Most Seam applications will need at least two kinds of automated tests: unit tests, which test a particular Seam component in isolation, and scripted integration tests which exercise all Java layers of the application (that is, everything except the view pages).
Both kinds of tests are very easy to write.
All Seam components are POJOs. This is a great place to start if you want easy unit testing. And since Seam emphasises the use of bijection for inter-component interactions and access to contextual objects, it's very easy to test a Seam component outside of its normal runtime environment.
Consider the following Seam Component which creates a statement of account for a customer:
@Stateless
@Scope(EVENT)
@Name("statementOfAccount")
public class StatementOfAccount {
@In(create=true) EntityManager entityManager
private double statementTotal;
@In
private Customer customer;
@Create
public void create() {
List<Invoice> invoices = entityManager
.createQuery("select invoice from Invoice invoice where invoice.customer = :customer")
.setParameter("customer", customer)
.getResultList();
statementTotal = calculateTotal(invoices);
}
public double calculateTotal(List<Invoice> invoices) {
double total = 0.0;
for (Invoice invoice: invoices)
{
double += invoice.getTotal();
}
return total;
}
// getter and setter for statementTotal
}
We could write a unit test for the calculateTotal method (which tests
the business logic of the component) as follows:
public class StatementOfAccountTest {
@Test
public testCalculateTotal {
List<Invoice> invoices = generateTestInvoices(); // A test data generator
double statementTotal = new StatementOfAccount().calculateTotal(invoices);
assert statementTotal = 123.45;
}
}
You'll notice we aren't testing retrieving data from or persisting data to the database; nor are we testing any functionality provided by Seam. We are just testing the logic of our POJOs. Seam components don't usually depend directly upon container infrastructure, so most unit testing is as easy as that!
However, if you want to test the entire application, read on.
Warning
JBoss Embedded is no longer used for integration testing. Seam uses Arquillian with JUnit. Right now TestNG is not a recommended test framework with Arquillian.
Integration testing is slightly more difficult. In this case, we can't eliminate the container infrastructure; indeed, that is a part of what is being tested! At the same time, we don't want to be forced to deploy our application to an application server to run the automated tests. We need to be able to reproduce just enough of the container infrastructure inside our testing environment to be able to exercise the whole application, without hurting performance too much.
The approach taken by Seam is to let you write tests that exercise your components while running inside a pruned down container environment (Seam, together with the JBoss AS container)
Arquillian makes it possible to run integration tests inside a real container, even without SeamTest.
Example 38.1. RegisterTest.java
@RunWith(Arquillian)
public class RegisterTest
{@Deployment
@OverProtocol("Servlet 3.0")
public static Archive<?> createDeployment()
{EnterpriseArchive er = ShrinkWrap.create(ZipImporter.class)
.importFrom(new File("../registration-ear/target/seam-registration.ear"))
.as(EnterpriseArchive.class);
return er;
}
@Before
public void before()
{Lifecycle.beginCall();
}
@After
public void after(
{
Lifecycle.endCall();
}
protected void setValue(String valueExpression, Object value)
{
Expressions.instance().createValueExpression(valueExpression).setValue(value);
}
@Test
public void testRegisterComponent() throws Exception
{
setValue("#{user.username}", "1ovthafew");
setValue("#{user.name}", "Gavin King");
setValue("#{user.password}", "secret");
Register register = (Register)Component.getInstance("register");
Assert.assertEquals("success", register.register());
}
...
}
| The JUnit |
| Since we want to run our test in a real container, we need to specify an archive that gets deployed. |
| |
| ShrinkWrap can be used to create the deployment archive. In this example, the whole EAR is imported, but we could also use the ShrinkWrap API to create a WAR or an EAR from scratch and put in just the artifacts that we need for the test. |
| |
The Arquillian configuration depends on the specific container used. See Arquillian documentation for more information.
Assuming you are using Maven as your build tool and want to run your tests on JBoss AS 7, you will need to put these dependencies into your pom.xml:
<dependency>
<groupId>org.jboss.arquillian.junit</groupId>
<artifactId>arquillian-junit-container</artifactId>
<version>${version.arquillian}</version>
<scope>test</scope>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.jboss.as</groupId>
<artifactId>jboss-as-arquillian-container-managed</artifactId>
<version>${version.jboss.as7}</version>
<scope>test</scope>
</dependency>
The Arquillian JBoss AS Managed Container will automatically start the application server, provided the JBOSS_HOME environment property points to the JBoss AS 7 installation.
It is also possible to use the simulated JSF environment provided by SeamTest along with Arquillian.
This is useful especially if you are migrating from previous Seam releases and want to keep your existing testsuite mostly unchanged.
Note
SeamTest was primarily designated for TestNG integration tests. Currently, there are some glitches so we recommend using JUnitSeamTest which is the JUnit variant of SeamTest.The following changes must be done to run a JUnitSeamTest with Arquillian:
Create the
@Deploymentmethod which constructs the test archive using ShrinkWrap. ShrinkWrap Resolver can be used to resolve any required dependencies.Convert the test to JUnit. A
JUnitSeamTestclass can now be used instead of the originalSeamTest.Replace the
SeamListenerwithorg.jboss.seam.mock.MockSeamListenerin web.xml.
Example 38.2. RegisterTest.java
@RunWith(Arquillian)
public class RegisterTest extends JUnitSeamTest
{
@Deployment
@OverProtocol("Servlet 3.0")
public static Archive<?> createDeployment()
{
return Deployments.registrationDeployment();
}
@Test
public void testRegisterComponent() throws Exception
{
new ComponentTest() {
protected void testComponents() throws Exception
{
setValue("#{user.username}", "1ovthafew");
setValue("#{user.name}", "Gavin King");
setValue("#{user.password}", "secret");
assert invokeMethod("#{register.register}").equals("success");
assert getValue("#{user.username}").equals("1ovthafew");
assert getValue("#{user.name}").equals("Gavin King");
assert getValue("#{user.password}").equals("secret");
}
}.run();
}
...
}
Example 38.3. Deployments.java
public class Deployments
{
public static WebArchive registrationDeployment()
{
File[] libs = Maven.resolver().loadPomFromFile("pom.xml")
.importCompileAndRuntimeDependencies()
// resolve jboss-seam, because it is provided-scoped in the pom, but we need it bundled in the WAR
.resolve("org.jboss.seam:jboss-seam")
.withTransitivity().asFile();
return ShrinkWrap.create(WebArchive.class, "seam-registration.war")
// all main classes required for testing
.addPackage(RegisterAction.class.getPackage())
// classpath resources
.addAsWebInfResource("META-INF/ejb-jar.xml", "ejb-jar.xml")
.addAsResource("persistence.xml", "META-INF/persistence.xml")
.addAsResource("seam.properties", "seam.properties")
// resources manually copied from EAR and WAR modules
.addAsWebInfResource("components.xml", "components.xml")
.addAsWebInfResource("jboss-deployment-structure.xml", "jboss-deployment-structure.xml")
// the modified web.xml
.addAsWebInfResource("mock-web.xml", "web.xml")
// web resources
.addAsWebResource("index.html")
.addAsWebResource("register.xhtml")
.addAsWebResource("registered.xhtml")
// libraries resolved using ShrinkWrap Resolver
.addAsLibraries(libs);
}
}
Example 38.4. mock-web.xml
<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<web-app version="3.0"
xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_3_0.xsd">
<listener>
<listener-class>org.jboss.seam.mock.MockSeamListener</listener-class>
</listener>
</web-app>
Occasionally, we need to be able to replace the implementation of some Seam component that depends upon resources which are not available in the integration test environment. For example, suppose we have some Seam component which is a facade to some payment processing system:
@Name("paymentProcessor")
public class PaymentProcessor {
public boolean processPayment(Payment payment) { .... }
}
For integration tests, we can mock out this component as follows:
@Name("paymentProcessor")
@Install(precedence=MOCK)
public class MockPaymentProcessor extends PaymentProcessor {
public boolean processPayment(Payment payment) {
return true;
}
}
Since the MOCK precedence is higher than the default
precedence of application components, Seam will install the mock
implementation whenever it is in the classpath. When deployed into
production, the mock implementation is absent, so the real component
will be installed.
An even harder problem is emulating user interactions. A third problem is where to put our assertions. Some test frameworks let us test the whole application by reproducing user interactions with the web browser. These frameworks have their place, but they are not appropriate for use at development time.
SeamTest or JUnitSeamTest lets you write
scripted tests,
in a simulated JSF environment. The role of a scripted test is to reproduce
the interaction between the view and the Seam components. In other words, you
get to pretend you are the JSF implementation!
This approach tests everything except the view.
Let's consider a JSF view for the component we unit tested above:
<html>
<head>
<title>Register New User</title>
</head>
<body>
<f:view>
<h:form>
<table border="0">
<tr>
<td>Username</td>
<td><h:inputText value="#{user.username}"/></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Real Name</td>
<td><h:inputText value="#{user.name}"/></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Password</td>
<td><h:inputSecret value="#{user.password}"/></td>
</tr>
</table>
<h:messages/>
<h:commandButton type="submit" value="Register" action="#{register.register}"/>
</h:form>
</f:view>
</body>
</html>
We want to test the registration functionality of our application (the stuff that happens when the user clicks the Register button). We'll reproduce the JSF request lifecycle in an automated JUnit test:
@RunWith(Arquillian.class)
public class RegisterTest extends JUnitSeamTest
{
@Deployment(name="RegisterTest")
@OverProtocol("Servlet 3.0")
public static Archive<?> createDeployment()
{
return Deployments.registrationDeployment();
}
@Test
public void testLogin() throws Exception
{
new FacesRequest("/register.xhtml") {
@Override
protected void processValidations() throws Exception
{
validateValue("#{user.username}", "1ovthafew");
validateValue("#{user.name}", "Gavin King");
validateValue("#{user.password}", "secret");
assert !isValidationFailure();
}
@Override
protected void updateModelValues() throws Exception
{
setValue("#{user.username}", "1ovthafew");
setValue("#{user.name}", "Gavin King");
setValue("#{user.password}", "secret");
}
@Override
protected void invokeApplication()
{
assert invokeMethod("#{register.register}").equals("/registered.xhtml");
setOutcome("/registered.xhtml");
}
@Override
protected void afterRequest()
{
assert isInvokeApplicationComplete();
assert !isRenderResponseBegun();
}
}.run();
...
}
Notice that we've extended JUnitSeamTest, which provides a
Seam environment for our components, and written our test script as an
anonymous class that extends JUnitSeamTest.FacesRequest,
which provides an emulated JSF request lifecycle. (There is also a
JUnitSeamTest.NonFacesRequest for testing GET requests.)
We've written our code in methods which are named for the various JSF
phases, to emulate the calls that JSF would make to our components. Then
we've thrown in various assertions.
You'll find plenty of integration tests for the Seam example applications which demonstrate more complex cases. There are instructions for running these tests using Maven, or using the JUnit plugin for eclipse:
If you used seam-gen to create your project you are ready to start writing tests. Otherwise you'll need to setup the testing environment in your favorite build tool (e.g. ant, maven, eclipse).
If you use ant or a custom build tool which uses locally available jars - you can get all jars
by running ant -f get-arquillian-libs.xml -Dtest.lib.dir=lib/test. This just downloads all Arquillian
jars for managed JBoss AS 7.1.1 container and copies those into a directory defined by the test.lib.dir
property, which is lib/test in this case.
And, of course you need to put your built project and tests onto
the classpath, along with the jar of your test framework. Don't forget
to put all the correct configuration files for JPA and Seam onto
the classpath as well. Seam asks Arquillian to deploy any
resource (jar or directory) which has a seam.properties
file in it's root. Therefore, if you don't assemble a directory structure
that resembles a deployable archive containing your built project, you must
put a seam.properties in each resource.
Seam provides JUnit support out of the box, but you can also use another test framework, if you want.
You'll need to provide an implementation of
AbstractSeamTest which does the following:
Calls
super.begin()before every test method.Calls
super.end()after every test method.Calls
super.setupClass()to setup integration test environment. This should be called before any test methods are called.Calls
super.cleanupClass()to clean up the integration test environment.Calls
super.startSeam()to start Seam at the start of integration testing.Calls
super.stopSeam()to cleanly shut down Seam at the end of integration testing.
If you want to insert or clean data in your database before each
test you can use Seam's integration with DBUnit. To do this, extend
DBJUnitSeamTest rather than JUnitSeamTest.
You have to provide a dataset for DBUnit.
Caution
DBUnit supports two formats for dataset files, flat and XML. Seam'sDBJUnitSeamTest assumes the flat format is used, so make sure that
your dataset is in this format.
<dataset>
<ARTIST
id="1"
dtype="Band"
name="Pink Floyd" />
<DISC
id="1"
name="Dark Side of the Moon"
artist_id="1" />
</dataset>
In your test class, configure your dataset by overriding
prepareDBUnitOperations():
protected void prepareDBUnitOperations() {
setDatabase("HSQL");
setDatasourceJndiName("java:/jboss/myDatasource");
beforeTestOperations.add(
new DataSetOperation("my/datasets/BaseData.xml")
);
}
DataSetOperation defaults to DatabaseOperation.CLEAN_INSERT
if no other operation is specified as a constructor argument. The
above example cleans all tables defined BaseData.xml,
then inserts all rows declared in BaseData.xml
before each @Test method is invoked.
If you require extra cleanup after a test method executes, add
operations to afterTestOperations list.
You need to tell DBUnit which datasource you are using. This is accomplished by calling
setDatasourceJndiName.
DBJUnitSeamTest has support for MySQL and HSQL - you need to tell it which database is being used, otherwise it defaults to HSQL.
It also allows you to insert binary data into the test data set (n.b. this is untested on Windows). You need to tell it where to locate these resources on your classpath:
setBinaryUrl("images/");
You do not have to configure any of these parameters except the datasourceJndiName
if you use HSQL and have no binary imports. You have to call setDatabaseJndiName()
before your test runs. If you are not using HSQL or MySQL, you need to override some
methods. See the Javadoc of DBJUnitSeamTest for more details.
Caution
Warning! This feature is still under development.It's very easy to integration test your Seam Mail:
public class MailTest extends SeamTest {
@Test
public void testSimpleMessage() throws Exception {
new FacesRequest() {
@Override
protected void updateModelValues() throws Exception {
setValue("#{person.firstname}", "Pete");
setValue("#{person.lastname}", "Muir");
setValue("#{person.address}", "test@example.com");
}
@Override
protected void invokeApplication() throws Exception {
MimeMessage renderedMessage = getRenderedMailMessage("/simple.xhtml");
assert renderedMessage.getAllRecipients().length == 1;
InternetAddress to = (InternetAddress) renderedMessage.getAllRecipients()[0];
assert to.getAddress().equals("test@example.com");
}
}.run();
}
}
We create a new FacesRequest as normal. Inside
the invokeApplication hook we render the message using
getRenderedMailMessage(viewId);, passing the
viewId of the message to render. The method returns the rendered
message on which you can do your tests. You can of course also use
any of the standard JSF lifecycle methods.
There is no support for rendering standard JSF components so you can't test the content body of the mail message easily.