• Define tests using Spring Boot
  • Run the test and push the test report to Xray
  • Validate in Jira that the test results are available
  • code is available in GitHub

Overview

Spring Framework is a well-known Java framework to build Java based applications, supporting IoC (Inversion of Control) principle.

Sprint Boot provides an oppiniated extension on top of Spring that aims to minimize configuration burden and ease the implementation of applications.

With Spring it's possible to create web applications, REST services, and more.

Prerequisites


For this example we will use the built-in testing facilities provided by Spring to test the application developed in Spring Boot

 We will need:

  • Java and Maven installed in your machine


To start using Spring Boot please follow the Quick Start Guide documentation; you can also use Spring initializr to make a working skeleton of a project using Spring and its dependencies.

Usually, Spring applications have these layers:

  1. web/presentation layer
    1. controllers, exception handlers, filters, ...
  2. service layer
    1. services with business logic
  3. persistence/data layer
    1. JPA Repository, Entity
    2. database


The target SUT is a web application implemented using Spring Boot, having a REST API to manage users and some controllers that return text acting like typical servlets. 

Our Spring application provides:

  • 3 controllers:
    • IndexController: that is used to return the text "Welcome to this amazing website!" whenever accessing the root page /
    • GreetingController: that is used to return a greeting message (e.g., "Hello, xxx!") based on an HTML template
    • UserRestController: that provides a REST API to manage users using several endpoints under the /users base URL
  • 1 service:
    • UserService/UserServiceImpl: to perform business logic on users; in this case just as a small layer on top of the repository (UserRepository)
  • 1 entity and 1 associated repository:
    • User: a persistable entity 
    • UserRepository: a JPA repository of User objects



We'll implement JUnit 5 tests for all these layers:

  • web:
    • we'll test the IndexController and GreetingController controllers
    • we'll test the REST API provided by the UserRestController controller
  •  service:
    • we will unit test the UserServiceImpl, avoiding usage of database, to test the logic of the service; we'll use Mockito to mock responses of the UserRepository
  • data:
    • we'll test the UserRepository in isolation, without loading the web environment
    • an in-memory database (H2) will be used


Spring Boot supports test slicing; the idea is to provides slices of the whole ApplicationContext by loading lesser components and thus provide efficiency. We'll see more about @DataJpaTest and @WebMvcTest ahead.


To test at the data layer, we can use @DataJpaTest as a test slice to test our UserRepository repository and the User entity.

  • By default, tests annotated with @DataJpaTest are transactional and roll back at the end of each test. They also use an embedded in-memory database (H2).


To test at web layer we can follow different approaches by annotating the related test classes: 

  • @SpringBootTest
    • loads the full application; more resource intensive
    • web server port is injected using @LocalServerPort; a friendly REST client can be used by an injected TestRestTemplate
  • @SpringBootTest(webEnvironment = WebEnvironment.MOCK, classes = ...) + @AutoConfigureMockMvc
    • loads the full application except the web server itself
      • Another useful approach is to not start the server at all but to test only the layer below that, where Spring handles the incoming HTTP request and hands it off to your controller. That way, almost all of the full stack is used, and your code will be called in exactly the same way as if it were processing a real HTTP request but without the cost of starting the server
    • access to MVC framework is made using an injected reference to MockMvc using @Autowired
  • @WebMvcTest(xxx.class)
    • loads a test slice focused just on the web layer, providing a simplified web environment
    • access to MVC framework is made using an injected reference to MockMvc using @Autowired
    • usually @WebMvcTest is used in combination with @MockBean or @Import to create any collaborators required by your @Controller beans.


Let's see some examples.


The following code snippet shows usage of @WebMvcTest to test a slice containing just the web layer. In this case we're testing the output of the root page.

package com.idera.xray.tutorials.springboot;

import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.equalTo;
import static org.springframework.test.web.servlet.result.MockMvcResultMatchers.content;
import static org.springframework.test.web.servlet.result.MockMvcResultMatchers.status;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.boot.test.autoconfigure.web.servlet.WebMvcTest;
import org.springframework.http.MediaType;
import org.springframework.test.web.servlet.MockMvc;
import org.springframework.test.web.servlet.request.MockMvcRequestBuilders;
import com.idera.xray.tutorials.springboot.boundary.IndexController;

// @SpringBootTest
// @AutoConfigureMockMvc; it is implied whenever @WebMvcTest is used

// @WebMvcTest annotation is used to test only the web layer of the application
// It disables full auto-configuration and instead apply only configuration relevant to MVC tests
@WebMvcTest(IndexController.class)
public class IndexControllerMockedIT {

	@Autowired
	private MockMvc mvc;

	@Test
	public void getWelcomeMessage() throws Exception {
		mvc.perform(MockMvcRequestBuilders.get("/").accept(MediaType.TEXT_PLAIN))
				.andExpect(status().isOk())
				.andExpect(content().string(equalTo("Welcome to this amazing website!")));
	}
}


The following code snippet loads the whole application using @SpringBootTest to test the REST API endpoints used to manage users.

package com.idera.xray.tutorials.springboot;

import org.json.JSONException;
import org.json.JSONObject;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.boot.test.autoconfigure.jdbc.AutoConfigureTestDatabase;
import org.springframework.boot.test.context.SpringBootTest;
import org.springframework.boot.test.context.SpringBootTest.WebEnvironment;
import org.springframework.boot.test.web.client.TestRestTemplate;
import org.springframework.core.ParameterizedTypeReference;
import org.springframework.http.HttpMethod;
import org.springframework.http.HttpStatus;
import org.springframework.http.ResponseEntity;
import org.springframework.web.util.UriComponentsBuilder;
import org.springframework.boot.test.web.server.LocalServerPort;
import com.idera.xray.tutorials.springboot.data.User;
import com.idera.xray.tutorials.springboot.data.UserRepository;
import app.getxray.xray.junit.customjunitxml.annotations.XrayTest;
import java.util.List;
import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;

/* @SpringBootTest loads the full application, including the web server
 * @AutoConfigureTestDatabase is used to configure a test database instead of the application-defined database
*/
@SpringBootTest(webEnvironment = WebEnvironment.RANDOM_PORT)
@AutoConfigureTestDatabase
class UserRestControllerIT {

    @LocalServerPort
    int randomServerPort;

    @Autowired
    private TestRestTemplate restTemplate;

    @Autowired
    private UserRepository repository;

    User user1;

    @BeforeEach
    public void resetDb() {
        repository.deleteAll();
        user1 = repository.save(new User("Sergio Freire", "sergiofreire", "dummypassword"));
    }


    @XrayTest(key = "XRAY-1")
    @Test
     void createUserWithSuccess() {
        User john = new User("John Doe", "johndoe", "dummypassword");
        ResponseEntity<User> entity = restTemplate.postForEntity("/api/users", john, User.class);

        List<User> foundUsers = repository.findAll();
        assertThat(foundUsers).extracting(User::getUsername).contains("johndoe");
    }


    @XrayTest(key = "XRAY-2")
    @Test
     void dontCreateUserForInvalidData() {
        User john = new User("John Doe", "", "dummypassword");
        ResponseEntity<User> response = restTemplate.postForEntity("/api/users", john, User.class);
 
        // ideally, the server shouldnt return 500, but 400 (bad request)
        assertThat(response.getStatusCode()).isEqualTo(HttpStatus.INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR);
 
        List<User> found = repository.findAll();
        assertThat(found).hasSize(1);
        assertThat(found).extracting(User::getName).doesNotContain("John Doe");
    }

    @Test
    void getUserWithSuccess() {
        String endpoint = UriComponentsBuilder.newInstance()
                .scheme("http")
                .host("127.0.0.1")
                .port(randomServerPort)
                .pathSegment("api", "users", user1.getId().toString() )
                .build()
                .toUriString();

        ResponseEntity<User> response = restTemplate.exchange(endpoint, HttpMethod.GET, null, new ParameterizedTypeReference<User>() {
        });
        User user = response.getBody();

        assertThat(response.getStatusCode()).isEqualTo(HttpStatus.OK);
        assertThat(user1.equals(user)).isTrue();
    }

    @Test
    void getUserUnsuccess() throws JSONException {
        /*
        String endpoint = UriComponentsBuilder.newInstance()
                .scheme("http")
                .host("127.0.0.1")
                .port(randomServerPort)
                .pathSegment("api", "users", "-1" )
                .build()
                .toUriString();

        */

        ResponseEntity<JSONObject> response = restTemplate.exchange("/api/user/-1", HttpMethod.GET, null, new ParameterizedTypeReference<JSONObject>() {
        });

        assertThat(response.getStatusCode()).isEqualTo(HttpStatus.NOT_FOUND);
    }
    

    @Test
     void listAllUsersWithSuccess()  {
        createTempUser("Amanda James", "amanda", "dummypassword");
        createTempUser("Robert Junior", "robert", "dummypassword");

        ResponseEntity<List<User>> response = restTemplate
                .exchange("/api/users", HttpMethod.GET, null, new ParameterizedTypeReference<List<User>>() {
                });

        assertThat(response.getStatusCode()).isEqualTo(HttpStatus.OK);
        assertThat(response.getBody()).extracting(User::getName).containsExactly("Sergio Freire", "Amanda James", "Robert Junior");
    }

    @Test
    void deleteUserWithSuccess() {
        ResponseEntity<User> response = restTemplate.exchange("/api/users/" + user1.getId(), HttpMethod.DELETE, null, User.class);
        assertThat(response.getStatusCode()).isEqualTo(HttpStatus.OK);
        assertThat(response.getBody().getName()).isEqualTo("Sergio Freire");

        List<User> found = repository.findAll();
        assertThat(found).isEmpty();
    }

    @Test
    void deleteUserUnsuccess() {
        ResponseEntity<User> response = restTemplate.exchange("/api/users/" + (user1.getId()+2), HttpMethod.DELETE, null, User.class);
        assertThat(response.getStatusCode()).isEqualTo(HttpStatus.NOT_FOUND);

        List<User> found = repository.findAll();
        assertThat(found).hasSize(1);
    }

    private void createTempUser(String name, String username, String password) {
        User user = new User(name, username, password);
        repository.saveAndFlush(user);
    }

}


In our case, we have tests that will be picked by surefire plugin and other ones that will be picked by failsafe plugin.

Once the code is implemented it can be executed with the following command:

mvn test failsafe:integration-test


The results are immediately available in the terminal.


Ultimately this will lead to multiple JUnit XML reports (in target/surefire-reports/ and target/failsafe-reports/, respectively).

If we use the xray-junit-extensions maven plugin, it will generate 1 JUnit XML report (i.e., in reports/TEST-junit-jupiter.xml) with all results of the last goal (i.e., the integration tests ran by failsafe on the previous mvn command). 


 In this example, all tests have succeed, as seen in the previous terminal screenshot. It generates the following JUnit XML report.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<testsuite name="JUnit Jupiter" tests="11" skipped="0" failures="0" errors="0" time="6" hostname="Sergios-MBP.lan" timestamp="2024-02-12T17:42:55">
<properties>
<property name="CONSOLE_LOG_CHARSET" value="UTF-8"/>
<property name="FILE_LOG_CHARSET" value="UTF-8"/>
<property name="PID" value="45881"/>
<property name="apple.awt.application.name" value="ForkedBooter"/>
<property name="basedir" value="/Users/sergio/exps/tutorial-spring"/>
<property name="catalina.base" value="/private/var/folders/2w/5zhst_816kl0dcfv4t7g3vv00000gn/T/tomcat.0.9109224442063392217"/>
<property name="catalina.home" value="/private/var/folders/2w/5zhst_816kl0dcfv4t7g3vv00000gn/T/tomcat.0.16552584680725469127"/>
<property name="catalina.useNaming" value="false"/>
<property name="com.zaxxer.hikari.pool_number" value="1"/>
<property name="file.encoding" value="UTF-8"/>
<property name="file.separator" value="/"/>
<property name="ftp.nonProxyHosts" value="local|*.local|169.254/16|*.169.254/16"/>
<property name="http.nonProxyHosts" value="local|*.local|169.254/16|*.169.254/16"/>
<property name="java.awt.headless" value="true"/>
<property name="java.class.version" value="65.0"/>
<property name="java.home" value="/usr/local/Cellar/openjdk/21.0.1/libexec/openjdk.jdk/Contents/Home"/>
<property name="java.io.tmpdir" value="/var/folders/2w/5zhst_816kl0dcfv4t7g3vv00000gn/T/"/>
<property name="java.runtime.name" value="OpenJDK Runtime Environment"/>
<property name="java.runtime.version" value="21.0.1"/>
<property name="java.specification.name" value="Java Platform API Specification"/>
<property name="java.specification.vendor" value="Oracle Corporation"/>
<property name="java.specification.version" value="21"/>
<property name="java.vendor" value="Homebrew"/>
<property name="java.vendor.url" value="https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/issues"/>
<property name="java.vendor.url.bug" value="https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/issues"/>
<property name="java.vendor.version" value="Homebrew"/>
<property name="java.version" value="21.0.1"/>
<property name="java.version.date" value="2023-10-17"/>
<property name="java.vm.compressedOopsMode" value="Zero based"/>
<property name="java.vm.info" value="mixed mode, sharing"/>
<property name="java.vm.name" value="OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM"/>
<property name="java.vm.specification.name" value="Java Virtual Machine Specification"/>
<property name="java.vm.specification.vendor" value="Oracle Corporation"/>
<property name="java.vm.specification.version" value="21"/>
<property name="java.vm.vendor" value="Homebrew"/>
<property name="java.vm.version" value="21.0.1"/>
<property name="jdk.debug" value="release"/>
<property name="line.separator" value="
"/>
<property name="localRepository" value="/Users/sergio/.m2/repository"/>
<property name="native.encoding" value="UTF-8"/>
<property name="org.jboss.logging.provider" value="slf4j"/>
<property name="os.arch" value="x86_64"/>
<property name="os.name" value="Mac OS X"/>
<property name="os.version" value="14.2.1"/>
<property name="path.separator" value=":"/>
<property name="socksNonProxyHosts" value="local|*.local|169.254/16|*.169.254/16"/>
<property name="stderr.encoding" value="UTF-8"/>
<property name="stdout.encoding" value="UTF-8"/>
<property name="sun.arch.data.model" value="64"/>
<property name="sun.boot.library.path" value="/usr/local/Cellar/openjdk/21.0.1/libexec/openjdk.jdk/Contents/Home/lib"/>
<property name="sun.cpu.endian" value="little"/>
<property name="sun.io.unicode.encoding" value="UnicodeBig"/>
<property name="sun.java.launcher" value="SUN_STANDARD"/>
<property name="sun.jnu.encoding" value="UTF-8"/>
<property name="sun.management.compiler" value="HotSpot 64-Bit Tiered Compilers"/>
<property name="user.country" value="PT"/>
<property name="user.dir" value="/Users/sergio/exps/tutorial-spring"/>
<property name="user.home" value="/Users/sergio"/>
<property name="user.language" value="en"/>
<property name="user.name" value="sergio"/>
<property name="user.timezone" value="Europe/Lisbon"/>
</properties>
<testcase name="getPersonalizedGreeting" classname="com.idera.xray.tutorials.springboot.GreetingControllerMockedIT" time="0" started-at="2024-02-12T17:42:53.713267" finished-at="2024-02-12T17:42:54.038343">
<system-out><![CDATA[
unique-id: [engine:junit-jupiter]/[class:com.idera.xray.tutorials.springboot.GreetingControllerMockedIT]/[method:getPersonalizedGreeting()]
display-name: getPersonalizedGreeting()
]]></system-out>
<properties>
<property name="_dummy_" value=""/>
</properties>
</testcase>
<testcase name="dontCreateUserForInvalidData" classname="com.idera.xray.tutorials.springboot.UserRestControllerIT" time="0" started-at="2024-02-12T17:42:54.540558" finished-at="2024-02-12T17:42:54.82271">
<system-out><![CDATA[
unique-id: [engine:junit-jupiter]/[class:com.idera.xray.tutorials.springboot.UserRestControllerIT]/[method:dontCreateUserForInvalidData()]
display-name: dontCreateUserForInvalidData()
]]></system-out>
<properties>
<property name="test_key" value="XRAY-2"/>
<property name="_dummy_" value=""/>
</properties>
</testcase>
<testcase name="getUserUnsuccess" classname="com.idera.xray.tutorials.springboot.UserRestControllerIT" time="0" started-at="2024-02-12T17:42:54.896158" finished-at="2024-02-12T17:42:54.917811">
<system-out><![CDATA[
unique-id: [engine:junit-jupiter]/[class:com.idera.xray.tutorials.springboot.UserRestControllerIT]/[method:getUserUnsuccess()]
display-name: getUserUnsuccess()
]]></system-out>
<properties>
<property name="_dummy_" value=""/>
</properties>
</testcase>
<testcase name="deleteUserWithSuccess" classname="com.idera.xray.tutorials.springboot.UserRestControllerIT" time="0" started-at="2024-02-12T17:42:54.856928" finished-at="2024-02-12T17:42:54.876068">
<system-out><![CDATA[
unique-id: [engine:junit-jupiter]/[class:com.idera.xray.tutorials.springboot.UserRestControllerIT]/[method:deleteUserWithSuccess()]
display-name: deleteUserWithSuccess()
]]></system-out>
<properties>
<property name="_dummy_" value=""/>
</properties>
</testcase>
<testcase name="createUserWithSuccess" classname="com.idera.xray.tutorials.springboot.UserRestControllerIT" time="0" started-at="2024-02-12T17:42:54.876839" finished-at="2024-02-12T17:42:54.895425">
<system-out><![CDATA[
unique-id: [engine:junit-jupiter]/[class:com.idera.xray.tutorials.springboot.UserRestControllerIT]/[method:createUserWithSuccess()]
display-name: createUserWithSuccess()
]]></system-out>
<properties>
<property name="test_key" value="XRAY-1"/>
<property name="_dummy_" value=""/>
</properties>
</testcase>
<testcase name="getDefaultGreeting" classname="com.idera.xray.tutorials.springboot.GreetingControllerMockedIT" time="0" started-at="2024-02-12T17:42:54.039385" finished-at="2024-02-12T17:42:54.044234">
<system-out><![CDATA[
unique-id: [engine:junit-jupiter]/[class:com.idera.xray.tutorials.springboot.GreetingControllerMockedIT]/[method:getDefaultGreeting()]
display-name: getDefaultGreeting()
]]></system-out>
<properties>
<property name="_dummy_" value=""/>
</properties>
</testcase>
<testcase name="getWelcomeMessage" classname="com.idera.xray.tutorials.springboot.IndexControllerMockedIT" time="0" started-at="2024-02-12T17:42:55.133942" finished-at="2024-02-12T17:42:55.143765">
<system-out><![CDATA[
unique-id: [engine:junit-jupiter]/[class:com.idera.xray.tutorials.springboot.IndexControllerMockedIT]/[method:getWelcomeMessage()]
display-name: getWelcomeMessage()
]]></system-out>
<properties>
<property name="_dummy_" value=""/>
</properties>
</testcase>
<testcase name="getUserWithSuccess" classname="com.idera.xray.tutorials.springboot.UserRestControllerIT" time="0" started-at="2024-02-12T17:42:54.823735" finished-at="2024-02-12T17:42:54.856158">
<system-out><![CDATA[
unique-id: [engine:junit-jupiter]/[class:com.idera.xray.tutorials.springboot.UserRestControllerIT]/[method:getUserWithSuccess()]
display-name: getUserWithSuccess()
]]></system-out>
<properties>
<property name="_dummy_" value=""/>
</properties>
</testcase>
<testcase name="listAllUsersWithSuccess" classname="com.idera.xray.tutorials.springboot.UserRestControllerIT" time="0" started-at="2024-02-12T17:42:54.936475" finished-at="2024-02-12T17:42:54.958408">
<system-out><![CDATA[
unique-id: [engine:junit-jupiter]/[class:com.idera.xray.tutorials.springboot.UserRestControllerIT]/[method:listAllUsersWithSuccess()]
display-name: listAllUsersWithSuccess()
]]></system-out>
<properties>
<property name="_dummy_" value=""/>
</properties>
</testcase>
<testcase name="getWelcomeMessage" classname="com.idera.xray.tutorials.springboot.IndexControllerIT" time="0" started-at="2024-02-12T17:42:52.693447" finished-at="2024-02-12T17:42:53.384655">
<system-out><![CDATA[
unique-id: [engine:junit-jupiter]/[class:com.idera.xray.tutorials.springboot.IndexControllerIT]/[method:getWelcomeMessage()]
display-name: getWelcomeMessage()
]]></system-out>
<properties>
<property name="_dummy_" value=""/>
</properties>
</testcase>
<testcase name="deleteUserUnsuccess" classname="com.idera.xray.tutorials.springboot.UserRestControllerIT" time="0" started-at="2024-02-12T17:42:54.918649" finished-at="2024-02-12T17:42:54.935546">
<system-out><![CDATA[
unique-id: [engine:junit-jupiter]/[class:com.idera.xray.tutorials.springboot.UserRestControllerIT]/[method:deleteUserUnsuccess()]
display-name: deleteUserUnsuccess()
]]></system-out>
<properties>
<property name="_dummy_" value=""/>
</properties>
</testcase>
<system-out><![CDATA[
unique-id: [engine:junit-jupiter]
display-name: JUnit Jupiter
]]></system-out>
</testsuite>


Notes:

  • You can invoke Cypress locally and use it to assist you to write and execute tests with: npx cypress open
  • Use cypress.config.js to define configuration values such as taking screenshots, recordings or the reporter to use (more info here).
  • Different parameters can be used in the command line (more info here)
  • We are using JUnit reporter but others are available (more info here)


Integrating with Xray

As we saw in the previous example, where we are producing JUnit reports with the test results. It is now a matter of importing those results to your Jira instance; this can be done by simply submitting automation results to Xray through the REST API, by using one of the available CI/CD plugins (e.g. for Jenkins), or using the Jira interface to do so.


API

Once you have the report file available you can upload it to Xray through a request to the REST API endpoint for JUnit, and for that the first step is to follow the instructions in v1 or v2 (depending on your usage) to obtain the token we will be using in the subsequent requests.


JUnit XML results

We will use the API request with the definition of some common fields on the Test Execution, such as the target project, project version, etc.

In the first version of the API, the authentication used a login and password (not the token that is used in Cloud).

curl -H "Content-Type: multipart/form-data" -u admin:admin -F "file=@reports/TEST-junit-jupiter.xml" 'http://<LOCAL_JIRA_INSTANCE>/rest/raven/2.0/import/execution/junit?projectKey=XT&testPlanKey=XT-436'

With this command we are creating a new Test Execution in the referred Test Plan with a generic summary and tests with a summary based on the test name. One of the tests was not auto-provisioned as it already existed beforehand and was referred in the the test code using the @XrayTest annotation.


Jira UI

Create a Test Execution linked to the Test Plan that you have.

Fill in the necessary fields and press "Create".

Open the Test Execution and import the JUnit report


Choose the results file and press "Import"

The Test Execution is now updated with the test results imported.


Tests implemented using Junit will have a corresponding Test entity in Xray. Once results are uploaded, Test issues corresponding to the tests are auto-provisioned (e.g., XT-440), unless they already exist; in our case, we have explicitly mentioned an existing Test issue (XT-438) from one of the tests. 

Xray uses a concatenation of the suite name and the test name as the the unique identifier for the test.

In Xray, results are stored in a Test Execution, usually a new one. The Test Execution contains a Test Run per each test that was executed.

Detailed results, including logs and exceptions reported during execution of the test, can be seen on the execution screen details of each Test Run, accessible through the Execution details:

As we can see here:



Tips

  • after results are imported, in Jira Tests can be linked to existing requirements/user stories, so you can track the impacts on their coverage.
  • results from multiple builds can be linked to an existing Test Plan, to facilitate the analysis of test result trends across builds.
  • results can be associated with a Test Environment, in case you want to analyze coverage and test results by that environment later on. A Test Environment can be a testing stage (e.g. dev, staging, preprod, prod) or a identifier of the device/application used to interact with the system (e.g. browser, mobile OS).



References

.toc-btf {
    position: fixed;
}