Web Services
What is a Web Service?
A web service can be defined in the following ways:
- A client-server application or application component for communication
- A method of communication between two devices over a network.
- A software system for an interoperable machine-to-machine communication
- A collection of standards or protocols for exchanging information between two devices or application
Types of Web Services
There are mainly two types of network services:
- SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol): SOAP stands for Simple Object Access Protocol. It is an XML-based protocol for accessing web services. SOAP is a W3C recommendation for communication between two applications.
- RESTful (Representational State Transfer): REST stands for Representational State Transfer. REST is an architectural style, not a protocol.
Web Services Testing with Provar
Provar’s web testing steps allow you to call any web service from within your Provar test cases using either REST or SOAP requests. The response received is captured and parsed by Provar and available to assert and report upon.
But, you must complete the following steps to enable web testing from Provar:
- Create a REST or SOAP connection in Provar to store the network service details
- Invoke the REST or SOAP connection in your test case using a Web Connect test step
- Perform a REST Request or SOAP Request in your test case using a Web Request (HTTP/REST) or Web Service Request (SOAP) test step
Click the links above for detailed instructions on completing each step, or read on for more details.
Web Service APIs (1.8.11 onwards)
As of Provar version 1.8.11.30, Provar supports web testing through the following APIs in the API Palette:
- Web Connect: this API invokes a SOAP or REST connection at the beginning of a Web Test Case. It is the equivalent of a Salesforce Connect Test Step for Web testing.
- Web Request (HTTP/REST) is an API for making a REST Request. It has options for Resource URL, Request Header, and HTTP Methods. This will support both Internal (Salesforce) as well external REST requests.
- Web Service Request (SOAP) is an API for making a SOAP Request. It will take the WSDL file from the SOAP connection unless a separate one is provided in the Test Step. This will support both Internal (Salesforce) as well external SOAP requests.
Web Service APIs (pre-1.8.11.30)
Please note that if you are using an earlier version of Provar (pre-1.8.11.30), you will see slightly different options in the Test Palette:
- Create Web Session [DEPRECATED]
- Web Request [DEPRECATED]
- REST Request: This API has been renamed to Web Request HTTP/REST for clarity
- Web Service Request: This API has been renamed to Web Service Request SOAP for clarity
If your test cases contain these deprecated APIs, they will continue to run, but the deprecated APIs will no longer be available via the API Palette. We recommend using the new APIs in future Test Cases once you upgrade to the new version. Please get in touch if you need any advice about maintaining your older test cases as we advance.