# Web/HTTP Testing **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [February 23, 2006, 6:15pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/web-http-testing/72452 "2006-02-23T18:15:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![thiagoalessio](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/d6d6ee/32.png) [@thiagoalessio](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/thiagoalessio)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 6:15pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/web-http-testing/72452/1 "2006-02-23T18:15:50Z")
Hello, I am looking for a user test automation tool. When I say ‘user’, I mean it should mimic the user interacting with the app. That ultimately boils down to a tool that drives a browser or is able to make http requests and allow us to deal easily with the responses. Our requirements are to be able to write the tests in Ruby (no need to switch to other language for test designing) and (relative) browser-independence (this one puts Watir out of the game, since it seems to be IE-dependent for the time being). A nice feature (but not a must-have) would be possibility of headless (command line) execution. I am aware of Selenium and WebUnit. Does anyone have any experience with either one (or a similar tool)? Cheers, Thiago A. ---
**Author:** ![thiagoalessio](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/d6d6ee/32.png) [@thiagoalessio](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/thiagoalessio)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 8:11pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/web-http-testing/72452/2 "2006-02-23T20:11:03Z")
I feel Selenium is the way to go. You have a couple of options: There is the selenium\_on\_rails plugin: > **[SEO & Sökmotoroptimering - Så fungerar det - And then nothing](https://andthennothing.net)** > > SEO, eller sökmotoroptimering, är avgörande för alla företag som vill nå ut till kunder online. Men den överflödiga informationen kan göra att det verkar vara ett mycket komplicerat område, fullt av olika tekniker och idéer. För att göra det enklare... Lets lets you write the normal, table-based tests using a form of Markdown, called Selenese, or in Ruby using RSelenese. There is also: [http://blog.viney.net.nz/articles/2006/02/09/selenium-testing](http://blog.viney.net.nz/articles/2006/02/09/selenium-testing) This uses the normal Ruby Test::Unit infrastructure for writing tests and loading fixtures. I had a few problems with the second one, so I use the selenium\_on\_rails plugin and it works great. You can install selenium itself using RubyGems but its an old version, or download the latest version of Selenium (0.6) and extract into your vendor directory. Follow the instructions for either of the above. On 2/23/06, Thiago A. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > seems to be IE-dependent for the time being). A nice feature (but not > Rails mailing list > removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid > [http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails](http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails) – Cheers, Luke R. > **[Luke Redpath - Freelance Ruby, Rails and iOS app developer / London / Essex / UK](https://lukeredpath.co.uk/)** > > Experienced freelance and contract developer offering Ruby, Rails and iOS app development services for iPhone, iPad and other iOS platforms. Based in Colchester, Essex, London and remote. ---
**Author:** ![thiagoalessio](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/d6d6ee/32.png) [@thiagoalessio](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/thiagoalessio)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2006, 4:54am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/web-http-testing/72452/3 "2006-02-25T04:54:27Z")
Thiago A. wrote: > I am aware of Selenium and WebUnit. Does anyone have any experience > with either one (or a similar tool)? Yes, I’ve used (and still using) Watir quite extensively for just the kind of work you describe. It’s the best thing since the sliced bread, as long as you don’t have to deal with applets, and can live with your automated tests working on IE 5.5+ only. I haven’t worked with Selenium, but some fellow ThoughtWorkers say it’s a Good Thing ™, too. The tradeoff, as far as I understand, is that with Selenium you have to have some stuff installed on the web server (deployment is more complicated, therefore), but you can use it on any OS, with a variety of browsers. Alexey V. ---
**Author:** ![thiagoalessio](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/d6d6ee/32.png) [@thiagoalessio](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/thiagoalessio)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2006, 5:24am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/web-http-testing/72452/4 "2006-02-25T05:24:40Z")
I’ll probably sound like a moron here, so bear with me 🙂 I don’t understand the interest in these kinds of tools. Seems to me that decent functional tests are will make sure your actions are doing what you want them to do. This is not the first thread I’ve read that mention the value of Selenium and Watir, so obviously I’m missing something. Any enlightenment would be appreciated. Thanks! Jeff ---
**Author:** ![thiagoalessio](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/d6d6ee/32.png) [@thiagoalessio](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/thiagoalessio)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2006, 6:06am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/web-http-testing/72452/5 "2006-02-25T06:06:57Z")
Jeff C. wrote: > Seems to me that decent functional tests are will make sure your actions > are doing what you want them to do. Yes, but… When you say “functional”, you obviously refer to Rails controller tests. Well, not everybody (to put it mildly) develops on Rails. 🙂 And even with Rails, from a developer’s point of view, controller tests do not cover at least two big things: 1. Javascript. 2. URL parsing/generation Also, coverage of HTML produced is in practice either non-existant or patchy (hoe many people actually use XPath assertions against @response.body?) Watir is great for testing end-to-end scenarios, where you click through several screens and there are no 404s or 500s. The #1 reason for adding Watir test battery to Instiki was that I’ve had some some fairly heinous bugs around URL generation, escaping my unit/controller tests. Ability to do test automation for AJAX should be useful, too. Disclaimer: I did not personally try testing AJAX calls with Watir on any industrial scale yet, but I spiked it once and it works. Best regards, Alexey V. ---
**Author:** ![thiagoalessio](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/d6d6ee/32.png) [@thiagoalessio](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/thiagoalessio)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2006, 9:28pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/web-http-testing/72452/6 "2006-02-25T21:28:41Z")
Thats because Rails’ idea of “functional” tests aren’t really functional tests, they are more like unit tests for your controllers. They are great for making sure an action does what it needs to do but its not very good for testing your app as a whole and making sure your app is doing what it should, not just the code. This is where acceptance testing tools like Selenium come in. Not just that, but clients should be able to write acceptance tests, not just programmers, as it is your clients who should define what the acceptance tests are. Finally, unless you’ve tested your browser-based app inside a browser, you haven’t really done any proper acceptance testing. Selenium and Watir let you do that, and they let you automate the process too. On 25 Feb 2006 04:22:44 -0000, Jeff C. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Thanks! > Jeff > > – > Posted with [http://DevLists.com](http://DevLists.com). Sign up and save your time! > > * * * > > Rails mailing list > removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid > [http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails](http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails) – Cheers, Luke R. > **[Luke Redpath - Freelance Ruby, Rails and iOS app developer / London / Essex / UK](https://lukeredpath.co.uk/)** > > Experienced freelance and contract developer offering Ruby, Rails and iOS app development services for iPhone, iPad and other iOS platforms. Based in Colchester, Essex, London and remote.