Test tools for web services

The web service interface is not easy to test in an efficient way. Firstly, it is cumbersome to adjust the file sent to the browser service and the probability of making errors is high. There are also many operations that need to have different input files with different parameters to be adjusted for each call. Moreover, it is difficult to determine whether the response received was correct as the response can be filled with different parameters and different formats. An improperly formatted XML message is not something that a tester will pay attention to.

 

A test tool is needed that:

  • Facilitates the manual testing process
  • Enables automation of regression tests
  • Enables performance testing

Most often the project will provide an interface with SOAP web services. The tool will then have support to load the WSDL file is an XML file that describes the methods to include web services and the authentic call (parameters etc) that can be used. It then creates an "empty" request completed without parameters. These can be used to call the web service + with test data. Response to these calls will then be verified by the tool.

 

Examples of verifications can be that you get an answer at all, that the SOAP response is correct and that the data in the response is as expected. These calls will also be assembled in test suites that can be used for regression testing. Preferably it should also be possible to use the tests developed to create load test suites to add to the load on the system. A tool that is capable of these requirements is SoapUI (www.soapui.com). A very good and easy to use tools, and also free. There is also a version that is a bit more advanced and have a bit more functionality and support. If you are many who will be working with these tests and to automate them, it may be worthwhile to purchase licenses for the Pro version, but begin to be happy with the free version to teach you how to work with the tests.

If your project does not use SOAP, but perhaps XML-RPC, this is another good tool JMeter. It is not as easy to work with, but has support for many different applications and interfaces. It is also worth a look.