NAME

Swat

SYNOPSIS

Rapid web tests development.

Description

Swat is a powerful and yet simple and flexible tool for rapid automated web tests development.
Swat is a web application oriented test framework, this means that it equips you with all you need for a web test development and yet it's not burdened by many other "generic" things that you probably won't ever use.
Swat does not carry all heavy load on it's shoulders, with the help of it's "elder brother" - curl swat makes a http requests in a smart way. This means if you know and love curl swat might be easy way to go. Swat just passes all curl related parameter as is to curl and let curl do it's job.
Swat is a text oriented tool, for good or for bad it does not provide any level of http DOM or xpath hacking ( but see process http responses section ). It does not even try to decouple http headers from a body. Actually it just returns you a text where you can find and grep in old good unix way. Does this sound suspiciously simple? I believe that most of things could be tested in a simple way.
Swat is extendable by writing custom perl code, this is where you may add desired complexity to your test stories. Check out swat API for details.
And finally swat relies on prove as internal test runner - this has many, many good results:
- swat transparently passes all it's arguments to prove which makes it simple to adjust swat runner behavior in a prove way
- swat tests might be easily embedded as unit tests into a cpan distributions.
- test reports are emitted in a TAP format which is portable and easy to read.

Ok, now I hope you are ready to dive into swat tutorial! :)

Install

$ sudo apt-get install curl
$ sudo cpanm swat

Or install from source:

# could be useful for contributors and developers

perl Makefile.PL
make
make test
make install

Write your swat story

Swat test stories always answers on 2 type of questions:

What kind of http request should be sent.
What kind of http response should be received.

As swat is a web test oriented tool it deals with some http related stuff as:

http methods
http resources
http responses

Swat leverages Unix file system to build an analogy for these things:

HTTP resources

HTTP resource is just a directory. You have to create a directory to define a http resource:

mkdir foo/
mkdir -p bar/baz

This code defines two http resources for your application - '/foo/' and '/bar/baz'

HTTP methods

HTTP method is just a file. You have to create a file to define a http method.

touch foo/get.txt
touch foo/put.txt
touch bar/baz/post.txt

Obviously `http methods' files should be located at `http resource' directories.

The list below describes two http resources ( /foo, /bar/baz ) and three http methods for these resources ( GET, PUT, DELETE ):

* GET  /foo
* PUT  /foo
* POST /bar/baz

Here is the list of predefined file names for a http methods files:

get.txt      --> GET      method
post.txt     --> POST     method
put.txt      --> PUT      method
delete.txt   --> DELETE   method

There is also special predefined file name `meta.txt', see meta stories.

Hostname / IP Address

You need to define hostname or ip address to send request to.

Just write it up to a special file called `host' and swat will use it.

echo 'app.local' > host

As swat makes http requests with the help of curl, the host name should be compliant with curl requirements, this for example means you may define a http schema or port here:

echo 'https://app.local' >> host
echo 'app.local:8080' >> host

HTTP Response

Swat makes request to a given http resources with a given http methods and then validates a response. Swat does this with the help so called check lists, check lists are defined at `http methods' files.

Check list is just a list of expressions a response should match. It might be a set of plain strings or regular expressions:

echo 200 OK > foo/get.txt
echo 'Hello I am foo' >> foo/get.txt

The code above defines two checks for response from `GET /foo':

it should contain "200 OK"
it should contain "Hello I am foo"

You may add some regular expressions checks as well:

# for example check if we got something like 'date':
echo 'regexp: \d\d\d\d-\d\d-\d\d' >> foo/get.txt

Bringing all together

All these things like http method, http resource and check list build up an essential swat entity called a swat story.

Swat story is a very simple test plan, which could be expressed in a cucumber language as follows:

Given I have web application 'http://my.cool.app:80'
And I have http method 'GET'
And make http request 'GET /foo'
Then I should have response matches '200 OK'
And I should have response matches 'Hello I am foo'
And I should have response matches '\d\d\d\d-\d\d-\d\d'

From the file system point of view swat story is a:

http method - the `http method' file
http resource - the directory where `http method file' located in
check list - the content of a `http method' file

Swat Project

Swat project is a bunch of a related swat stories kept under a single directory. This directory is called project root directory. The project root directory name could be any, swat just searches for swat story files in it and then "execute" found stories. See swat runner workflow section for full explanation of this process.

This is an example swat project layout:

$ tree my/swat/project
  my/swat/project
  |--- host
  |----FOO
  |-----|----BAR
  |           |---- post.txt
  |--- FOO
        |--- get.txt

3 directories, 3 files

When you ask swat to execute swat stories you have to point it a project root directory or `cd' to it and run swat without arguments:

swat my/swat/project

# or

cd my/swat/project && swat

Note, that project root directory path will be removed from http resources paths during execution:

GET /FOO
POST /FOO/BAR

Also notice that if you pass first argument ( which is project root directory ) to swat client, then the second argument could be a hostname ( in case you don't want to use one defined at host file or you do not have one ):

  # inside project root directory 
  swat ./ 127.0.0.1

  # outside of project root directory 
  swat /path/to/project/root/directory/ 127.0.0.1

Follow swat client section for full explanation of swat client command line API.

Swat check lists

Swat check lists complies Outthentic DSL format.

There are lot of possibilities here!

( For full explanation of outthentic DSL please follow documentation. )

A few examples:

plain string checks

Often all you need is to ensure that http response has some strings in:

# http response
200 OK
HELLO
HELLO WORLD


# check list
200 OK
HELLO

# swat output
OK - output matches '200 OK'
OK - output matches 'HELLO'

regular expressions

You may use regular expressions as well:

# http response
My birth day is: 1977-04-16


# check list
regexp: \d\d\d\d-\d\d-\d\d


# swat output
OK - output matches /\d\d\d\d-\d\d-\d\d/

Follow https://github.com/melezhik/outthentic-dsl#check-expressions to know more.

generators

Yes you may generate new check list on run time:

# original check list
   
Say
HELLO
   
# this generator creates 3 new check expressions:
   
generator: [ qw{ say hello again } ]
   
# final check list:
   
Say
HELLO
say
hello
again

Follow https://github.com/melezhik/outthentic-dsl#generators to know more.

inline perl code

What about inline arbitrary perl code? Well, it's easy!

# check list
regexp: number: (\d+)
validator: [ ( capture()->[0] '>=' 0 ), 'got none zero number') ];

Follow https://github.com/melezhik/outthentic-dsl#validators to know more.

text blocks

Need to validate that some lines goes in response successively ?

    # http response

    this string followed by
    that string followed by
    another one string
    with that string
    at the very end.


    # check list
    # this text block
    # consists of 5 strings
    # goes consequentially
    # line by line:

    begin:
        # plain strings
        this string followed by
        that string followed by
        another one string
        # regexps patterns:
    regexp: with (this|that) \S+
        # and the last one in a block
        at the very end
    end:

Follow https://github.com/melezhik/outthentic-dsl#comments-blank-lines-and-text-blocks to know more.

Swat ini files

Every swat story comes with some settings you may define to adjust swat behavior. These type of settings could be defined at swat ini files.

Swat ini files are file called "swat.ini" and located at `resources' directory:

foo/bar/get.txt
foo/bar/swat.ini

The content of swat ini file is the list of variables definitions in bash format:

$name=value

As swat ini files is bash scripts you may use bash expressions here:

if [ some condition ]; then
    $name=value
fi

Following is the list of swat variables you may define at swat ini files, it could be divided on two groups:

swat variables
curl parameters

swat variables

Swat variables define swat basic configuration, like logging mode, prove runner settings, etc. Here is the list:

skip_story - skip story, default value is `0'. Set to `1' if you want skip store for some reasons.

For example:

# swat.ini
# assume that we set profile variable somewhere else
# 

if test "${profile}" = 'production'; then
    skip_story=1 # we don't want this one for production
fi

ignore_http_err - ignore http related errors; default value is `1' ( do not ignore )
- swat runs curl command and then checks http status code
- in case of bad http status code returns ( 0 or >= 400 ) a proper swat assert fails
- settings ignore_http_err to `1' only makes a warning in case of bad http status code and does not trigger assert failure
prove_options - prove options to be passed to prove runner, default value is `-v`. See [Prove settings](#prove-settings) section.
debug - enable swat debugging
- Increasing debug value results in more low level information appeared at output
- Default value is 0, which means no debugging
- Possible values: 0,1,2,3
debug_bytes - number of bytes of http response to be dumped out when debug is on. default value is `500'.
match_l - in TAP output truncate matching strings to {match_l} bytes; default value is `40'.
swat_purge_cache - remove swat cache files at the end of test run; default value is `\0' ( do not remove ).

curl parameters

Curl parameters relates to curl client. Here is the list:

try_num - a number of requests to be send in case curl get unsuccessful return, similar to curl `--retry' , default value is `2'.
curl_params - additional curl parameters being add to http requests, default value is "".

Here are some examples:

# -d curl parameter
curl_params='-d name=daniel -d skill=lousy' # post data sending via form submit.

# --data-binary curl parameter
curl_params=`echo -E "--data-binary '{\"name\":\"alex\",\"last_name\":\"melezhik\"}'"`

# set http header
curl_params="-H 'Content-Type: application/json'"

Follow curl documentation to get more examples.

curl_connect_timeout - maximum time in seconds that you allow the connection to the server to take, follow curl documentation for full explanation.
curl_max_time - maximum time in seconds that you allow the whole operation to take, follow curl documentation for full explanation.
curl_follow_redirect - make curl to respect http redirects. default value is `1' ( respect ), set this setting to `0' if you don't want for some reasons follow http redirects
port - http port of tested host, default value is `80'.

other variables

This is the list of helpful variables you may use in swat ini files:

$resource
$resource_dir
$test_root_dir
$hostname
$http_method

Alternative swat ini files locations

Swat try to find swat ini files at these locations ( listed in order )

~/swat.ini * home directory
$project_root_directory/swat.ini - project root directory

Settings priority table

This table describes all possible locations for swat ini files. Swat try to find swat ini files in order:

| location                                  | order N     |
| --------------------------------------------------------|
| ~/swat.ini                                | 1           |
| `project_root_directory'/swat.ini         | 2           |
| `http resource' directory/swat.ini file   | 3           |
| environment variables                     | 4           |

In case the same variable is defined more than once at swat ini files with different locations, the file loaded last win:

curl_params="-H 'Foo: Bar'" # in a ~/swat.ini
curl_params="-H 'Bar: Baz'" # in a project_root_directory/swat.ini

# actual curl_params value:
"-H 'Bar: Baz'"

If you want concatenation mode use name="$name value" expression:

curl_params="-H 'Foo: Bar'" # in a ~/swat.ini
curl_params="$curl_params -H 'Bar: Baz'" # in a project_root_directory/swat.ini

# actual curl_params value:
"-H 'Foo: Bar' -H 'Bar: Baz'"

In case you need provide default value for some variable use name=${name default_value} expression:

# port will be set 80 unless it's not set somewhere else
port=${port:=80} # in a ~/swat.ini

Hooks

Hooks are extension points to hack into swat runtime phase. It's just files with perl code gets executed in the beginning of swat story. You should named your hook file as `hook.pm' and place it into `resource' directory:

# foo/hook.pm
diag "hello, I am swat hook";
sub red_green_blue_generator { [ qw /red green blue/ ] }
   

# foo/get.txt
generator: red_green_blue_generator()

There are lot of reasons why you might need a hooks. To say a few:

define swat generators
redefine http responses
process http responses
redefine http resources
call downstream stories
other custom code

Hooks API

Swat hooks API provides several functions to change swat story at runtime

Redefine http responses

set_response(STRING)

Using set_response means that you never make a real request to a web application, but instead set response on your own side.

This feature is helpful when you need to mock up http responses instead of having them requested from a real web application. For example in absence of an access to a tested application or if response is too slow or it involves too much data which make it hard to execute a swat stories often.

This is an example of setting server response inside swat hook:

# hook.pm
set_response("THIS IS I FAKE RESPONSE\n HELLO WORLD");

# get.txt
THIS IS A FAKE RESPONSE
HELLO WORLD

You may call `set_response' more then once:

set_response("HELLO WORLD");
set_response("HELLO WORLD2");

A final response will be:

HELLO WORLD
HELLO WORLD2

Another interesting idea about set_response feature is a conditional http requests.

Let say we have `POST /login' request for user authentication, this is a simple swat story for it:

# login/post.txt
200 OK

Good. But what if you need to skip authentication under some conditions, like if you are already logged in before? We could write such a code:

# login/post.txt
generator:
$logged_in ? [ 'I am already logged in' : '200 OK' ]

# login/hook.pm
if ( ... check if user is logged in .... ){
    set_response('I am already logged in');
}

Process http responses

set_response_processor(CODEREF)

Response processors are custom perl function to modify content returned from server before invoking a validation process. Processor code should be defined by calling a process_response function with parameter as reference to processor function:

For example:

set_response_processor( sub { 
   my $headers   = shift; # original response, http headers, String
   my $body      = shift; # original response, body, String
   $body=~s/hello/swat/;
   return $body;          # modified response will be return value of sub {} 
 });

What you should know about processor functions:

They should be simple, it is good to follow KISS paradigm.
They are not for validating content, use check lists for this.
Basicly processor code prepare a content to be validated by check lists.
When processor function gets called it is supplied with $body parameter which is a http body of original http response relieved from server.
Remember that if processor function gets called - the content get passed into validation process will be altered as if you use a classic UNIX pipeline, see schema below.
In case of response processor function gets called, the original http headers and processor function return value be sent as input for validation process.
If no processor function gets called an original http response ( http headers and the body ) will be sent as input for validation process.

This is a rough schema of full process:

 # without processor function
 curl -i some-http-URL | validation-process

 # with processor script exists:
 curl -i some-http-URL | processor-function| validation-process

The possible usage of processor functions:

handling json, xml, yaml data

For example:

  # server response in json format
  {
      "Foo": {
          "Bar" : "Baz"
       }
  }

  # processor function
  my $headers   = shift;
  my $body      = shift;
  use JSON;
  $hash = decode_json($body);
  return 'Foo.Bar.Baz :'.( $hash->{Foo}->{Bar}->{Baz} )."\n";
  

  # server response in xml format
  <foo>
    <bar>
      <baz>aaa</baz>
    </bar>  
  </foo>

  # processor function
  my $headers   = shift;
  my $body      = shift;
  use XML:LibXML;
  my $doc = XML::LibXML->parse_string($body);
  return 'Foo.Bar.Baz :'.( $doc->find("string(/foo/bar/baz)")->string_value )."\n";

Redefine http resources

modify_resource(CODEREF)

To modify existed resource use modify_resource function:

# foo/bar/baz/ - resource
   
# hook.pm
modify_resource( sub { my $resource = shift; s/bar/bbaarr/, s/baz/bbaazz/ for $resource; $resource  } );

# modified resource
foo/bbaarr/bbaazz

Upstream and downstream stories

Swat allow you to call one story from another, using notion of swat modules.

Swat modules are reusable swat stories. Swat never executes swat modules directly, instead you have to call swat module from your swat story. Story calling another story is named a upstream story, story is being called is named a downstream story. ( This kind of analogy is taken from Jenkins CI )

Let show how this work on a previous `login' example. We need to ensure that user is logged in before doing some other action, like checking email list:

# email/list/get.txt
200 OK
email list

# email/list/hook.pm
run_swat_module( POST => '/login', { user => 'alex', password => 'swat' } )  

# and finally this is
# login/post.txt
200 OK

# login/swat.ini
swat_module=1 # this story is a swat module
curl_params="-d 'user=%user%' -d 'password=%password%'"

Here are the brief comments to the example above:

`set_module=1' declare swat story as swat module; now swat will never execute this story directly, upstream story should call it.
call `run_swat_module(method,resource,variables)' function inside upstream story hook to run downstream story.
you can call as many downstream stories as you wish.
you can call the same downstream story more than once.

Here is an example code snippet:

# hook.pm
run_swat_module( GET => '/foo/' )
run_swat_module( POST => '/foo/bar' )
run_swat_module( GET => '/foo/' )

swat modules have a variables

Use hash passed as third parameter of runswatmodule function:

run_swat_module( GET => '/foo', { var1 => 'value1', var2 => 'value2', var3=>'value3'   }  )

Swat interpolates module variables into `curl_params' variable in swat module story:

# swat module
# swat.ini
swat_module=1
# initial value of curl_params variable:
curl_params='-d var1=%var1% -d var2=%var2% -d var3=%var3%'

# real value of curl_params variable
# during execution of swat module:
curl_param='-d var1=value1 -d var2=value2 -d var3=value3'

Use %[\w\d_]+% placeholders in a curl_params variable to insert module variables here

Access to a module variables is provided by `module_variable' function:

# hook.pm
module_variable('var1');
module_variable('var2');

swat modules could call other swat modules
you can't use module variables in a story which is not a swat_module

One word about sharing state between upstream story and swat modules. As swat modules get executed in the same process as upstream story there is no magic about sharing data between upstream and downstream stories. The straightforward way to share state is to use global variables :

# upstream story hook:
our $state = [ 'this is upstream story' ]

# downstream story hook:
push our @$state, 'I was here'

Of course more proper approaches for state sharing could be used as singeltones or something else.

swat variables accessors

There are some accessors to a common swat variables:

project_root_dir()
test_root_dir()
resource()
resource_dir()
http_method()
hostname()
ignore_http_err()
config() - returns hash of test suite configuration

See test suite ini file section for details.

Be aware of that these functions are readers.

meta stories

Meta stories are special type of swat stories.

The essential property of meta story is it has no related http request:

# foo/bar story
mkdir foo/bar

# it's a meta story
touch foo/bar/meta.txt

As meta story does not have any related http request, it has no `http method' file either.

A `meta.txt' file should be treated as meta request file denoted that story is meta.

You may live `meta.txt' empty file or add some useful description to be printed when story is executed:

nano foo/bar/meta.txt

    This is my cool story. 
    Take a look at this!

How one could use meta stories?

Meta stories are just containers for other downstream stories. Usually one defines some downstream stories call inside meta story's hook file:

nano foo/bar/hook.pm

    run_swat_module( POST => '/baz' );
    run_swat_module( POST => '/baz/bar' );

Meta stories are very close to upstream stories with spoofed server response, with the only exclusion that as meta story has no real http request related to it, there is no need for spoofing.

Meta stories can be also called as downstream stories:

# I am downstream story
# you can call me from somewhere else
nano foo/bar/swat.ini
    swat_module=1

PERL5LIB

Swat adds `project_root_directory/lib' path to PERL5LIB path, which make it easy to add some modules and use them:

# my-app/lib/Foo/Bar/Baz.pm
package Foo::Bar::Baz;
...
   
# hook.pm
use Foo::Bar::Baz;
...

Swat runner workflow

This is detailed explanation of swat runner life cycle.

Swat runner script consequentially hits two phases:

swat stories are converted into perl test files ( compilation phase )
perl test files are recursively executed by prove ( execution phase )

Generating Test::More asserts sequence

for every swat story found:
- new instance of Outthentic::DSL object (ODO) is created
- check list file passed to ODO
- http request is executed and response passed to ODO
- ODO makes validation of given stdout against given check list
- validation results are turned into a sequence of Test::More ok() asserts

Time diagram

This is a time diagram for swat runner life cycle:

Hits compilation phase
For every swat story found:
- Creates a perl test file
The end of compilation phase
Hits execution phase - runs `prove' recursively on a directory with a perl test files
For every perl test file gets executed:
- Test::More asserts sequence is generated
The end of execution phase

TAP

Swat produces output in TAP format, that means you may use your favorite tap parsers to bring result to another test / reporting systems, follow TAP documentation to get more on this.

Here is example for converting swat tests into JUNIT format:

swat --prove '--formatter TAP::Formatter::JUnit'

Prove settings

Swat utilize prove utility to run tests, all prove related parameters could be passed via `--prove' option to prove runner.

Here are some examples:

swat --prove -Q # don't show anythings unless test summary

swat --prove '-q -s' # run prove tests in random and quite mode

Suite configuration

Swat test suites could be configurable. Configuration files contain a supplemental data to adjust suite behavior

There are two type of configuration files are supported:

.Ini style format
YAML format

.Ini style configuration files are passed by `--ini' parameter

$ swat --ini /etc/suites/foo.ini

$ cat /etc/suites/foo.ini

[main]

foo = 1
bar = 2

There is no special magic behind ini files, except this should be Config Tiny compliant configuration file.

Or you can choose YAML format for suite configuration by using `--yaml' parameter:

$ swat --ini /etc/suites/foo.yaml

$ cat /etc/suites/foo.yaml

main:
  foo : 1
  bar : 2

Unless user sets path to configuration file explicitly by `--ini' or \'--yaml' swat runner looks for the files named suite.ini and then ( if suite.ini is not found ) for suite.yaml at the current working directory.

If configuration file is passed and read a related configuration data is accessible via config() function, for example in story.pm file:

# cat story.pm

my $foo = config()->{main}{foo};
my $bar = config()->{main}{bar};

Misc settings

swat_purge_cache
- Set to `1', in case you need to clear swat cache directory, useful when swat tests get run periodically and a lot of cache files are created.
- Default value is `0' ( do not clear cache ).
swat_disable_color - disable color output
- Set this 1 if you want to disable color output in swat test report.
- By default this setting is off.
output_mod - setting TAP output mode
- `cpanparty' - format output for cpanparty service
- `\default' - this is default value, no formatting at all

Swat client

Once swat is installed you get swat client at the `PATH':

swat [[project_root_dir] [host:port]] [swat_command_line_parameters]

project_root_dir - swat project root directory

In case you don't set one, swat assume it equal to current working directory. Examples:

# setup project root directory explicitly
swat /foo/bar/baz

# project root directory is CWD
swat

host - basic URL of tested application, should be in curl compatible format

In case host parameter is missing , swat tries to read it up from `host' file. Examples:

# setup host explicitly
swat /foo/bar/baz 127.0.0.1

# host entry gets read from CWD/host file 
swat /foo/bar/baz
 
# project root directory is CWD
# host entry gets read from CWD/host file 
swat

List of swat command line parameters:

--prove|prove-opts - sets prove parameters

See prove settings

-t|--test

Sets a distinct sub sets of stories to execute, see Running subset of stories

--ini - suite configuration ini file path
--yaml - suite configuration yaml file path

See suite configuration section for details.

--debug|d - sets value for swat debug parameter

Override the value for swat debug variable, see swat variables section:

debug=1 swat --debug 2 # set debug to 2

Running subset of stories

Use `-t' options to execute a subset of swat stories:

# run `FOO/*' stories
swat example/my-app 127.0.0.1 -t FOO/

`-t' option should point to a resource(s) path and be relative to the project root directory
`-t' option should not contain extension part - `.txt'
it is possible to use more than one `t' options

For example:

-t FOO/BAR -t BAR -t FOO/BAZ

Or even path more than one argument for -t parameter:

For example:

-t FOO/BAR FOO/BAZ BAR

Examples

There is plenty of examples at ./examples directory

AUTHOR

Aleksei Melezhik

Home Page

https://github.com/melezhik/swat

Thanks

to God as - For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. (Proverbs 2:6)

All the stuff that swat relies upon, thanks to those authors:

linux
perl
curl
TAP
Test::More
Test::Harness

COPYRIGHT

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

To install swat, copy and paste the appropriate command in to your terminal.

cpanm

cpanm swat

CPAN shell

perl -MCPAN -e shell
install swat

For more information on module installation, please visit the detailed CPAN module installation guide.

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distribution: (e.g. distribution:Dancer auth)
author: (e.g. author:SONGMU Redis)
version: (e.g. version:1.00)

NAME

SYNOPSIS

Description

Install

Write your swat story

HTTP resources

HTTP methods

Hostname / IP Address

HTTP Response

Bringing all together

Swat Project

Swat check lists

Swat ini files

swat variables

curl parameters

other variables

Alternative swat ini files locations

Settings priority table

Hooks

Hooks API

Redefine http responses

Process http responses

Redefine http resources

Upstream and downstream stories

swat variables accessors

meta stories

PERL5LIB

Swat runner workflow

Time diagram

TAP

Prove settings

Suite configuration

Misc settings

Swat client

Running subset of stories

Examples

AUTHOR

Home Page

Thanks

COPYRIGHT

Module Install Instructions