request properties: body, method, time, path, query, major, minor, target
   
Response resp = new AsyncHttpClient()
                .preparePut("http://localhost:8080/name")
                .setBody("Tim")
                .execute()
                .get();
   
assertEquals("Hello Tim", resp.getResponseBody().trim());

...and the request parameters:

server.handle(Method.GET, "/greeting")
      .with(200, "text/plain", "Hello [request?name]");
 
Response resp = new AsyncHttpClient()
                .prepareGet("http://localhost:8080/greeting?name=Tim")
                .execute()
                .get();
   
assertEquals("Hello Tim", resp.getResponseBody().trim());

...and also the request headers:

server.handle(Method.GET, "/say-user-agent")
      .with(200, "text/plain", "Value: [request$User-Agent]");
 
Response resp = new AsyncHttpClient()
                .prepareGet("http://localhost:8080/say-user-agent")
                .execute()
                .get();
   
assertEquals("Value: NING/1.0", resp.getResponseBody().trim());

Capturing Requests

You can capture requests, and make assertions on the captured requests:

server.handle(Method.GET, "/say-hello")
      .with(200, "text/plain", "Hello!");
        
server.handle(Method.PUT, "/name/:name")
      .with(200, "text/plain", "OK");

new AsyncHttpClient()
    .prepareGet("http://localhost:8080/say-hello")
    .execute().get();

new AsyncHttpClient()
    .preparePut("http://localhost:8080/name/Tim")
    .execute().get();

CapturedRequest firstRequest = server.request();
assertEquals("GET /say-hello HTTP/1.1", firstRequest.getRequestLine());

CapturedRequest secondRequest = server.request();
assertEquals("PUT /name/Tim HTTP/1.1", secondRequest.getRequestLine());

You can limit the number of captured requests that are stored by calling server.setMaxCapturedRequests().

URI Pattern Matching

Path parameters can be required to conform to certain rules, specified through Regex expressions:

server.handle(Method.GET, "/name/:name<[A-Za-z]+>")
      .with(200, "text/plain", "Hello :name");
       
Response resp = new AsyncHttpClient()
                .prepareGet("http://localhost:8080/name/Tim")
                .execute()
                .get();
assertEquals("Hello Tim", resp.getResponseBody().trim());
        
resp          = new AsyncHttpClient()
                .prepareGet("http://localhost:8080/name/123")
                .execute()
                .get();
assertEquals(404, resp.getStatusCode());

Sessions for Stateful Requests

You can create sessions for requests, and access the session variables in the body of your response:

server.handle(Method.PUT, "/name/:name")
      .with(200, "text/plain", "OK")
      .withSessionHandler(new PathParamSessionHandler());
        
server.handle(Method.GET, "/name")
      .with(200, "text/html", "Name: {name}");

WebClient client = new WebClient();
        
Page page = client.getPage(new WebRequest(new URL(
            "http://localhost:8080/name/Tim"), 
            HttpMethod.PUT));
assertEquals(200, page.getWebResponse().getStatusCode());
        
page      = client.getPage(new WebRequest(new URL(
            "http://localhost:8080/name"), 
            HttpMethod.GET));
assertEquals("Name: Tim", page.getWebResponse().getContentAsString().trim());

The PathParamSessionHandler above takes the value of the name path parameter and creates an entry in the session called name. The {} syntax in the body of the response means: get the current session for this client, and get the value for the name property. (NOTE: You can also use a RequestParamSessionHandler, which is also provided.)

Setting Headers in the Response

Setting headers in the response is easy:

server.handle(Method.GET, "/")
      .with(302, "text/plain", "page moved")
      .withHeader("Location", "http://localhost:8080/new-location");

Delaying a Response

You can delay a response, as well:

server.handle(Method.GET, "/suspend")
      .with(200, "text/plain", "OK")
      .after(100, TimeUnit.SECONDS);

try {
            
  new AsyncHttpClient()
      .prepareGet("http://localhost:8080/suspend")
      .execute()
      .get(1, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
            
  fail("request should have timed out after 1 second");
        
} catch (Exception e) {}

The call to after() in the snippet above means: return the response after 100 seconds have elapsed, which is more than the 1 second this client is willing to wait.

Periodic Asynchronous Responses

You can asynchronously send a response at a fixed time interval, as below:

server.handle(Method.GET, "/echo/:message")
      .with(200, "text/plain", "message: :message")
      .every(1, TimeUnit.SECONDS, 2);
        
final List<String> chunks = new ArrayList<String>();
ListenableFuture<Integer> f = new AsyncHttpClient()
      .prepareGet("http://localhost:8080/echo/hello")
      .execute(new AddToListOnBodyPartReceivedHandler(chunks));
        
assertEquals(200, (int)f.get());
assertEquals("[message: hello, message: hello]", chunks.toString());

The call to every() in the snippet above means: return the response every second, a maximum of 2 times.

Subscribe-Broadcast

You can also asynchronously send a response in a subscribe-broadcast scenario:

server.handle(Method.GET, "/subscribe")
      .with(200, "text/plain", "message: :message")
      .upon(Method.GET, "/broadcast/:message");
        
final List<String> broadcasts = new ArrayList<String>();
ListenableFuture<Integer> f = new AsyncHttpClient()
      .prepareGet("http://localhost:8080/subscribe")
      .execute(new AddToListOnBodyPartReceivedHandler(broadcasts));
 
/* need some time for the above request to complete
 * before the broadcast requests can start */
Thread.sleep(50);
        
for (int i = 0; i < 2; i++) {
            
  new AsyncHttpClient()
      .prepareGet("http://localhost:8080/broadcast/hello" + i)
      .execute().get();
            
  /* sometimes the last broadcast request is not
  * finished before f.done() is called */
  Thread.sleep(50);
}
        
f.done(null);
assertEquals("[message: hello0, message: hello1]", broadcasts.toString());

In the example above, a request made to "/subscribe" will suspend the response, and the client will await content from the server. When a separate request is made to "/broadcast", the suspended client will receive a message which includes the value of the message path parameter.

The call to upon() in the snippet above means: upon receiving a GET request for "/broadcast/:message", send a response to the suspended client which contains the value of the message path parameter in the body.

NOTE: The implementation of the subscribe-broadcast feature is currently meant for use in unit test contexts only. It is not currently meant for production-scale use. This will hopefully change over time.

Handling Requests By Content Type

You can handle requests differently based on the request content type:

server.handle(Method.GET, "/resource", "text/plain")
      .with(200, "text/plain", "Received text/plain content");
        
server.handle(Method.GET, "/resource", "application/json")
      .with(200, "text/plain", "Received application/json content");

Response resp = new AsyncHttpClient()
                .prepareGet("http://localhost:8080/resource")
                .setHeader("Content-Type", "text/plain")
                .execute().get();
assertEquals("Received text/plain content", resp.getResponseBody().trim());

resp          = new AsyncHttpClient()
                .prepareGet("http://localhost:8080/resource")
                .setHeader("Content-Type", "application/json")
                .execute().get();
assertEquals("Received application/json content", resp.getResponseBody().trim());

Custom Request Handling

You are not limited to responding to requests with interpolated strings. You can also provide your own custom request handling logic:

server.handle(Method.GET, "/name/:name")
      .with(new HttpRequestHandler() {
        public void handle(HttpRequest request, HttpResponse response) {
            
            response.setStatusCode(200);
            response.setContentType("text/plain");
            response.setBody("Hello " + request.getPathParameter("name"));
            //you can also set a byte[] or InputStream in the response body
        }
    });

By providing an HttpRequestHandler, you have more control over how a request is handled.

Content Marshalling

You can automatically marshal and unmarshal content using the content-type of the request and response.

The following illustrates marshalling:

server.marshal("application/json")
      .with(new JSONMarshaller());

server.handle(Method.GET, "/marshal")
      .with(200, "application/json", new SimplePojo("marshalledJSON"));

Response resp = new AsyncHttpClient()
                .prepareGet("http://localhost:8080/marshal")
                .execute().get();

assertEquals("{\"val\":\"marshalledJSON\"}", resp.getResponseBody().trim());

In the example above, we register a Marshaller with the server, indicating the content-type. Then, we return a custom entity that our Marshaller will know how to convert. In this case, the SimplePojo has a single field called val, and the entity is converted into JSON in the response to the client.

The following illustrates unmarshalling:

server.unmarshal("application/json")
      .with(new JSONUnmarshaller());

server.handle(Method.PUT, "/unmarshal", "application/json")
      .with(new HttpRequestHandler() {
        public void handle(HttpRequest request, HttpResponse response) {
            response.setStatusCode(200);
            response.setContentType("text/plain");
            SimplePojo entity = request.getBody(SimplePojo.class);
            response.setBody(entity != null ? entity.getVal() : "error");
        }
    });

Response resp = new AsyncHttpClient()
                .preparePut("http://localhost:8080/unmarshal")
                .setHeader("Content-Type", "application/json")
                .setBody("{\"val\":\"unmarshalledJSON\"}")
                .execute().get();
assertEquals("unmarshalledJSON", resp.getResponseBody().trim());

In the example above, we register an Unmarshaller with the server, indicating the content-type. Then, we call the request.getBody() method that accepts the type the content should be unmarshalled to. In this case, the SimplePojo has a single field called val, and the request content is converted from JSON into a new instance of the entity.

Convenient Redirects

You can send redirects conveniently:

server.handle(Method.GET, "/")
      .withRedirect("http://localhost:8080/new-location");

...and you can do the same in a custom handler:

server.handle(Method.GET, "/")
        .with(new HttpRequestHandler() {
          public void handle(HttpRequest request, HttpResponse response) {
              
              response.redirect("http://localhost:8080/new-location");
          }
      });

Each of the redirect methods above have signatures that allow you to specify a custom status code as well.

Escaping Interpolated Values

You can escape interpolated values if you need to, using the ^ character:

server.handle(Method.GET, "/name/:name")
      .with(200, "text/plain", "Hello ^:name :name");
       
Response resp = new AsyncHttpClient()
                .prepareGet("http://localhost:8080/name/Tim")
                .execute()
                .get();
       
assertEquals("Hello :name Tim", resp.getResponseBody().trim());

In the example above, the first occurrence of :name is prefixed by ^, indicating that the value should not be interpolated. You don't need to escape ^ characters on their own, however, unless they occur next to a value that would otherwise be interpolated.

Tear Down

Finally, remember to stop the server fixture after each test:

@After
public void afterEachTest() throws Exception {
  server.stop();
}

For more examples, have a look at the ServerFixture test class: TestServerFixture

NOTE:

In the examples above, we're using the ning.com AsyncHttpClient. Check it out: https://github.com/AsyncHttpClient/async-http-client

We're also using the HtmlUnit WebClient. Check it out: http://htmlunit.sourceforge.net/