Ruby Forum RSpec > Testing REST webservices? (Not Rails)

Hi,

I am new to RSpec and BDD.
I was wondering if RSpec specifications are a good solution for testing
REST webservices (not implemented in Rails).
If so, what would be a good way to test something like the API described
below?

===========

GET http://localhost/workflow text/xml

Result: 200 OK

    <?xml version="1.0"?>
    <workflows>
        <workflow>flow1</workflow>
        <workflow>flow2</workflow>
        <workflow>flow3</workflow>
    </workflows>


POST http://localhost/workflow?name=flow4 text/xml

Data:

    <?xml version="1.0"?>
    <workflow>
        <monitor type="page" priority="0">
            <provides result="test"/>
        </monitor>
        <process command="test" id="test" weight="100">
            <needs result="test"/>
            <provides result="test_result"/>
            <error result="error"/>
        </process>
    </workflow>

Result: 201 Created


GET http://localhost/workflow text/xml

Result: 200 OK

    <?xml version="1.0"?>
    <workflows>
        <workflow>flow1</workflow>
        <workflow>flow2</workflow>
        <workflow>flow3</workflow>
        <workflow>flow4</workflow>
    </workflows>


GET http://localhost/workflow/flow4 text/xml

Result: 200 OK

    <?xml version="1.0"?>
    <workflow>
        <monitor type="page" priority="0">
            <provides result="test"/>
        </monitor>
        <process command="test" id="test" weight="100">
            <needs result="test"/>
            <provides result="test_result"/>
            <error result="error"/>
        </process>
    </workflow>


DELETE http://localhost/workflow/flow3

Result: 204 No Content


GET http://localhost/workflow text/xml

Result: 200 OK

    <?xml version="1.0"?>
    <workflows>
        <workflow>flow1</workflow>
        <workflow>flow2</workflow>
        <workflow>flow4</workflow>
    </workflows>

=====

TIA,

Erik.

On 21 May 2008, at 21:37, Erik Terpstra wrote:

> I am new to RSpec and BDD.
> I was wondering if RSpec specifications are a good solution for  
> testing REST webservices (not implemented in Rails).
> If so, what would be a good way to test something like the API  
> described below?

Hi Erik

RSpec would be fine to test that, it's just a web app returning XML
instead of HTML.  You don't say what you are building the web service
in.  If you want acceptance/integration-style specs that are
implementation-independent, you could use the story runner with steps
to make HTTP requests.  And look at Kyle's rspec_hpricot_matchers for
a way of specifying XML output.  You will also want unit specs for
your models, controllers etc which will be more framework-dependent.

That's all I can offer based on your description.

Ashley



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