How to test a JSON REST API

Question

I'm brand new to ruby (first day working with ruby) so please forgive any novice questions and lack of understanding.

I'm trying to validate the responses to http callouts.

For example, let's say the endpoint is the following:

https://applicationname-api-sbox02.herokuapp.com 

And, I'm trying to authenticate a user by sending a get request like this:

get_response = RestClient.get( "https://applicationname-api-sbox02.herokuapp.com/api/v1/users", 
                    {
                        "Content-Type" => "application/json",
                        "Authorization" => "token 4d012314b7e46008f215cdb7d120cdd7",
                        "Manufacturer-Token" => "8d0693ccfe65104600e2555d5af34213"
                    }
                ) 

Now, I want to validate the response and do the following: - parse the response to ensure that it is valid JSON - do some validation and verify the JSON has the correct data (verify that id == 4 for example) - if an error is encountered, raise an exception using the 'raise' method.

In my first feeble attempt I tried the following:

puts get_response.body
if get_response.code == 200
puts "********* Get current user successful"
else
puts "Get current user failed!!"
end 

Now, this returned that getting the current user was successful, but how do I actually parse the json, verify the correct id, and raise an exception if an error occurred?

Answer 1

Instead of raising an exception, write a test.

A straightforward approach, using the json parser and unit test framework from the std lib:

require 'minitest/autorun'
require 'rest_client'
require 'json'

class APITest < MiniTest::Unit::TestCase
  def setup
    response = RestClient.get("https://applicationname-api-sbox02.herokuapp.com/api/v1/users", 
      {
         "Content-Type" => "application/json",
         "Authorization" => "token 4d012314b7e46008f215cdb7d120cdd7",
         "Manufacturer-Token" => "8d0693ccfe65104600e2555d5af34213"
      }
    ) 
    @data = JSON.parse response.body
  end

  def test_id_correct
    assert_equal 4, @data['id']
  end
end

Execute with ruby $filename

JSON.parse parses a JSON string into a ruby hash

Getting started with minitest

If you are using ruby 1.8, you'll need to install the json gem and either install the minitest gem, or switch to the older testunit API. If you choose the latter, then you'll need to change require 'minitest/autorun' -> require 'test/unit' and MiniTest::Unit::TestCase -> Test::Unit::TestCase

Answer 2

I'm a little late to the party, but I recently co-created an rspec driven framework called Airborne for just this purpose. Check it out: https://github.com/brooklynDev/airborne