Home
Reference Guide
This guide provides the topics to help the API tester use the product by using the user interface, commands or scripts. This guide is intended for API testers.
Test Factory
The Test Factory perspective is one of the main areas in HCL OneTest™ API. You can create all the tests and the required artifacts/data to support them.
Tests: Overview and tasks
Tests are the fundamental building blocks of integration and SOA testing. A test sends an input message to an external service or system in a protocol-specific way and validates the reply against an expected result.
Contract testing
When you want to ascertain the validity of the responses sent from a server to the requests by a client in a system under test, you can define a schema for the expected messages, and then the incoming messages can be validated against the defined schema for adherence to a contract. You can create Contract tests in HCL OneTest™ API that validate the schema in the incoming messages for conformance with the schema defined for the messages.
Creating a single Contract test
You can create a single Contract test from a Message Exchange Pattern (MEP) in HCL OneTest™ API from the Test Factory view. The MEP defines the pattern, schema, and binding for messages that are exchanged by the operation. You can create a Contract test that adheres to the rules defined in the contract.

Reference Guide
This guide provides the topics to help the API tester use the product by using the user interface, commands or scripts. This guide is intended for API testers.
- HCL OneTest™ API overview
  This section provides an overview of HCL OneTest™ API, including information about projects and files, the HCL OneTest API user interface, environments, and project settings and preferences.
- Architecture School
  Use the Architecture School perspective to build a system under test by using the logical, physical, and synchronization views. You can also use this perspective to manage the schemas available in your project.
- Recording Studio
  With HCL OneTest™ API, you can record events (messages or database interactions) sent to and from the system under test. Use Recording Studio to control what parts of the system should be recorded. These parts could be specific parts of the system infrastructure or specific services using that infrastructure. You can then use the recorded events as a source of tests and other interactions with the system. In Recording Studio, you can record the traffic over a number of different transports.
- Test Factory
  The Test Factory perspective is one of the main areas in HCL OneTest™ API. You can create all the tests and the required artifacts/data to support them.
  - Tests: Overview and tasks
    Tests are the fundamental building blocks of integration and SOA testing. A test sends an input message to an external service or system in a protocol-specific way and validates the reply against an expected result.
    - Test phases
      A new, empty test always consists of three basic phases: Initialize, Test Steps and Tear-down.
    - Test views
      Two views are available for a test, the Technical View and the Business View .
    - Creating a single empty test
      You can create a single empty test in HCL OneTest™ API, and you must add the test steps to the created test before you can run the test.
    - Creating a single test by using MEP
      You can create a single test from a Message Exchange Pattern (MEP) in HCL OneTest™ API from the Test Factory view. An operations MEP defines the pattern, schema, and binding for messages that are exchanged by the operation. You can create a test that adheres to the rules defined in the MEP.
    - Creating multiple tests by using MEP
      You can create multiple tests from a Message Exchange Pattern (MEP) in HCL OneTest™ API from the Test Factory view. An operations MEP defines the pattern, schema, and binding for messages that are exchanged by the operation. You can create multiple tests that adhere to the rules defined in the MEP.
    - Creating a test from a template
      After you create a test template, you can quickly create new tests from it.
    - Creating tests by pasting
      You can create one or more tests by pasting one or more lines of text that are currently on the clipboard. New tests are named according to the pasted text. Each line of text on the clipboard creates a unique test, and the tests are created within the component or folder that is selected when pasting.
    - Creating tests from recorded events
      Tests can be created by using events that are captured in the Recording Studio.
    - Contract testing
      When you want to ascertain the validity of the responses sent from a server to the requests by a client in a system under test, you can define a schema for the expected messages, and then the incoming messages can be validated against the defined schema for adherence to a contract. You can create Contract tests in HCL OneTest™ API that validate the schema in the incoming messages for conformance with the schema defined for the messages.
      - Configuring the MEP settings to create consumer-driven Contract tests
        You can configure the message exchange pattern (MEP) for an operation in HCL OneTest™ API so that you can create Contract tests for the application based on the MEP settings that you configure.
      - Configuring the MEP settings to create producer-driven Contract tests
        You can configure the message exchange pattern (MEP) for an operation in HCL OneTest™ API so that you can create producer-driven Contract tests for the application based on the MEP settings that you configure.
      - Editing message-based stubs for Contract validation
        When you want to use a message-based stub as part of producer-driven Contract testing, you must edit the stub that you create based on a Message Exchange Pattern (MEP) in an operation.
      - Creating a single Contract test
        You can create a single Contract test from a Message Exchange Pattern (MEP) in HCL OneTest™ API from the Test Factory view. The MEP defines the pattern, schema, and binding for messages that are exchanged by the operation. You can create a Contract test that adheres to the rules defined in the contract.
      - Creating multiple Contract tests
        You can create multiple Contract tests from a Message Exchange Pattern (MEP) in HCL OneTest™ API from the Test Factory view. The MEP defines the pattern, schema, and binding for messages that are exchanged by the operation. You can create a Contract test that adheres to the rules defined in the contract.
      - Creating consumer-driven Contract tests by synchronizing resources
        You can opt to create consumer-driven Contract tests when you synchronize resources that you created in another application with HCL OneTest™ API. If you already have created tests in the other application for your system under test and you have defined schemas and roots for messages, you can use the synchronizing feature of HCL OneTest API to generate Contract tests, tests, and stubs that you can run on HCL OneTest API.
      - Creating producer-driven Contract tests by synchronizing resources
        You can opt to create producer-driven Contract tests when you synchronize resources that you created in another application with HCL OneTest™ API. If you already have created tests in the other application for your system under test and you have defined schemas and roots for messages, you can use the synchronizing feature of HCL OneTest API to generate Contract tests and stubs that you can run on HCL OneTest API.
    - Setting the Test properties by the input and output tags
      Use the Properties tab to define which tags are to be available on the input and output interface for the selected test.
    - Overriding the inherited integration for change management applications
      HCL OneTest™ API can be integrated with OSLC-compliant change management systems for raising defects within the context of a HCL OneTest API test asset.
    - Changing the contents of a test
      You can add or edit test actions, change the test action type, enable or disable test actions, and save messages as requirements.
    - Filtering header values
      If you are using a stub to test more than one web service from a single URL, you can use header values to distinguish between the services.
    - Monitoring a log file during a test
      If a log file is configured on any of the bound infrastructure components of the project, that file can be monitored during the execution of a test.
    - Example: Monitoring a remote log file
      In this example, you add a log file to a database server. With the log file added, you can then monitor that file when you run a test.
    - The Tag Data Store
      The Tag Data Store, which is accessed from the menu anywhere within a test, is the repository and access point for all of the data tags that are available to a test.
    - Message cases
      Message cases are used in Message Switch actions. To add a message case to an existing message switch, right-click the message switch and select Add Message Case from the menu.
    - Pass paths
      You can define action sequences to be carried out when a subscription-based action passes (that is, Subscribe, Receive Request, and Receive Reply).
    - Failure paths
      To specify that a test take different steps when a specific action fails, you can create a failure path and define sequences of actions for it. For example, a Publish action can fail to publish a message, or a subscriber can fail to subscriber properly or an incoming message might not pass validation.
    - Running or scheduling the running of a test
      You initiate a test execution in the Test Factory, but the test is run in the Test Lab perspective. After you start a test, the Test Lab perspective is displayed, from where you monitor the tests execution. A test can be run either in the current environment or in any other environment.
  - Test Suites: Overview and tasks
    A Test Suite represents a group of tests, test suites, and scenarios. Any combination of these items can be included, but a test suite must always contain at least one scenario and one test. Test suites are used mainly to construct reusable, packaged regression tests that can be run across multiple environments, or repeatedly within the same environment.
  - Stubs: Overview and tasks
    Stubs can be used to simulate services that you are unable to use or that are otherwise unavailable.
  - The Action Editor
    The Action Editor is used to modify the actions that are contained within a test or stub.
  - Creating a test template
    To save time when you are creating tests, you can create a template of test sequences that can be used to quickly create a number of pre-defined tests.
  - Test data sources
    You can configure test data sources that can drive a test template or a test by using several different instances of data. In this way, you can parameterize your tests, substituting specific data from a pre-configured source in different test iterations. You can also use test data to validate the results that are returned by different test actions.
- Test Lab
  You use the Test Lab to execute test assets, repair tests, and open test assets for editing directly from this perspective. You can execute all of the tests, test suites, and stubs that are created in Test Factory.
- Results Gallery
  You use the Results Gallery perspective to view an execution summary and detailed coverage, and error reports for executed test suites and for test cases that were executed within a suite or as part of a test cycle.
- Messages
  HCL OneTest™ API can publish and subscribe to messages as part of a test. A message normally consists of two parts: a header and a body. The header usually adheres to a predefined logical construction, while the structure of the body can be more arbitrary.
- Schemas
  HCL OneTest™ API can handle many types of content. For the product to be able to interpret the variety of content types, it must associate a content format description, or schema with the content.
- Database resources, connections, and bindings
  HCL OneTest™ API can interact with any database that supports connectivity through the JDBC specification. These interactions can be used to extract or update data where necessary, and test data sets can be taken directly from database table content.
- Identity stores and SSL
  An identity store can group a collection of one or more certificates that can be used in HCL OneTest™ API to validate and authenticate connections that use SSL. After you create an identity store, you can use it to enable SSL communications in various messaging transports.
- Scripting within tests and stubs
  You can use scripts in HCL OneTest™ API that include the HCL OneTest API legacy scripting language, ECMAScript (such as JavaScript™), Chai, or any third-party scripting language that you install.
- External tools
  HCL OneTest™ API is primarily GUI-based, but you can also run or view tests, suites, and stubs outside of the HCL OneTest API.
- Test actions
  Actions are the building blocks of a test. A test consists of a series of steps and each step is an action. Actions can be defined for tests and stubs.
- Formatting and parsing date-time patterns
  For some fields in HCL OneTest™ API, you can define patterns for date-time formatting. Pattern letters are repeated, as their number determines the exact presentation of the date-time information that they represent.
- The Add Numbers service
  The Add Numbers service, included with HCL OneTest™ API, provides a simple way to generate messages that you can observe with topology discovery or capture in Recording Studio.

Creating a single Contract test

You can create a single Contract test from a Message Exchange Pattern (MEP) in HCL OneTest™ API from the Test Factory view. The MEP defines the pattern, schema, and binding for messages that are exchanged by the operation. You can create a Contract test that adheres to the rules defined in the contract.

Before you begin

You must have completed the following tasks:

Created a project. See Creating a project.
Created a logical resource and bound it to its corresponding type of physical resource.
Created a service component under the logical resource. See Creating a service component.
Created an operation under the service component. See Creating an operation.
Added a schema that is used to validate the incoming messages. See Adding a schema.
Configured the MEP for the operation. See Configuring the MEP settings to create consumer-driven Contract tests.
Opened the project in the Test Factory view.

Procedure

Select the operation or folder in which you want to create the test.
Right-click the operation or folder and select New > Contract Tests > Consumer from the menu.

Note: If you created a test already, you can right-click the Tests folder or one of the existing tests, and then select New > Contract Tests > Consumer.
Provide a name for the new test when prompted, and then click OK.

A Contract test with the name that you provided is created under the operation.

Results

You have created a Contract test under an operation in the Test Factory view and the test includes the appropriate messaging actions as defined by the operations MEP.

What to do next

You can perform the following tasks:

Edit the test actions or other contents of the test, if required. See Changing the contents of a test.
Run the Contract test in any of the following methods:
- Right-click the Contract test, and then click the Run icon .
- Select the Contract test, and then click the Run icon in the toolbar.
View in the console log, after the test runs that the incoming messages are validated against the contract.