Citrus Framework - Reference Documentation

Remote method invocation is a standard Java technology and API for calling methods on remote objects across different JVM instances. Although RMI has lost its popularity it is still used in legacy components. Testing RMI bean invocation is a hard thing to do. Now Citrus provides client and server support for remote interface invocation. See Chapter 29, RMI support for details.

Similar to RMI JMX can be used to connect to remote bean invocation. This time we expose some beans to a managed bean server in order to be managed by JMX operations for read and write. With Citrus 2.5 we have added a client and server support for calling and providing managed beans on a mbean server. See Chapter 30, JMX support for details.

With 2.5 we have added mechanisms for injecting Citrus components to your Java DSL test methods. This is very useful when needing access to the Citrus test context for instance. Also we are able to use new injection of test designer and runner instances in order to support parallel test execution with multiple threads. See the explanations in Section 4.2.3, “Designer/Runner injection” and Section 4.2.4, “Test context injection”.

HTML form data can be transmitted with different methods and content types. One of the most common ways is to use x-www-form-urlencoded form data content. As validation can be tricky we have added a special message validator for that. See Section 17.4, “HTTP form urlencoded data” for details.

Added a new validation matcher implementation that is able to check that a date value is between a certain date range (from and to) The date range is able to focus on days as well as additional time (hour, minute, second) specifications. See Section 34.13, “dateRange()” for details.

A new function implementation offers you the possibilities to read file resource contents as inline data. The function is called and returns the file content as return value. The file content is then placed right where the function was called e.g. inside of a message paylaod element or as message header value. See Section 33.30, “citrus:readFile()” for details.

The new timer test action container repeats its execution based on a time expression (e.g. every 5 seconds). With this timer we can repeat test actions with a fixed time delay or constantly execute test actions with time schedule. See Section 14.7, “Timer” and Section 12.25, “Stop Timer” for details.

The Vert.x module was upgraded to use Vert.x 3.2.0 version. The Citrus module implementation was updated to work with this new Vert.x version. Learn more about the Vert.x integration in Citrus with Chapter 24, Vert.x event bus support.

Bugs are part of our software developers world and fixing them is part of your daily business, too. Finding and solving issues makes Citrus better every day. For a detailed listing of all bugfixes please refer to the complete changes log of each release in JIRA (http://www.citrusframework.org/changes-report.html).

Citrus aims to strongly support you in simulating interface partners across different messaging transports. You can easily produce and consume messages with a wide range of protocols like HTTP, JMS, TCP/IP, FTP, SMTP and more. The framework is able to both act as a client and server. In each communication step Citrus is able to validate message contents towards syntax and semantics.

In addition to that the Citrus offers a wide range of test actions to take control of the process flow during a test (e.g. iterations, system availability checks, database connectivity, parallelism, delaying, error simulation, scripting and many more).

The basic goal in Citrus test cases is to describe a whole use case scenario including several interface partners that exchange many messages with each other. The composition of complex message flows in a single test case with several test steps is one of the major features in Citrus.

The test case description is either done in XML or Java and can be executed multiple times as automated integration test. With JUnit and TestNG integration Citrus can easily be integrated into your build lifecycle process. During a test Citrus simulates all surrounding interface partners (client or server) without any coding effort. With easy definition of expected message content (header and payload) for XML, CSV, SOAP, JSON or plaintext messages Citrus is able to validate the incoming data towards syntax and semantics.

If you are in charge of an enterprise application in a message based solution with message interfaces to other software components you should use Citrus. In case your project interacts with other software over different messaging transports and in case you need to simulate these interface partners on client or server side you should use Citrus. In case you need to continuously check the software stability not only on a unit testing basis but also in an end-to-end integration scenario you should use Citrus. Bug fixing, release or regression testing is very easy with Citrus. In case you are struggling with code stability and feel uncomfortable regarding your next software release you should definitely use Citrus.

This test set up is typical for a Citrus use case. In such a test scenario we have a system under test (SUT) with several message interfaces to other applications like you would have with an enterprise service bus for instance. A client application invokes services on the SUT application. The SUT is linked to several backend applications over various messaging transports (here SOAP, JMS, and Http). Interim message notifications and final responses are sent back to the client application. This generates a bunch of messages that are exchanged throughout the applications involved.

In the automated integration test Citrus needs to send and receive those messages over different transports. Citrus takes care of all interface partners (ClientApplication, Backend1, Backend2, Backend3) and simulates their behavior by sending proper response messages in order to keep the message flow alive.

Each communication step comes with message validation and comparison against an expected message template (e.g. XML or JSON data). Besides messaging actions Citrus is also able to perform arbitrary other test actions. Citrus is able to perform a database query between requests as an example.

The Citrus test case runs fully automated as a Java application. In fact a Citrus test case is nothing but a JUnit or TestNG test case. Step by step the whole use case scenario is performed like in a real production environment. The Citrus test is repeatable and is included into the software build process (e.g. using Maven or ANT) like a normal unit test case would do. This gives you fully automated integration tests to ensure interface stability.

The following reference guide walks through all Citrus capabilities and shows how to set up a great integration test with Citrus.

Citrus uses Maven internally as a project build tool and provides extended support for Maven projects. Maven will ease up your life as it manages project dependencies and provides extended build life cycles and conventions for compiling, testing, packaging and installing your Java project. Therefore it is recommended to use the Citrus Maven project setup. In case you already use Maven it is most suitable for you to include Citrus as a test-scoped dependency.

As Maven handles all project dependencies automatically you do not need to download any Citrus project artifacts in advance. If you are new to Maven please refer to the official Maven documentation to find out how to set up a Maven project.

3.1.1. Use Citrus Maven archetype

If you start from scratch or in case you would like to have Citrus operating in a separate Maven module you can use the Citrus Maven archetype to create a new Maven project. The archetype will setup a basic Citrus project structure with basic settings and files.

mvn archetype:generate -DarchetypeCatalog=http://citrusframework.org
        
Choose archetype:
1: http://citrusframework.org -> citrus-archetype (Basic archetype for Citrus integration test project)
Choose a number: 1 

Define value for groupId: com.consol.citrus.samples
Define value for artifactId: citrus-sample
Define value for version: 1.0-SNAPSHOT
Define value for package: com.consol.citrus.samples

In the sample above we used the Citrus archetype catalog located on the Citrus homepage. Citrus archetypes are also available in Maven central repository. So can also just use "mvn archetype:generate". As the list of default archetypes available in Maven central is very long you might want to filter the list with "citrus" and you will get just a few possibilities to choose from.

We load the archetype information from "http://citrusframework.org" and choose the Citrus basic archetype. Now you have to define several values for your project: the groupId, the artifactId, the package and the project version. After that we are done! Maven created a Citrus project structure for us which is ready for testing. You should see the following basic project folder structure.

citrus-sample
  |   + src
  |   |   + main
  |   |    |   + java
  |   |    |   + resources
  |   |   + citrus
  |   |    |   + java
  |   |    |   + resources
  |   |    |   + tests
  pom.xml

The Citrus project is absolutely ready for testing. With Maven we can build, package, install and test our project right away without any adjustments. Try to execute the following commands:

mvn integration-test 
mvn integration-test -Dtest=MyFirstCitrusTest 

	Note
	If you need additional assistance in setting up a Citrus Maven project please visit our Maven setup tutorial on http://www.citfrusframework.org.

3.1.2. Add Citrus to existing Maven project

In case you already have a proper Maven project you can also integrate Citrus with it. Just add the Citrus project dependencies in your Maven pom.xml as a dependency like follows.

• We add Citrus as test-scoped project dependency to the project POM (pom.xml)

  <dependency>
    <groupId>com.consol.citrus</groupId>
    <artifactId>citrus-core</artifactId>
    <version>2.5</version>
    <scope>test</scope>
  </dependency>

• Add the citrus Maven plugin to your project

  <plugin>
    <groupId>com.consol.citrus.mvn</groupId>
    <artifactId>citrus-maven-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>2.5</version>
    <configuration>
      <author>Donald Duck</author>
      <targetPackage>com.consol.citrus</targetPackage>
    </configuration>
  </plugin>

Now that we have added Citrus to our Maven project we can start writing new test cases with the Citrus Maven plugin:

mvn citrus:create-test

Once you have written the Citrus test cases you can execute them automatically in your Maven software build lifecylce. The tests will be included into your projects integration-test phase using the Maven surefire plugin. Here is a sample surefire configuration for Citrus.

<plugin>
  <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
  <version>2.4.3</version>
  <configuration>
    <skip>true</skip>
  </configuration>
  <executions>
    <execution>
      <id>citrus-tests</id>
      <phase>integration-test</phase>
      <goals>
        <goal>test</goal>
      </goals>
      <configuration>
        <skip>false</skip>
      </configuration>
    </execution>
  </executions>
</plugin>

The Citrus source directories are defined as test sources like follows:

<testSourceDirectory>src/it/java</testSourceDirectory>
<testResources>
  <testResource>
    <directory>src/it/java</directory>
    <includes>
      <include>**</include>
    </includes>
    <excludes>
      <exclude>*.java</exclude>
    </excludes>
  </testResource>
  <testResource>
    <directory>src/it/tests</directory>
    <includes>
      <include>**/*</include>
    </includes>
    <excludes>
    </excludes>
  </testResource>
</testResources>

Now everything is set up and you can call the usual Maven install goal (mvn clean install) in order to build your project. The Citrus integration tests are executed automatically during the build process. Besides that you can call the Maven integration-test phase explicitly to execute all Citrus tests or a specific test by its name:

mvn integration-test 
mvn integration-test -Dtest=MyFirstCitrusTest 

	Note
	If you need additional assistance in setting up a Citrus Maven project please visit our Maven setup tutorial on http://www.citfrusframework.org.

Ant is a very popular way to compile, test, package and execute Java projects. The Apache project has effectively become a standard in building Java projects. You can run Citrus test cases with Ant as Citrus is nothing but a Java application. This section describes the steps to setup a proper Citrus Ant project.

3.2.3. Installation

After downloading the Citrus archives we extract those into an appropriate location on the local storage. We are seeking for the Citrus project artifacts coming as normal Java archives (e.g. citrus-core.jar, citrus-ws.jar, etc.)

You have to include those Citrus Java archives as well as all dependency libraries to your Apache Ant Java classpath. Usually you would copy all libraries into your project's lib directory and declare those libraries in the Ant build file. As this approach can be very time consuming I recommend to use a dependency management API such as Apache Ivy which gives you automatic dependency resolution like that from Maven. In particular this comes in handy with all the 3rd party dependencies that would be resolved automatically.

No matter what approach you are using to set up the Apache Ant classpath see the following sample Ant build script which uses the Citrus project artifacts in combination with the TestNG Ant tasks to run the tests.

<project name="citrus-sample" basedir="." default="citrus.run.tests" xmlns:artifact="antlib:org.apache.maven.artifact.ant">

  <property file="src/it/resources/citrus.properties"/>

  <path id="maven-ant-tasks.classpath" path="lib/maven-ant-tasks-2.1.3.jar" />
  <typedef resource="org/apache/maven/artifact/ant/antlib.xml"
    uri="antlib:org.apache.maven.artifact.ant"
    classpathref="maven-ant-tasks.classpath" />

  <artifact:pom id="citrus-pom" file="pom.xml" />
  <artifact:dependencies filesetId="citrus-dependencies" pomRefId="citrus-pom" />

  <path id="citrus-classpath">
    <pathelement path="src/it/java"/>
    <pathelement path="src/it/resources"/>
    <pathelement path="src/it/tests"/>
    <fileset refid="citrus-dependencies"/>
  </path>

  <taskdef resource="testngtasks" classpath="lib/testng-6.8.8.jar"/>

  <target name="compile.tests">
    <javac srcdir="src/it/java" classpathref="citrus-classpath"/>
    <javac srcdir="src/it/tests" classpathref="citrus-classpath"/>
  </target>

  <target name="create.test" description="Creates a new empty test case">
    <input message="Enter test name:" addproperty="test.name"/>
    <input message="Enter test description:" addproperty="test.description"/>
    <input message="Enter author's name:" addproperty="test.author" defaultvalue="${default.test.author}"/>
    <input message="Enter package:" addproperty="test.package" defaultvalue="${default.test.package}"/>
    <input message="Enter framework:" addproperty="test.framework" defaultvalue="testng"/>

    <java classname="com.consol.citrus.util.TestCaseCreator">
      <classpath refid="citrus-classpath"/>
      <arg line="-name ${test.name} -author ${test.author} -description ${test.description} -package ${test.package} -framework ${test.framework}"/>
    </java>
  </target>

  <target name="citrus.run.tests" depends="compile.tests" description="Runs all Citrus tests">
    <testng classpathref="citrus-classpath">
      <classfileset dir="src/it/java" includes="**/*.class" />
    </testng>
  </target>

  <target name="citrus.run.single.test" depends="compile.tests" description="Runs a single test by name">
    <touch file="test.history"/>
    <loadproperties srcfile="test.history"/>

    <echo message="Last test executed: ${last.test.executed}"/>
    <input message="Enter test name or leave empty for last test executed:" addproperty="testclass" defaultvalue="${last.test.executed}"/>

    <propertyfile file="test.history">
      <entry key="last.test.executed" type="string" value="${testclass}"/>
    </propertyfile>

    <testng classpathref="citrus-classpath">
      <classfileset dir="src/it/java" includes="**/${testclass}.class" />
    </testng>
  </target>

</project>

	Note
	If you need detailed assistance for building Citrus with Ant do also visit our tutorials section on http://www.citrusframework.org. There you can find a tutorial which describes the Citrus Java project set up with Ant from scratch.

Put simply, a Citrus test case is nothing but a simple Spring XML configuration file. The Spring framework has become a state of the art development framework for enterprise Java applications. As you work with Citrus you will also learn how to use the Spring Ioc (Inversion of control) container and the concepts of dependency injection. So let us have a look at the pure Spring XML configuration syntax first. You are free to write fully compatible test cases for the Citrus framework just using this syntax.

Spring bean definition syntax

<beans
    xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans
    http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans.xsd">
    
    <bean name="MyFirstTest" 
             class="com.consol.citrus.TestCase">
        <property name="variableDefinitions">
            <!-- variables of this test go here -->
        </property>     
        <property name="actions">
            <!-- actions of this test go here -->
        </property>
    </bean>
</beans>

Citrus can execute these Spring bean definitions as normal test cases - no problem, but the pure Spring XML syntax is very verbose and probably not the best way to describe a test case in Citrus. In particular you have to know a lot of Citrus internals such as Java class names and property names. In addition to that as test scenarios get more complex the test cases grow in size. So we need a more effective and comfortable way of writing tests. Therefore Citrus provides a custom XML schema definition for writing test cases which is much more adequate for our testing purpose.

The custom XML schema aims to reach the convenience of domain specific languages (DSL). Let us have a look at the Citrus test describing XML language by introducing a first very simple test case definition:

XML DSL

<spring:beans
    xmlns="http://www.citrusframework.org/schema/testcase"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xmlns:spring="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
    xsi:schemaLocation="
    http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans 
    http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans.xsd
    http://www.citrusframework.org/schema/testcase 
    http://www.citrusframework.org/schema/testcase/citrus-testcase.xsd">
    
    <testcase name="MyFirstTest">
        <description>
            First example showing the basic test case definition elements!
        </description>
        <variables>
            <variable name="text" value="Hello Test Framework"/>
        </variables>
        <actions>
            <echo>
                <message>${text}</message>
            </echo>
        </actions>
    </testcase>
</spring:beans>

We do need the <spring:beans> root element as the XML file is read by the Spring IoC container. Inside this root element the Citrus specific namespace definitions take place.

The test case itself gets a mandatory name that must be unique throughout all test cases in a project. You will receive errors when using duplicate test names. The test name has to follow the common Java naming conventions and rules for Java classes. This means names must not contain any whitespace characters but characters like '-', '.', '_' are supported. For example, TestFeature_1 is valid but Test Feature 1 is not as it contains whitespace characters like spaces.

Now that we have an XML definition that describes the steps of our test we need a Java executable for the test. The Java executable is needed for the framework in order to run the test. See the following sample Java class that represents a simple Citrus Java test:

import org.testng.annotations.Test;
import com.consol.citrus.annotations.CitrusTest;
import com.consol.citrus.testng.AbstractTestNGCitrusTest;

@Test
public class MyFirstTest extends AbstractTestNGCitrusTest {

    @CitrusXmlTest(name = "MyFirstTest")
    public void myFirstTest() {
    }
}

The sample above is a Java class that represents a valid Citrus Java executable. The Java class has no programming logic as we use a XML test case here. The Java class can also be generated using the Citrus Maven plugin. The Java class extends from basic superclass AbstractTestNGCitrusTest and therefore uses TestNG as unit test framework. Citrus also supports JUnit as unit test framework. Read more about this in Section 6.1, “Run with TestNG” and Section 6.2, “Run with JUnit”.

Up to now it is important to understand that Citrus always needs a Java executable test class. In case we use the XML test representation the Java part is generic, can be generated and contains no programming logic. The XML test defines all steps and is our primary test case definition.

Before we go into more details on the attributes and actions that take place within a test case we just have a look at how to write test cases with pure Java code. Citrus works with Java and uses the well known JUnit and TestNG framework benefits that you may be used to as a tester. Many users may prefer to write Java code instead of the verbose XML syntax. Therefore you have another possibility for writing Citrus tests in pure Java.

Citrus in general differences between two ways of test cases in Java. These are test-designers and test-runners that we deal with each in the next two sections.

4.2.1. Java DSL test designer

The first way of defining a Citrus test in Java is the test-designer. The Java DSL for a test designer works similar to the XML approach. The whole test case is built with all test actions first. Then the whole test case is executed as a whole Citrus test. This is how to define a Citrus test with designer Java DSL methods:

Java DSL designer

import org.testng.annotations.Test;
import com.consol.citrus.annotations.CitrusTest;
import com.consol.citrus.dsl.testng.TestNGCitrusTestDesigner;

@Test
public class MyFirstTestDesigner extends TestNGCitrusTestDesigner {
    @CitrusTest(name = "MyFirstTest")
    public void myFirstTest() {
        description("First example showing the basic test case definition elements!");
    
        variable("text", "Hello Test Framework");
    
        echo("${text}");
    }
}

Citrus provides a base Java class com.consol.citrus.dsl.testng.TestNGCitrusTestDesigner that provides all capabilities for you in form of builder pattern methods. Just use the @CitrusTest annotation on top of the test method. Citrus will use the method name as the test name by default. As you can see in the example above you can also customize the test name within the @CitrusTest annotation. The test method builds all test actions using the test builder pattern. The defined test actions will then be called later on during test runtime.

The design time runtime difference in test-designer is really important to be understood. You can mix the Citrus Java DSL execution with other Java code with certain limitations. We will explain this later on when introducing the test-runner.

This is the basic test Java class pattern used in Citrus. You as a tester with development background can easily extend this pattern for customized logic. Again if you are coming without coding experience do not worry this Java code is optional. You can do exactly the same with the XML syntax only as shown before. The test designer Java DSL is much more powerful though as you can use the full Java programming language with class inheritance and method delegation.

We have mentioned that the test-designer will build the complete test case in design time with all actions first before execution of the whole test case takes place at runtime of the test. This approach has the advantage that Citrus knows all test actions in a test before execution. On the other hand you are limited in mixing Java DSL method calls and normal Java code. The following example should clarify things a little bit.

Java DSL designer

import org.testng.annotations.Test;
import com.consol.citrus.annotations.CitrusTest;
import com.consol.citrus.dsl.testng.TestNGCitrusTestDesigner;

@Test
public class LoggingTestDesigner extends TestNGCitrusTestDesigner {
    private LoggingService loggingService = new LoggingService();

    @CitrusTest(name = "LoggingTest")
    public void loggingTest() {
        echo("Before loggingService call");

        loggingService.log("Now called custom logging service");

        echo("After loggingService call");
    }
}

In this example test case above we use an instance of a custom LoggingService and call some operation log() in the middle of our Java DSL test. Now developers might expect the logging service call to be done in the middle of the Java Citrus test case but if we have a look at the logging output of the test we get a total different result:

Expected output

INFO            Citrus| STARTING TEST LoggingTest
INFO        EchoAction| Before loggingService call
INFO    LoggingService| Now called custom logging service
INFO        EchoAction| After loggingService call
INFO            Citrus| TEST SUCCESS LoggingTest

Actual output

INFO    LoggingService| Now called custom logging service
INFO            Citrus| STARTING TEST LoggingTest
INFO        EchoAction| Before loggingService call
INFO        EchoAction| After loggingService call
INFO            Citrus| TEST SUCCESS LoggingTest

So if we analyse the actual logging output we see that the logging service was called even before the Citrus test case did start its action. This is the result of test-designer building up the whole test case first. The designer collects all test actions first in internal memory cache and the executes the whole test case. So the custom service call on the LoggingService is not part of the Citrus Java DSL test and therefore is executed immediately at design time.

We can fix this with the following test-designer code:

Java DSL designer

import org.testng.annotations.Test;
import com.consol.citrus.annotations.CitrusTest;
import com.consol.citrus.dsl.testng.TestNGCitrusTestDesigner;

@Test
public class LoggingTestDesigner extends TestNGCitrusTestDesigner {
    private LoggingService loggingService = new LoggingService();

    @CitrusTest(name = "LoggingTest")
    public void loggingTest() {
        echo("Before loggingService call");

        action(new AbstractTestAction() {
            doExecute(TestContext context) {
                loggingService.log("Now called custom logging service");
            }
        });

        echo("After loggingService call");
    }
}

Now we placed the loggingService call inside a custom TestAction implementation and therefore this piece of code is part of the Citrus Java DSL and following from that part of the Citrus test execution. Now with that fix we get the expected logging output:

INFO            Citrus| STARTING TEST LoggingTest
  INFO        EchoAction| Before loggingService call
  INFO    LoggingService| Now called custom logging service
  INFO        EchoAction| After loggingService call
  INFO            Citrus| TEST SUCCESS LoggingTest

Now this is not easy to understand and people did struggle with this separation of designtime and runtime of a Citrus Java DSL test. This is why we have implemented a new Java DSL base class called test-runner that we deal with in the next section. Before we continue we have to mention that the test-designer approach does also work for JUnit. Although we have only seen TestNG sample code in this section everything is working exactly the same way with JUnit framework. Just use the base class com.consol.citrus.dsl.junit.JUnit4CitrusTestDesigner instead.

Important

Neither TestNGCitrusTestDesigner nor JUnit4CitrusTestDesigner implementation is thread safe for parallel test execution. This is simply because the base class is holding state to the current test designer instance in order to delegate method calls to this instance. Therefore parallel test method execution is not available. Fortunately we have added a threadsafe base class implementation that uses resource injection. Read more about this in Section 4.2.3, “Designer/Runner injection”.

4.2.2. Java DSL test runner

The new test runner concept solves the issues that may come along when working with the test designer. We have already seen a simple example where the test designer requires strict separation of designtime and runtime. The test runner implementation executes each test action immediately. This changes the prerequisites in such that the test action Java DSL method calls can be mixed with usual Java code statements. The the example that we have seen before in a test runner implementation:

Java DSL runner

import org.testng.annotations.Test;
  import com.consol.citrus.annotations.CitrusTest;
  import com.consol.citrus.dsl.testng.TestNGCitrusTestRunner;

  @Test
  public class LoggingTestRunner extends TestNGCitrusTestRunner {
      private LoggingService loggingService = new LoggingService();

      @CitrusTest(name = "LoggingTest")
      public void loggingTest() {
          echo("Before loggingService call");

          loggingService.log("Now called custom logging service");

          echo("After loggingService call");
      }
  }

With the new test runner implementation as base class we are able to mix Java DSL method calls and normal Java code statement in our test in an unlimited way. This example above will also create the expected logging output as all Java DSL method calls are executed immediately.

INFO            Citrus| STARTING TEST LoggingTest
INFO        EchoAction| Before loggingService call
INFO    LoggingService| Now called custom logging service
INFO        EchoAction| After loggingService call
INFO            Citrus| TEST SUCCESS LoggingTest

In contrary to the test designer the test runner implementation will not build the complete test case before execution. Each test action is executed immediately as it is called with Java DSL builder methods. This creates a more natural way of coding test cases as you are also able to use iterations, try catch blocks, finally sections and so on.

In the examples here TestNG was used as unit framework. Of course the exact same approach can also apply to JUnit framework. Just use the base class com.consol.citrus.dsl.junit.JUnit4CitrusTestRunner instead. Feel free to choose the base class for test-designer or test-runner as you like. You can also mix those two approaches in your project. Citrus is able to handle both ways of Java DSL code in a project.

Important

The TestNGCitrusTestRunner and JUnit4CitrusTestRunner implementation is not thread safe for parallel test execution. This is simply because the base class is holding state to the current test runner instance in order to delegate method calls to this instance. Therefore parallel test method execution is not available. Fortunately we have added a threadsafe base class implementation that uses resource injection. Read more about this in Section 4.2.3, “Designer/Runner injection”.

@Test
public class InjectionTest extends JUnit4CitrusTest {

    @CitrusTest(name = "JUnit4DesignerTest")
    public void designerTest(@CitrusResource TestDesigner designer) {
        designer.echo("Now working on designer instance");
    }

    @CitrusTest(name = "JUnit4RunnerTest")
    public void runnerTest(@CitrusResource TestRunner runner) {
        runner.echo("Now working on runner instance");
    }
}

public class ResourceInjectionIT extends JUnit4CitrusTestDesigner {

    @Test
    @CitrusTest
    public void resourceInjectionIT(@CitrusResource TestContext context) {
        context.setVariable("myVariable", "some value");
        echo("${myVariable}");
    }
}

public class ResourceInjectionIT extends TestNGCitrusTestDesigner {

    @Test @Parameters("context")
    @CitrusTest
    public void resourceInjectionIT(@Optional @CitrusResource TestContext context) {
        context.setVariable("myVariable", "some value");
        echo("${myVariable}");
    }
}

public class FooBehavior extends AbstractTestBehavior {
    public void apply() {
        variable("foo", "test");

        echo("fooBehavior");
    }
}

public class BarBehavior extends AbstractTestBehavior {
    public void apply() {
        variable("bar", "test");

        echo("barBehavior");
    }
}

@CitrusTest
public void behaviorTest() {
    description("This is a behavior Test");
    author("Christoph");
    status(TestCaseMetaInfo.Status.FINAL);

    variable("var", "test");

    applyBehavior(new FooBehavior());

    echo("Successfully applied bar behavior");

    applyBehavior(new BarBehavior());

    echo("Successfully applied bar behavior");
}

In the test examples that we have seen so far you may have noticed that a tester can give a detailed test description. The test case description clarifies the testing purpose and perspectives. The description should give a short introduction to the intended use case scenario that will be tested. The user should get a first impression what the test case is all about as well as special information to understand the test scenario. You can use free text in your test description no limit to the number of characters. But be aware of the XML validation rules of well formed XML when using the XML test syntax (e.g. special character escaping, use of CDATA sections may be required)

Now we get close to the main part of writing an integration test. A Citrus test case defines a sequence of actions that will take place during the test. Actions by default are executed sequentially in the same order as they are defined in the test case definition.

XML DSL

<actions>
    <action>[...]</action>
    <action>[...]</action>
</actions>

All actions have individual names and properties that define the respective behavior. Citrus offers a wide range of test actions from scratch, but you are also able to write your own test actions in Java or Groovy and execute them during a test. Chapter 12, Test actions gives you a brief description of all available actions that can be part of a test case execution.

The actions are combined in free sequence to each other so that the tester is able to declare a special action chain inside the test. These actions can be sending or receiving messages, delaying the test, validating the database and so on. Step-by-step the test proceeds through the action chain. In case one single action fails by reason the whole test case is red and declared not successful.

Java developers might be familiar with the concept of doing something in the finally code section. The finally section contains a list of test actions that will be executed guaranteed at the very end of the test case even if errors did occur during the execution before. This is the right place to tidy up things that were previously created by the test like cleaning up the database for instance. The finally section is described in more detail in Chapter 15, Finally section. However here is the basic syntax inside a test.

XML DSL

<finally>
    <echo>
        <message>Do finally - regardless of what has happened before</message>
    </echo>
</finally>

Java DSL designer

@CitrusTest
public void sampleTest() {
    echo("Hello Test Framework");

    doFinally(
        echo("Do finally - regardless of any error before")
    );
}

Java DSL runner

@CitrusTest
public void sampleTest() {
    echo("Hello Test Framework");

    doFinally()
        .actions(
            echo("Do finally - regardless of any error before")
        );
}

The user can provide some additional information about the test case. The meta-info section at the very beginning of the test case holds information like author, status or creation date. In detail the meta information is specified like this:

XML DSL

<testcase name="metaInfoTest">
    <meta-info>
        <author>Christoph Deppisch</author>
        <creationdate>2008-01-11</creationdate>
        <status>FINAL</status>
        <last-updated-by>Christoph Deppisch</last-updated-by>
        <last-updated-on>2008-01-11T10:00:00</last-updated-on>
    </meta-info>
    <description>
        ...
    </description>
    <actions>
        ...
    </actions>
</testcase>

Java DSL designer and runner

@CitrusTest
public void sampleTest() {
    description("This is a Test");
    author("Christoph");
    status(Status.FINAL);
    
    echo("Hello Citrus!");
}

The status allows following values: DRAFT, READY_FOR_REVIEW, DISABLED, FINAL. The meta-data information to a test is quite important to give the reader a first information about the test. It is also possible to generate test documentation using this meta-data information. The built-in Citrus documentation generates HTML or Excel documents that list all tests with their metadata information and description.

Note

Tests with the status DISABLED will not be executed during a test suite run. So someone can just start adding planned test cases that are not finished yet in status DRAFT. In case a test is not runnable yet because it is not finished, someone may disable a test temporarily to avoid causing failures during a test run. Using these different statuses one can easily set up test plans and review the progress of test coverage by comparing the number of DRAFT tests to those in the FINAL state.

The last section told us to use variables as they are very useful and extend the maintainability of test cases. Now that every test case defines local variables you can also define global variables. The global variables are valid in all tests by default. This is a good opportunity to declare constant values for all tests. As these variables are global we need to add those to the basic Spring application context file. The following example demonstrates how to add global variables in Citrus:

<citrus:global-variables>
    <citrus:variable name="projectName" value="Citrus Integration Testing"/>
    <citrus:variable name="userName" value="TestUser"/>
</citrus:global-variables>

We add the Spring bean component to the application context file. The component receives a list of name-value variable elements. You can reference the global variables in your test cases as usual.

Another possibility to set global variables is to load those from external property files. This may give you more powerful global variables with user specific properties for instance. See how to load property files as global variables in this example:

<citrus:global-variables>
    <citrus:file path="classpath:global-variable.properties"/>
</citrus:global-variables>

We have just added a file path reference to the global variables component. Citrus loads the property file content as global test variables. You can mix property file and name-value pair variable definitions in the global variables component.

	Note
	The global variables can have variable expressions and Citrus functions. It is possible to use previously defined global variables as values of new variables, like in this example:

user=Citrus
greeting=Hello ${user}!
date=citrus:currentDate('yyyy-MM-dd')

When using th XML test case DSL we can not have XML variable values out of the box. This would interfere with the XML DSL elements defined in the Citrus testcase XSD schema. You can use CDATA sections within the variable value element in order to do this though.

<variables>
    <variable name="persons">
        <value>
            <data>
                <![CDATA[
                  <persons>
                    <person>
                      <name>Theodor</name>
                      <age>10</age>
                    </person>
                    <person>
                      <name>Alvin</name>
                      <age>9</age>
                    </person>
                  </persons>
                ]]>
            </data>
        </value>
    </variable>
</variables>

That is how you can use XML variable values in the XML DSL. In the Java DSL we do not have these problems.

You can also use a script to create variable values. This is extremely handy when you have very complex variable values. Just code a small Groovy script for instance in order to define the variable value. A small sample should give you the idea how that works:

<variables>
    <variable name="avg">
        <value>
            <script type="groovy">
                <![CDATA[
                    a = 4
                    b = 6
                    return (a + b) / 2
                ]]>
            </script>
        </value>
    </variable>
    <variable name="sum">
        <value>
            <script type="groovy">
                <![CDATA[
                    5 + 5
                ]]>
            </script>
        </value>
    </variable>
</variables>

We use the script code right inside the variable value definition. The value of the variable is the result of the last operation performed within the script. For longer script code the use of <![CDATA[ ]]> sections is recommended.

Citrus uses the javax ScriptEngine mechanism in order to evaluate the script code. By default Groovy is supported in any Citrus project. So you can add additional ScriptEngine implementations to your project and support other script types, too.

TestNG stands for next generation testing and has had a great influence in adding Java annotations to the unit test community. Citrus is able to generate TestNG Java classes that are executable as test cases. See the following standard template that Citrus will generate when having new test cases:

package com.consol.citrus.samples;

import org.testng.annotations.Test;

import com.consol.citrus.annotations.CitrusXmlTest;
import com.consol.citrus.testng.AbstractTestNGCitrusTest;
    
/**
 * TODO: Description
 *
 * @author Unknown
 */
@Test
public class SampleIT extends AbstractTestNGCitrusTest {
    @CitrusXmlTest(name = "SampleIT")
    public void sampleTest() {}
}

If you are familiar with TestNG you will see that the generated Java class is nothing but a normal TestNG test class. We just extend a basic Citrus TestNG class which enables the Citrus test execution features for us. Besides that we have a usual TestNG @Test annotation placed on our class so all methods inside the class will be executed as separate test case.

The good news is that we can still use the fantastic TestNG features in our test class. You can think of parallel test execution, test groups, setup and tear down operations and so on. Just to give an example we can simply add a test group to our test like this:

@Test(groups = {"long-running"})

For more information on TestNG please visit the official homepage, where you find a complete reference documentation.

You might have noticed that the example above loads test cases from XML. This is why we are using the @CitrusXmlTest annotation. Again this approach is for people that want to write no Java code. The test logic is then provided in the XML test definition. We discuss XML tests in Citrus in more detail in Section 6.3, “Running XML tests”. Next lets have a look at a TestNG Java DSL test.

When writing tests in pure Java we have pretty much the exact same logic that applies to executing Citrus test cases. The Citrus test extends from a TestNG base class and uses the normal @Test annotations on method or class level. Here is a short sample TestNG Java class for this:

import org.testng.annotations.Test;
import com.consol.citrus.annotations.CitrusTest;
import com.consol.citrus.dsl.testng.TestNGCitrusTestDesigner;

@Test
public class MyFirstTestDesigner extends TestNGCitrusTestDesigner {
    @CitrusTest(name = "MyFirstIT")
    public void myFirstTest() {
        description("First example showing the basic test case definition elements!");

        variable("text", "Hello Test Framework");

        echo("${test}");
    }
}

You see the class is quite similar to the XML test variation. Now we extend a Citrus test designer class which enables the Java DSL features in addition to the TestNG test execution for us. The basic @Test annotation for TestNG has not changed. We still have a usual TestNG class with the possibility of several methods each representing a separate unit test.

Now what has changed is the @CitrusTest annotation. Now the Citrus test logic is placed directly as the method body with using the Java domain specific language features. The XML Citrus test part is not necessary anymore. If you are wondering about the designer super class and the Java DSL methods for adding the test logic to your test please be patient we will learn more about the Java DSL features in this reference guide later on.

Up to now we just concentrate on the TestNG integration that is quite easy isn't it.

public class DataProviderIT extends AbstractTestNGCitrusTest {

  @CitrusXmlTest
  @CitrusParameters( "message" )
  @Test(dataProvider = "messageDataProvider")
  public void DataProviderIT(ITestContext testContext) {
  }

  @DataProvider
  public Object[][] messageDataProvider() {
  return new Object[][] {
      { "Hello World!" },
      { "Hallo Welt!" },
      { "Hi Citrus!" },
    };
  }
}

JUnit is a very popular unit test framework for Java applications widely accepted and widely supported by many tools. In general Citrus supports both JUnit and TestNG as test execution frameworks. Although the TestNG customization features are slightly more powerful than those offered by JUnit you as a Citrus user should be able to use the framework of your choice. The complete support for executing test cases with package scans and multiple annotated methods is given for both frameworks. If you choose junit as execution framework Citrus generates a Java file that looks like this:

package com.consol.citrus.samples;

import org.junit.Test;
import com.consol.citrus.annotations.CitrusXmlTest;
import com.consol.citrus.junit.AbstractJUnit4CitrusTest;

/**
 * TODO: Description
 *
 * @author Unknown
 */
public class SampleIT extends AbstractJUnit4CitrusTest {
    @Test
    @CitrusXmlTest(name = "SampleIT")
    public void sampleTest() {}
}

JUnit and TestNG as frameworks reveal slight differences, but the idea is the same. We extend a base JUnit Citrus test class and have one to many test methods that load the XML Citrus test cases for execution. As you can see the test class can hold several annotated test methods that get executed as JUnit tests. The fine thing here is that we are still able to use all JUnit features such as before/after test actions or enable/disable tests.

The Java JUnit classes are simply responsible for loading and executing the Citrus test cases. Citrus takes care on loading the XML test as a file system resource and to set up the Spring application context. The test is executed and success/failure state is reported exactly like a usual JUnit unit test would do. This also means that you can execute this Citrus JUnit class like every other JUnit test, especially out of any Java IDE, with Maven, with ANT and so on. This means that you can easily include the Citrus test execution into you software building lifecycle and continuous build.

Tip

So now we know both TestNG and JUnit support in Citrus. Which framework should someone choose? To be honest, there is no easy answer to this question. The basic features are equivalent, but TestNG offers better possibilities for designing more complex test setup with test groups and tasks before and after a group of tests. This is why TestNG is the default option in Citrus. But in the end you have to decide on your own which framework fits best for your project.

The first example seen here is using @CitrusXmlTest annotation in order to load a XML file as test. The Java part is then just an empty envelope for executing the test with JUnit. This approach is for those of you that are not familiar with Java at all. You can find more information on loading XML files as Citrus tests in Section 6.3, “Running XML tests”. Secondly of course we also have the possibility to use the Citrus Java DSL with JUnit. See the following example on how this looks like:

package com.consol.citrus.samples;

import com.consol.citrus.annotations.CitrusTest;
import com.consol.citrus.dsl.JUnit4CitrusTestDesigner;
import org.junit.Test;

/**
 * TODO: Description
 *
 * @author Unknown
 */
public class SampleIT extends JUnit4CitrusTestDesigner {

    @Test
    @CitrusTest
    public void EchoSampleIT() {
        variable("time", "citrus:currentDate()");
        echo("Hello Citrus!");
        echo("CurrentTime is: ${time}");
    }

    @Test
    @CitrusTest(name = "EchoIT")
    public void echoTest() {
        echo("Hello Citrus!");
    }
}

The Java DSL test case looks quite familiar as we also use the JUnit4 @Test annotation in order to mark our test for unit test execution. In addition to that we add a @CitrusTest annotation and extend from a basic JUnit4 Citrus test designer which enables the Java domain specific language features. The Citrus test logic goes directly to the method block. There is no need for a XML test file anymore.

As you can see the @CitrusTest annotation supports multiple test methods in one single class. Each test is prepared and executed separately just as you know it from JUnit. You can define an explicit Citrus test name that is used in Citrus test reports. If no explicit test name is given the test method name will be used as a test name.

If you need to know more details about the test designer and on how to use the Citrus Java DSL just continue with this reference guide. We will describe the capabilities in detail later on.

Now we also use the @CitrusXmlTest annotation in the Java class. This annotation makes Citrus search for a XML file that represents the Citrus test within your classpath. Later on we will also discuss another Citrus annotation (@CitrusTest) which stands for defining the Citrus test just with Java domain specific language features. For now we continue to deal with the XML Citrus test execution.

The default naming convention requires a XML file with the tests name in the same package that the Java class is placed in. In the basic example above this means that Citrus searches for a XML test file in com/consol/citrus/samples/SampleIT.xml. You tell Citrus to search for another XML file by using the @CitrusXmlTest annotation properties. Following annotation properties are valid:

You can also mix the various CitrusXmlTest annotation patterns in a single Java class. So we are able to have several test cases in one single Java class. Each annotated method represents one or more Citrus XML test cases. Se the following example to see what this is about.

@Test
public class SampleIT extends AbstractTestNGCitrusTest {
    @CitrusXmlTest(name = "SampleIT")
    public void sampleTest() {}

    @CitrusXmlTest(name = { "SampleIT", "AnotherIT" })
    public void multipleTests() {}

    @CitrusXmlTest(name = "OtherIT", packageName = "com.other.testpackage")
    public void otherPackageTest() {}

    @CitrusXmlTest(packageScan =  { "com.some.testpackage", "com.other.testpackage" })
    public void packageScanTest() {}
}

You are free to combine these test annotations as you like in your class. As the whole Java class is annotated with the TestNG @Test annotation each method gets executed automatically. Citrus will also take care on executing each XML test case as a separate unit test. So the test reports will have the exact number of executed tests and the JUnit/TestNG test reports do have the exact test outline for further usage (e.g. in continuous build reports).

	Note
	When test execution takes place each test method annotation is evaluated in sequence. XML test cases that match several times, for instance by explicit name reference and a package scan will be executed several times respectively.

The best thing about using the @CitrusXmlTest annotation is that you can continue to use the fabulous TestNG capabilities (e.g. test groups, invocation count, thread pools, data providers, and so on).

So now we have seen how to execute a Citrus XML test with TestNG.

Citrus starts a Spring application context and adds some default Spring bean components. By default Citrus will load some internal Spring Java config classes defining those bean components. At some point you might add some custom beans to that basic application context. This is why Citrus will search for custom Spring application context files in your project. These are automatically loaded.

By default Citrus looks for custom XML Spring application context files in this location: classpath*:citrus-context.xml. So you can add a file named citrus-context.xml to your project classpath and Citrus will load all Spring beans automatically.

The location of this file can be customized by setting a System property citrus.spring.application.context. So you can customize the XML Spring application context file location. The System property is settable with Maven surefire and failsafe plugin for instance or via Java before the Citrus framework gets loaded.

See the following sample XML configuration which is a normal Spring bean XML configuration:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
       xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
       xmlns:citrus="http://www.citrusframework.org/schema/config"
       xmlns:context="http://www.springframework.org/schema/context"
       xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans.xsd
    http://www.citrusframework.org/schema/config http://www.citrusframework.org/schema/config/citrus-config.xsd
    http://www.springframework.org/schema/context http://www.springframework.org/schema/context/spring-context.xsd">

  <citrus:schema-repository id="schemaRepository" />

</beans>

Now you can add some Spring beans and you can use the Citrus XML components such as schema-repository for adding custom beans and components to your Citrus project. Citrus provides several namespaces for custom Spring XML components. These are described in more detail in the respective chapters and sections in this reference guide.

	Tip
	You can also use import statements in this Spring application context in order to load other configuration files. So you are free to modularize your configuration in several files that get loaded by Citrus.

Using XML Spring application context configuration is the default behavior of Citrus. However some people might prefer pure Java code configuration. You can do that by adding a System property citrus.spring.java.config with a custom Spring Java config class as value.

System.setProperty("citrus.spring.java.config", MyCustomConfig.class.getName())

Citrus will load the Spring bean configurations in MyCustomConfig.class as Java config then. See the following example for custom Spring Java configuration:

import com.consol.citrus.TestCase;
import com.consol.citrus.report.*;
import org.slf4j.Logger;
import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;

@Configuration
public class MyCustomConfig {

    @Bean(name = "customTestListener")
    public TestListener customTestListener() {
        return new PlusMinusTestReporter();
    }

    private static class PlusMinusTestReporter extends AbstractTestListener implements TestReporter {

        /** Logger */
        private Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(CustomBeanConfig.class);

        private StringBuilder testReport = new StringBuilder();

        @Override
        public void onTestSuccess(TestCase test) {
            testReport.append("+");
        }

        @Override
        public void onTestFailure(TestCase test, Throwable cause) {
            testReport.append("-");
        }

        @Override
        public void generateTestResults() {
            log.info(testReport.toString());
        }

        @Override
        public void clearTestResults() {
            testReport = new StringBuilder();
        }
    }
}

You can also mix XML and Java configuration so Citrus will load both configuration to the Spring bean application context on startup.

The Citrus framework references some basic System properties that can be overwritten. The properties are loaded from Java System and are also settable via property file. Just add a property file named citrus-application.properties to your project classpath. This property file contains customized settings such as:

citrus.spring.application.context=classpath*:citrus-custom-context.xml
citrus.spring.java.config=com.consol.citrus.config.MyCustomConfig
citrus.file.encoding=UTF-8
citrus.xml.file.name.pattern=/**/*Test.xml,/**/*IT.xml

Citrus loads these application properties at startup. All properties are also settable with Java System properties. The location of the citrus-application.properties is customizable with the System property citrus.application.config.

System.setProperty("citrus.application.config", "custom/path/to/citrus-application.properties")

At the moment you can use these properties for customization:

The <send> action in a test case publishes messages to a destination. The actual message transport connection is defined with the endpoint component. The test case simply defines the message contents and references a predefined message endpoint component by its identifier. Endpoint specific configurations are centralized in the Spring bean application context while multiple test cases can reference the endpoint to actually publish the constructed message to a destination. There are several message endpoint implementations in Citrus available representing different transport protocols like JMS, SOAP, HTTP, TCP/IP and many more.

Again the type of transport to use is not specified inside the test case but in the message endpoint definition. The separation of concerns (test case/message sender transport) gives us a good flexibility of our test cases. The test case does not know anything about connection factories, queue names or endpoint uri, connection timeouts and so on. The transport internals underneath a sending test action can change easily without affecting the test case definition. We will see later in this document how to create different message endpoints for various transports in Citrus. For now we concentrate on constructing the message content to be sent.

We assume that the message's payload will be plain XML format. Citrus uses XML as the default data format for message payload data. But Citrus is not limited to XML message format though; you can always define other message data formats such as JSON, plain text, CSV. As XML is still a very popular message format in enterprise applications and message-based solution architectures we have this as a default format. Anyway Citrus works best on XML payloads and you will see a lot of example code in this document using XML. Finally let us have a look at a first example how a sending action is defined in the test.

XML DSL

<testcase name="SendMessageTest">
    <description>Basic send message example</description>

    <actions>
        <send endpoint="helloServiceEndpoint">
            <message>
                <payload>
                    <TestMessage>
                        <Text>Hello!</Text>
                    </TestMessage>
                </payload>
            </message>
            <header>
                <element name="Operation" value="sayHello"/>
            </header>
        </send>
    </actions>
</testcase>

Now lets have a closer look at the sending action. The 'endpoint' attribute might catch your attention first. This attribute references the message endpoint in Citrus configuration by its identifier. As previously mentioned the message endpoint definition lives in a separate configuration file and contains the actual message transport settings. In this example the "helloServiceEndpoint" is referenced which is a JMS endpoint for sending out messages to a JMS queue for instance.

The test case is not aware of any transport details, because it does not have to. The advantages are obvious: On the one hand multiple test cases can reference the message endpoint definition for better reuse. Secondly test cases are independent of message transport details. So connection factories, user credentials, endpoint uri values and so on are not present in the test case.

In other words the "endpoint" attribute of the <send> element specifies which message endpoint definition to use and therefore where the message should go to. Once again all available message endpoints are configured in a separate Citrus configuration file. Be sure to always pick the right message endpoint type in order to publish your message to the right destination.

If you do not like the XML language you can also use pure Java code to define the same test. In Java you would also make use of the message endpoint definition and reference this instance. The same test as shown above in Java DSL looks like this:

Java DSL designer

import org.testng.ITestContext;
import org.testng.annotations.Test;
import com.consol.citrus.annotations.CitrusTest;
import com.consol.citrus.dsl.testng.TestNGCitrusTestDesigner;

@Test
public class SendMessageTestDesigner extends TestNGCitrusTestDesigner {

    @CitrusTest(name = "SendMessageTest")
    public void sendMessageTest() {
        description("Basic send message example");
    
        send("helloServiceEndpoint")
            .payload("<TestMessage>" +
                        "<Text>Hello!</Text>" +
                    "</TestMessage>")
            .header("Operation", "sayHello");
    }
}

Instead of using the XML tags for send we use methods from TestNGCitrusTestDesigner class. The same message endpoint is referenced within the send message action. The payload is constructed as plain Java character sequence which is a bit verbose. We will see later on how we can improve this. For now it is important to understand the combination of send test action and a message endpoint.

	Tip
	It is good practice to follow naming conventions when defining names for message endpoints. The intended purpose of the message endpoint as well as the sending/receiving actor should be clear when choosing the name. For instance messageEndpoint1, messageEndpoint2 will not give you much hints to the purpose of the message endpoint.

This is basically how to send messages in Citrus. The test case is responsible for constructing the message content while the predefined message endpoint holds transport specific settings. Test cases reference endpoint components to publish messages to the outside world. This is just the start of action. Citrus supports a whole package of other ways how to define and manipulate the message contents. Read more about message sending actions in Section 12.1, “Sending messages”.

Now we have a look at the message receiving part inside the test. A simple example shows how it works.

XML DSL

<receive endpoint="helloServiceEndpoint">
    <message>
        <payload>
            <TestMessage>
                <Text>Hello!</Text>
            </TestMessage>
        </payload>
    </message>
    <header>
        <element name="Operation" value="sayHello"/>
    </header>
</receive>

If we recap the send action of the previous chapter we can identify some common mechanisms that apply for both sending and receiving actions. The test action also uses the endpoint attribute for referencing a predefined message endpoint. This time we want to receive a message from the endpoint. Again the test is not aware of the transport details such as JMS connections, endpoint uri, and so on. The message endpoint component encapsulates this information.

Before we go into detail on validating the received message we have a quick look at the Java DSL variation for the receive action. The same receive action as above looks like this in Java DSL.

Java DSL designer

@CitrusTest
public void messagingTest() {
    receive("helloServiceEndpoint")
        .payload("<TestMessage>" +
                    "<Text>Hello!</Text>" +
                "</TestMessage>")
        .header("Operation", "sayHello");
}

The receive action waits for a message to arrive. The whole test execution is stopped while waiting for the message. This is important to ensure the step by step test workflow processing. Of course you can specify message timeouts so the receiver will only wait a given amount of time before raising a timeout error. Following from that timeout exception the test case fails as the message did not arrive in time. Citrus defines default timeout settings for all message receiving tasks.

At this point you know the two most important test actions in Citrus. Sending and receiving actions will become the main components of your integration tests when dealing with loosely coupled message based components in a enterprise application environment. It is very easy to create complex message flows, meaning a sequence of sending and receiving actions in your test case. You can replicate use cases and test your message exchange with extended message validation capabilities. See Section 12.2, “Receiving messages” for a more detailed description on how to validate incoming messages and how to expect message contents in a test case.

XML is a very common message format especially in the SOAP WebServices and JMS messaging world. Citrus provides XML message validator implementations that are able to compare XML message structures. The validator will notice differences in the XML message structure and supports XML namespaces, attributes and XML schema validation. The default XML message validator implementation is active by default and can be overwritten with a custom implementation using the bean id defaultXmlMessageValidator.

<bean id="defaultXmlMessageValidator" class="com.consol.citrus.validation.xml.DomXmlMessageValidator"/>

The default XML message validator is very powerful when it comes to compare XML structures. The validator supports namespaces with different prefixes and attributes als well as namespace qualified attributes. See the following sections for a detailed description of all capabilities.

@CitrusTest
public void receiveMessageTest() {
    receive("helloServiceServer")
        .payload(new ClassPathResource("com/consol/citrus/message/data/TestRequest.xml"))
        .header("Operation", "sayHello")
        .header("MessageId", "${messageId}");
}

9.1.2. XML header validation

Now that we have validated the message payload in various ways we are now interested in validating the message header. This is simple as you have to define the header name and the control value that you expect. Just add the following header validation to your receiving action.

XML DSL

<header>
    <element name="Operation" value="GetCustomer"/>
    <element name="RequestTag" value="${requestTag}"/>
</header>

Java DSL designer

@CitrusTest
public void receiveMessageTest() {
    receive("helloServiceServer")
        .header("Operation", "sayHello")
        .header("MessageId", "${messageId}");
}

Message headers are represented as name-value pairs. Each expected header element identified by its name has to be present in the received message. In addition to that the header value is compared to the given control value. If a header entry is not found by its name or the value does not fit accordingly Citrus will raise validation errors and the test case will fail.

	Note
	Sometimes message headers may not apply to the name-value pair pattern. For example SOAP headers can also contain XML fragments. Citrus supports these kind of headers too. Please see the SOAP chapter for more details.

 <message>
    <payload>
        <TestMessage>
            <MessageId>${messageId}</MessageId>
            <Timestamp>2001-12-17T09:30:47.0Z</Timestamp>
            <VersionId>@ignore@</VersionId>
        </TestMessage>
    </payload>
    <ignore path="/TestMessage/Timestamp"/>
</message>

@CitrusTest
public void receiveMessageTest() {
    receive("helloServiceServer")
        .payload(new ClassPathResource("com/consol/citrus/message/data/TestRequest.xml"))
        .header("Operation", "sayHello")
        .header("MessageId", "${messageId}")
        .ignore("/TestMessage/Timestamp");
}

9.1.4. Groovy XML validation

With the Groovy XmlSlurper you can easily validate XML message payloads without having to deal directly with XML. People who do not want to deal with XPath may also like this validation alternative. The tester directly navigates through the message elements and uses simple code assertions in order to control the message content. Here is an example how to validate messages with Groovy script:

XML DSL

<receive endpoint="helloServiceClient" timeout="5000">
    <message>
        <validate>
            <script type="groovy">
                assert root.children().size() == 4
                assert root.MessageId.text() == '${messageId}'
                assert root.CorrelationId.text() == '${correlationId}'
                assert root.User.text() == 'HelloService'
                assert root.Text.text() == 'Hello ' + context.getVariable("user")
            </script>
        </validate>
    </message>
    <header>
        <element name="Operation" value="sayHello"/>
        <element name="CorrelationId" value="${correlationId}"/>
    </header>
</receive>

Java DSL designer

@CitrusTest
public void receiveMessageTest() {
    receive("helloServiceClient")
        .validateScript("assert root.MessageId.text() == '${messageId}';" +
                        "assert root.CorrelationId.text() == '${correlationId}';")
        .header("Operation, "sayHello")
        .header("CorrelationId", "${correlationId}")
        .timeout(5000L);
}

The Groovy XmlSlurper validation script goes right into the message-tag instead of a XML control template or XPath validation. The Groovy script supports Java assert statements for message element validation. Citrus automatically injects the root element root to the validation script. This is the Groovy XmlSlurper object and the start of element navigation. Based on this root element you can access child elements and attributes with a dot notated syntax. Just use the element names separated by a simple dot. Very easy! If you need the list of child elements use the children() function on any element. With the text() function you get access to the element's text-value. The size() is very useful for validating the number of child elements which completes the basic validation statements.

As you can see from the example, we may use test variables within the validation script, too. Citrus has also injected the actual test context to the validation script. The test context object holds all test variables. So you can also access variables with context.getVariable("user") for instance. On the test context you can also set new variable values with context.setVariable("user", "newUserName").

There is even more object injection for the validation script. With the automatically added object receivedMessage You have access to the Citrus message object for this receive action. This enables you to do whatever you want with the message payload or header.

XML DSL

<receive endpoint="helloServiceClient" timeout="5000">
    <message>
        <validate>
            <script type="groovy">
                assert receivedMessage.getPayload(String.class).contains("Hello Citrus!")
                assert receivedMessage.getHeader("Operation") == 'sayHello'

                context.setVariable("request_payload", receivedMessage.getPayload(String.class))
            </script>
        </validate>
    </message>
</receive>

The listing above shows some power of the validation script. We can access the message payload, we can access the message header. With test context access we can also save the whole message payload as a new test variable for later usage in the test.

In general Groovy code inside the XML test case definition or as part of the Java DSL code is not very comfortable to maintain. You do not have code syntax assist or code completion. This is why we can also use external file resources for the validation scripts. The syntax looks like follows:

XML DSL

<receive endpoint="helloServiceClient" timeout="5000">
    <message>
        <validate>
            <script type="groovy" file="classpath:validationScript.groovy"/>
        </validate>
    </message>
    <header>
        <element name="Operation" value="sayHello"/>
        <element name="CorrelationId" value="${correlationId}"/>
    </header>
</receive>

Java DSL designer

@CitrusTest
public void receiveMessageTest() {
    receive("helloServiceClient")
        .validateScript(new FileSystemResource("validationScript.groovy"))
        .header("Operation, "sayHello")
        .header("CorrelationId", "${correlationId}")
        .timeout(5000L);
}

We referenced some external file resource validationScript.groovy. This file content is loaded at runtime and is used as script body. Now that we have a normal groovy file we can use the code completion and syntax highlighting of our favorite Groovy editor.

	Note
	You can use the Groovy validation script in combination with other validation types like XML tree comparison and XPath validation.

	Tip
	For further information on the Groovy XmlSlurper please see the official Groovy website and documentation

There are several possibilities to describe the structure of XML documents. The two most popular ways are DTD (Document type definition) and XSD (XML Schema definition). Once a XML document has decided to be classified using a schema definition the structure of the document has to fit the predefined rules inside the schema definition. XML document instances are valid only in case they meet all these structure rules defined in the schema definition. Currently Citrus can validate XML documents using the schema languages DTD and XSD.

9.2.1. XSD schema repositories

Citrus tries to validate all incoming XML messages against a schema definition in order to ensure that all rules are fulfilled. As a consequence the message receiving actions in Citrus do have to know the XML schema definition (*.xsd) file resources that belong to our project. Therefore Citrus introduces a central schema repository component which holds all available XML schema files for a project.

<citrus:schema-repository id="schemaRepository">
    <citrus:schemas>
        <citrus:schema id="travelAgencySchema"
            location="classpath:citrus/flightbooking/TravelAgencySchema.xsd"/>
        <citrus:schema id="royalArilineSchema"
            location="classpath:citrus/flightbooking/RoyalAirlineSchema.xsd"/>
        <citrus:ref schema="smartArilineSchema"/>
    </citrus:schemas>
</citrus:schema-repository>

<citrus:schema id="smartArilineSchema"
      location="classpath:citrus/flightbooking/SmartAirlineSchema.xsd"/>

As you can see the schema repository is a simple XML component defined inside the Spring application context. The repository can hold nested schema definitions defined by some identifier and a file location for the xsd schema file. Schema definitions can also be referenced by its identifier for usage in several schema repository instances.

By convention the default schema repository component is defined in the Citrus Spring application context with the id schemaRepository. Spring application context is then able to inject the schema repository into all message receiving test actions at runtime. The receiving test action consolidates the repository for a matching schema definition file in order to validate the incoming XML document structure.

The connection between incoming XML messages and xsd schema files in the repository is done by a mapping strategy which we will discuss later in this chapter. By default Citrus picks the right schema based on the target namespace that is defined inside the schema definition. The target namespace of the schema definition has to match the namespace of the root element in the received XML message. With this mapping strategy you will not have to wire XML messages and schema files manually all is done automatically by the Citrus schema repository at runtime. All you need to do is to register all available schema definition files regardless of which target namespace or nature inside the Citrus schema repository.

Important

XMl schema validation is mandatory in Citrus. This means that Citrus always tries to find a matching schema definition inside the schema repository in order to perform syntax validation on incoming schema qualified XML messages. A classified XML message is defined by its namespace definitions. Consequently you will get validation errors in case no matching schema definition file is found inside the schema repository. So if you explicitly do not want to validate the XML schema for some reason you have to disable the validation explicitly in your test with schema-validation="false". <receive endpoint="httpMessageEndpoint"> <message schema-validation="false"> <validate> <xpath expression="//ns1:TestMessage/ns1:MessageHeader/ns1:MessageId" value="${messageId}"/> <xpath expression="//ns1:TestMessage/ns1:MessageHeader/ns1:CorrelationId" value="${correlationId}"/> <namespace prefix="ns1" value="http://citrus.com/namespace"/> </validate> </message> <header> <element name="Operation" value="sayHello"/> <element name="MessageId" value="${messageId}"/> </header> </receive> This mandatory schema validation might sound annoying to you but in our opinion it is very important to validate the structure of the received XML messages, so disabling the schema validation should not be the standard for all tests. Disabling automatic schema validation should only apply to very special situations. So please try to put all available schema definitions to the schema repository and you will be fine.

<citrus:schema id="arilineWsdl"
    location="classpath:citrus/flightbooking/AirlineSchema.wsdl"/>

<citrus:schema-repository id="schemaRepository">
  <citrus:locations>
    <citrus:location
        path="classpath:citrus/flightbooking/*.xsd"/>
  </citrus:locations>
</citrus:schema-repository>

<citrus:schema-collection id="flightbookingSchemaCollection">
  <citrus:schemas>
    <citrus:schema location="classpath:citrus/flightbooking/BaseTypes.xsd"/>
    <citrus:schema location="classpath:citrus/flightbooking/AirlineSchema.xsd"/>
  </citrus:schemas>
</citrus:schema-collection>

<citrus:schema-repository id="schemaRepository">
  <citrus:schemas>
    <citrus:ref schema="flightbookingSchemaCollection"/>
  </citrus:schemas>
</citrus:schema-repository>

<citrus:schema-repository id="schemaRepository"
    schema-mapping-strategy="schemaMappingStrategy">
  <citrus:schemas>
    <citrus:schema id="helloSchema"
        location="classpath:citrus/samples/sayHello.xsd"/>
  </citrus:schemas>
</citrus:schema-repository>

<bean id="schemaMappingStrategy"
    class="com.consol.citrus.xml.schema.TargetNamespaceSchemaMappingStrategy"/>

<xs:schema xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
    xmlns="http://consol.de/schemas/sayHello.xsd"
    targetNamespace="http://consol.de/schemas/sayHello.xsd"
    elementFormDefault="qualified"
    attributeFormDefault="unqualified">
     
</xs:schema>

<HelloRequest xmlns="http://consol.de/schemas/sayHello.xsd">
   <MessageId>123456789</MessageId>
   <CorrelationId>1000</CorrelationId>
   <User>Christoph</User>
   <Text>Hello Citrus</Text>
</HelloRequest>

<citrus:schema-repository id="schemaRepository"
    schema-mapping-strategy="schemaMappingStrategy">
  <citrus:schemas>
    <citrus:ref schema="helloSchema"/>
    <citrus:ref schema="goodbyeSchema"/>
  </citrus:schemas>
</citrus:schema-repository>

<bean id="schemaMappingStrategy"
    class="com.consol.citrus.xml.schema.RootQNameSchemaMappingStrategy">
  <property name="mappings">
    <map>
      <entry key="HelloRequest" value="helloSchema"/>
      <entry key="GoodbyeRequest" value="goodbyeSchema"/>
    </map>
  </property>
</bean>

<citrus:schema id="helloSchema"
    location="classpath:citrus/samples/sayHello.xsd"/>

<citrus:schema id="goodbyeSchema"
     location="classpath:citrus/samples/sayGoodbye.xsd"/>

<citrus:schema-repository id="schemaRepository"
    schema-mapping-strategy="schemaMappingStrategy">
  <citrus:schemas>
    <citrus:ref schema="helloSchema"/>
    <citrus:ref schema="goodbyeSchema"/>
  </citrus:schemas>
</citrus:schema-repository>

<bean id="schemaMappingStrategy"
    class="com.consol.citrus.xml.schema.SchemaMappingStrategyChain">
  <property name="strategies">
    <list>
      <bean class="com.consol.citrus.xml.schema.RootQNameSchemaMappingStrategy">
        <property name="mappings">
          <map>
            <entry key="HelloRequest" value="helloSchema"/>
          </map>
        </property>
      </bean>
      <bean class="com.consol.citrus.xml.schema.TargetNamespaceSchemaMappingStrategy"/>
    </list>
  </property>
</bean>

9.2.6. Schema definition overruling

Now it is time to talk about schema definition settings on test action level. We have learned before that Citrus tries to automatically find a matching schema definition in some schema repository. There comes a time where you as a tester just have to pick the right schema definition by yourself. You can overrule all schema mapping strategies in Citrus by directly setting the desired schema in your receiving message action.

<receive endpoint="httpMessageEndpoint">
    <message schema="helloSchema">
      <validate>
        <xpath expression="//ns1:TestMessage/ns1:MessageHeader/ns1:MessageId"
                  value="${messageId}"/>
        <xpath expression="//ns1:TestMessage/ns1:MessageHeader/ns1:CorrelationId"
                  value="${correlationId}"/>
        <namespace prefix="ns1" value="http://citrus.com/namespace"/>
      </validate>
    </message>
</receive>

<citrus:schema id="helloSchema"
    location="classpath:citrus/samples/sayHello.xsd"/>

In the example above the tester explicitly sets a schema definition in the receive action (schema="helloSchema"). The attribute value refers to named schema bean somewhere in the applciation context. This overrules all schema mapping strategies used in the central schema repository as the given schema is directly used for validation. This feature is helpful when dealing with different schema versions at the same time where the schema repository can not help you anymore.

Another possibility would be to set a custom schema repository at this point. This means you can have more than one schema repository in your Citrus project and you pick the right one by yourself in the receive action.

<receive endpoint="httpMessageEndpoint">
    <message schema-repository="mySpecialSchemaRepository">
      <validate>
        <xpath expression="//ns1:TestMessage/ns1:MessageHeader/ns1:MessageId"
                  value="${messageId}"/>
        <xpath expression="//ns1:TestMessage/ns1:MessageHeader/ns1:CorrelationId"
                  value="${correlationId}"/>
        <namespace prefix="ns1" value="http://citrus.com/namespace"/>
      </validate>
    </message>
</receive>

The schema-repository attribute refers to a Citrus schema repository component which is defined somewhere in the Spring application context.

	Important
	In case you have several schema repositories in your project do always define a default repository (name="schemaRepository"). This helps Citrus to always find at least one repository to interact with.

<receive endpoint="httpMessageEndpoint">
    <message schema-validation="false">
        <data>
        <![CDATA[
            <!DOCTYPE root [
                <!ELEMENT root (message)>
                <!ELEMENT message (text)>
                <!ELEMENT text (#PCDATA)>
                ]>
            <root>
                <message>
                    <text>Hello TestFramework!</text>
                </message>
            </root>
        ]]>
        <data/>
    </message>
</receive>

<receive endpoint="httpMessageEndpoint">
    <message schema-validation="false">
        <data>
        <![CDATA[
            <!DOCTYPE root SYSTEM 
                         "com/consol/citrus/validation/example.dtd">
            <root>
                <message>
                    <text>Hello TestFramework!</text>
                </message>
            </root>
        ]]>
        <data/>
    </message>
</receive>

Message formats such as JSON have become very popular, in particular when speaking of RESTful WebServices and JavaScript using JSON as the message format to go for. Citrus is able to expect and validate JSON messages as we will see in the next sections.

Important

By default Citrus will use XML message formats when sending and receiving messages. This also reflects to the message validation logic Citrus uses for incoming messages. So by default Citrus will try to parse the incoming message as XML DOM element tree. In case we would like to enable JSON message validation we have to tell Citrus that we expect a JSON message right now. And this is quite easy. Citrus has a JSON message validator implementation active by default and immediately as we mark an incoming message as JSON data this message validator will jump in.

Citrus provides several default message validator implementations for JOSN message format:

You can overwrite this default message validators for JSON by placing a bean into the Spring Application context. The bean uses a default name as identifier. Then your custom bean will overwrite the default validator:

<bean id="defaultJsonMessageValidator" class="com.consol.citrus.validation.json.JsonTextMessageValidator"/>

<bean id="defaultGroovyJsonMessageValidator" class="com.consol.citrus.validation.script.GroovyJsonMessageValidator"/>

This is how you can customize the message validators used for JSON message data.

We have mentioned before that Citrus is working with XML by default. This is why we have to tell Citrus that the message that we are receiving uses the JSON message format. We have to tell the test case receiving action that we expect a different format other than XML.

<receive endpoint="httpMessageEndpoint">
    <message type="json">
        <data>
          {
            "type" : "read",
            "mbean" : "java.lang:type=Memory",
            "attribute" : "HeapMemoryUsage",
            "path" : "@equalsIgnoreCase('USED')@",
            "value" : "${heapUsage}",
            "timestamp" : "@ignore@"
          }
        </data>
    </message>
</receive>

The message receiving action in our test case specifies a message format type type="json". This tells Citrus to look for some message validator implementation capable of validating JSON messages. As we have added the proper message validator to the Spring application context Citrus will pick the right validator and JSON message validation is performed on this message. As you can see you we can use the usual test variables and the ignore element syntax here, too. Citrus is able to handle different JSON element orders when comparing received and expected JSON object. We can also use JSON arrays and nested objects. The default JSON message validator implementation in Citrus is very powerful in comparing JSON objects.

Instead of defining an expected message payload template we can also use Groovy validation scripts. Lets have a look at the Groovy JSON message validator example. As usual the default Groovy JSON message validator is active by default. But the special Groovy message validator implementation will only jump in when we used a validation script in our receive message definition. Let's have an example for that.

<receive endpoint="httpMessageEndpoint">
    <message type="json">
        <validate>
            <script type="groovy">
                <![CDATA[
                  assert json.type == 'read'
                  assert json.mbean == 'java.lang:type=Memory'
                  assert json.attribute == 'HeapMemoryUsage'
                  assert json.value == '${heapUsage}'
                ]]>
            </script>
        </validate>
    </message>
</receive>

Again we tell Citrus that we expect a message of type="json". Now we used a validation script that is written in Groovy. Citrus will automatically activate the special message validator that executes our Groovy script. The script validation is more powerful as we can use the full power of the Groovy language. The validation script automatically has access to the incoming JSON message object json. We can use the Groovy JSON dot notated syntax in order to navigate through the JSON structure. The Groovy JSON slurper object json is automatically passed to the validation script. This way you can access the JSON object elements in your code doing some assertions.

There is even more object injection for the validation script. With the automatically added object receivedMessage You have access to the Citrus message object for this receive action. This enables you to do whatever you want with the message payload or header.

XML DSL

<receive endpoint="httpMessageEndpoint">
    <message type="json">
        <validate>
            <script type="groovy">
                assert receivedMessage.getPayload(String.class).contains("Hello Citrus!")
                assert receivedMessage.getHeader("Operation") == 'sayHello'

                context.setVariable("request_payload", receivedMessage.getPayload(String.class))
            </script>
        </validate>
    </message>
</receive>

The listing above shows some power of the validation script. We can access the message payload, we can access the message header. With test context access we can also save the whole message payload as a new test variable for later usage in the test.

In general Groovy code inside the XML test case definition or as part of the Java DSL code is not very comfortable to maintain. You do not have code syntax assist or code completion. This is why we can also use external file resources for the validation scripts. The syntax looks like follows:

XML DSL

<receive endpoint="helloServiceClient" timeout="5000">
    <message>
        <validate>
            <script type="groovy" file="classpath:validationScript.groovy"/>
        </validate>
    </message>
</receive>

Java DSL designer

@CitrusTest
public void receiveMessageTest() {
    receive("helloServiceClient")
        .validateScript(new FileSystemResource("validationScript.groovy"));
}

We referenced some external file resource validationScript.groovy. This file content is loaded at runtime and is used as script body. Now that we have a normal groovy file we can use the code completion and syntax highlighting of our favorite Groovy editor.

	Important
	Using several message validator implementations at the same time in the Spring application context is also no problem. Citrus automatically searches for all available message validators applicable for the given message format and executes these validators in sequence. So several message validators can coexist in a Citrus project.

When we have multiple message validators that apply to the message format Citrus will execute all of them in sequence. In case you need to explicitly choose a message validator implementation you can do so in the receive action:

<receive endpoint="httpMessageEndpoint">
    <message type="json" validator="groovyJsonMessageValidator">
        <validate>
            <script type="groovy">
                <![CDATA[
                  assert json.type == 'read'
                  assert json.mbean == 'java.lang:type=Memory'
                  assert json.attribute == 'HeapMemoryUsage'
                  assert json.value == '${heapUsage}'
                ]]>
            </script>
        </validate>
    </message>
</receive>

In this example we use the groovyJsonMessageValidator explicitly in the receive test action. The message validator implementation was added as Spring bean with id groovyJsonMessageValidator to the Spring application context before. Now Citrus will only execute the explicit message validator. Other implementations that might also apply are skipped.

Tip

By default Citrus will consolidate all available message validators for a message format in sequence. You can explicitly pick a special message validator in the receive message action as shown in the example above. In this case all other validators will not take part in this special message validation. But be careful: When picking a message validator explicitly you are of course limited to this message validator capabilities. Validation features of other validators are not valid in this case (e.g. message header validation, XPath validation, etc.)

So much for receiving JSON message data in Citrus. Of course sending JSON messages in Citrus is also very easy. Just use JSON message payloads in your sending message action.

<send endpoint="httpMessageEndpoint">
    <message>
        <data>
          {
            "type" : "read",
            "mbean" : "java.lang:type=Memory",
            "attribute" : "HeapMemoryUsage",
            "path" : "used"
          }
        </data>
    </message>
</send>

When Citrus receives plain Html messages we likely want to use the powerful XML validation capabilities such as XML tree comparison or XPath support. Unfortunately Html messages do not follow the XML well formed rules very strictly. This implies that XML message validation will fail because of non well formed Html code.

XHTML closes this gap by automatically fixing the most common Html XML incompatible rule violations such as missing end tags (e.g. <br>).

Let's try this with a simple example. Very first thing for us to do is to add a new library dependency to the project. Citrus is using the jtidy library in order to prepare the HTML and XHTML messages for validation. As this 3rd party dependency is optional in Citrus we have to add it now to our project dependency list. Just add the jtidy dependency to your Maven project POM.

<dependency>
    <groupId>net.sf.jtidy</groupId>
    <artifactId>jtidy</artifactId>
    <version>r938</version>
  </dependency>

Please refer to the jtidy project documentation for the latest versions. Now everything is ready. As usual the Citrus message validator for XHTML is active in background by default. You can overwrite this default implementation by placing a Spring bean with id defaultXhtmlMessageValidator to the Citrus application context.

<bean id="defaultXhtmlMessageValidator" class="com.consol.citrus.validation.xhtml.XhtmlMessageValidator"/>

Now we can tell the test case receiving action that we want to use the XHTML message validation in our test case.

<receive endpoint="httpMessageEndpoint">
    <message type="xhtml">
        <data>
          <![CDATA[
            <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" "org/w3c/xhtml/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
            <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
            <head>
              <title>Citrus Hello World</title>
            </head>
            <body>
              <h1>Hello World!</h1>
              <br/>
              <p>This is a test!</p>
            </body>
          ]]>
        </data>
    </message>
</receive>

The message receiving action in our test case has to specify a message format type type="xhtml". As you can see the Html message payload get XHTML specific DOCTYPE processing instruction. The xhtml1-strict.dtd is mandatory in the XHTML message validation. For better convenience all XHTML dtd files are packaged within Citrus so you can use this as a relative path.

The incoming Html message is automatically converted into proper XHTML code with well formed XML. So now the XHTML message validator can use the XML message validation mechanism of Citrus for comparing received and expected data. As usual you can use test variables, ignore element expressions and XPath expressions.

Plain text message validation is the easiest validation in Citrus that you can think of. This validation just performs an exact Java String match of received and expected message payloads.

As usual a default message validator for plaintext messages is active by default. Citrus will pick this message validator for all messages of type="plaintext". The default message validator implementation can be overwritten by placing a Spring bean with id defaultPlaintextMessageValidator to the Spring application context.

<bean id="defaultPlaintextMessageValidator" class="com.consol.citrus.validation.text.PlainTextMessageValidator"/>

In the test case receiving action we tell Citrus to use plain text message validation.

<receive endpoint="httpMessageEndpoint">
    <message type="plaintext">
        <data>Hello World!</data>
    </message>
</receive>

With the message format type type="plaintext" set Citrus performs String equals on the message payloads (received and expected). Only exact match will pass the test.

By the way sending plain text messages in Citrus is also very easy. Just use the plain text message payload data in your sending message action.

<send endpoint="httpMessageEndpoint">
    <message>
        <data>Hello World!</data>
    </message>
</send>

Of course test variables are supported in the plain text payloads. The variables are replace by the referenced values before sending or receiving the message.

The Java DSL offers some additional validation tricks and possibilities when dealing with messages that are sent and received over Citrus. One of them is the validation callback functionality. With this feature you can marshal/unmarshal message payloads and code validation steps on Java objects.

Java DSL designer

@CitrusTest
public void receiveMessageTest() {
    receive(bookResponseEndpoint)
        .validationCallback(new MarshallingValidationCallback<AddBookResponseMessage>() {
            @Override
            public void validate(AddBookResponseMessage response, MessageHeaders headers) {
                Assert.isTrue(response.isSuccess());
            }
        });
}

By default the validation callback needs some XML unmarshaller implementation for transforming the XML payload to a Java object. Citrus will automatically search for the unmarshaller bean in your Spring application context if nothing specific is set. Of course you can also set the unmarshaller instance explicitly.

Java DSL designer

@Autowired
private Unmarshaller unmarshaller;

@CitrusTest
public void receiveMessageTest() {
    receive(bookResponseEndpoint)
        .validationCallback(new MarshallingValidationCallback<AddBookResponseMessage>(unmarshaller) {
            @Override
            public void validate(AddBookResponseMessage response, MessageHeaders headers) {
                Assert.isTrue(response.isSuccess());
            }
        });
}

Obviously working on Java objects is much more comfortable than using the XML String concatenation. This is why you can also use this feature when sending messages.

Java DSL designer

@Autowired
private Marshaller marshaller;

@CitrusTest
public void sendMessageTest() {
    send(bookRequestEndpoint)
        .payload(createAddBookRequestMessage("978-citrus:randomNumber(10)"), marshaller)
        .header("citrus_soap_action", "addBook");
}

private AddBookRequestMessage createAddBookRequestMessage(String isbn) {
    AddBookRequestMessage requestMessage = new AddBookRequestMessage();
    Book book = new Book();
    book.setAuthor("Foo");
    book.setTitle("FooTitle");
    book.setIsbn(isbn);
    book.setYear(2008);
    book.setRegistrationDate(Calendar.getInstance());
    requestMessage.setBook(book);
    return requestMessage;
}

The example above creates a AddBookRequestMessage object and puts this as payload to a send action. In combination with a marshaller instance Citrus is able to create a proper XML message payload then.

In the previous sections we have already seen some examples on how to overwrite default message validator implementations in Citrus. By default all message validators can be overwritten by placing a Spring bean of the same id to the Spring application context. The default implementations of Citrus are:

Overwriting a single message validator with a custom implementation is then very easy. Just add your custom Spring bean to the application context using one of these default bean identifiers. In case you want to change the message validator gang by adding or removing a message validator implementation completely you can place a message validator component in the Spring application context.

<citrus:message-validators>
    <citrus:validator ref="defaultXmlMessageValidator"/>
    <citrus:validator ref="defaultXpathMessageValidator"/>
    <citrus:validator ref="defaultGroovyXmlMessageValidator"/>
    <citrus:validator class="com.consol.citrus.validation.custom.CustomMessageValidator"/>
    <citrus:validator ref="defaultJsonMessageValidator"/>
    <citrus:validator ref="defaultJsonPathMessageValidator"/>
    <citrus:validator ref="defaultGroovyJsonMessageValidator"/>
    <citrus:validator ref="defaultXhtmlMessageValidator"/>
</citrus:message-validators>

The listing above adds a custom message validator implementation to the sequence of message validators in Citrus. We reference default message validators and add a implementation of type com.consol.citrus.validation.custom.CustomMessageValidator. The custom implementation class has to implement the basic interface com.consol.citrus.validation.MessageValidator. Now Citrus will try to match the custom implementation to incoming message types and occasionally execute the message validator logic. This is how you can add and change the basic message validator registry in Citrus. You can add custom implementations for new message formats very easy.

The same approach applies in case you want to remove a message validator implementation by banning it completely. Just delete the entry in the message validator registry component:

<citrus:message-validators>
    <citrus:validator ref="defaultJsonMessageValidator"/>
    <citrus:validator ref="defaultJsonPathMessageValidator"/>
    <citrus:validator ref="defaultGroovyJsonMessageValidator"/>
</citrus:message-validators>

The Citrus message validator component deleted all default implementations except of those dealing with JSON message format. Now Citrus is only able to validate JSON messages. Be careful as the complete Citrus project will be affected by this change.

Some elements in XML message payloads might be of dynamic nature. Just think of generated identifiers or timestamps. Also we do not want to repeat the same static identifier several times in our test cases. This is the time where test variables and dynamic message element overwrite come in handy. The idea is simple. We want to overwrite a specific message element in our payload with a dynamic value. This can be done with XPath or inline variable declarations. Lets have a look at an example listing showing both ways:

XML DSL

<message>
  <payload>
    <TestMessage>
      <MessageId>${messageId}</MessageId>
      <CreatedBy>_</CreatedBy>
      <VersionId>${version}</VersionId>
    </TestMessage>
  </payload>
  <element path="/TestMessage/CreatedBy" value="${user}"/>
</message>

The program listing above shows ways of setting variable values inside a message template. First of all you can simply place variable expressions inside the message (see how ${messageId} is used). In addition to that you can also use XPath expressions to explicitly overwrite message elements before validation.

<element path="/TestMessage/CreatedBy" value="${user}"/>

The XPath expression evaluates and searches for the right element in the message payload. The previously defined variable ${user} replaces the element value. Of course this works with XML attributes too.

Both ways via XPath or inline variable expressions are equal to each other. With respect to the complexity of XML namespaces and XPath you may find the inline variable expression more comfortable to use. Anyway feel free to choose the way that fits best for you. This is how we can add dynamic variable values to the control template in order to increase maintainability and robustness of message validation.

	Tip
	Validation matchers put validation mechanisms to a new level offering dynamic assertion statements for validation. Have a look at the possibilities with assertion statements in Chapter 34, Validation matcher

We have already seen how to validate whole XML structures with control message templates. All elements are validated and compared one after another. In some cases this approach might be too extensive. Imagine the tester only needs to validate a small subset of message elements. The definition of control templates in combination with several ignore statements is not appropriate in this case. You would rather want to use explicit element validation.

XML DSL

<message>
  <validate>
    <xpath expression="/TestRequest/MessageId" value="${messageId}"/>
    <xpath expression="/TestRequest/VersionId" value="2"/>
  </validate>
</message>

Java DSL designer

@CitrusTest
public void receiveMessageTest() {
    receive("helloServiceServer")
        .validate("/TestRequest/MessageId", "${messageId}")
        .validate("//VersionId", "2")
        .header("Operation", "sayHello");
}

Instead of comparing the whole message some message elements are validated explicitly via XPath. Citrus evaluates the XPath expression on the received message and compares the result value to the control value. The basic message structure as well as all other message elements are not included into this explicit validation.

	Note
	If this type of element validation is chosen neither <payload> nor <data> nor <resource> template definitions are allowed in Citrus XML test cases.

Tip

Citrus offers an alternative dot-notated syntax in order to walk through XML trees. In case you are not familiar with XPath or simply need a very easy way to find your element inside the XML tree you might use this way. Every element hierarchy in the XML tree is represented with a simple dot - for example: TestRequest.VersionId The expression will search the XML tree for the respective <TestRequest><VersionId> element. Attributes are supported too. In case the last element in the dot-notated expression is a XML attribute the framework will automatically find it. Of course this dot-notated syntax is very simple and might not be applicable for more complex tree navigation. XPath is much more powerful - no doubt. However the dot-notated syntax might help those of you that are not familiar with XPath. So the dot-notation is supported wherever XPath expressions might apply.

The Xpath expressions can evaluate to different result types. By default Citrus is operating on NODE and STRING result types so that you can validate some element value. But you can also use different result types such as NODESET and BOOLEAN. See this example how that works:

XML DSL

<message>
  <validate>
    <xpath expression="/TestRequest/Error" value="false" result-type="boolean"/>
    <xpath expression="/TestRequest/Status[.='success']" value="3" result-type="number"/>
    <xpath expression="/TestRequest/OrderType" value="single,multi,multi" result-type="node-set"/>
  </validate>
</message>

Java DSL designer

@CitrusTest
public void receiveMessageTest() {
    receive("helloServiceServer")
        .validate("boolean:/TestRequest/Error", "false")
        .validate("number:/TestRequest/Status[.='success']", "3")
        .validate("node-set:/TestRequest/OrderType", "single,multi,multi")
        .header("Operation", "sayHello");
}

In the example above we use different expression result types. First we want to make sure nor /TestRequest/Error element is present. This can be done with a boolean result type and false value. Second we want to validate the number of found elements for the expression /TestRequest/Status[.='success']. The XPath expression evaluates to a node list that results in its list size to be checked. And last not least we evaluate to a node-set result type where all values in the node list will be translated to a comma delimited string value.

This is how you can add very powerful message element validation in XML using XPath expressions.

Imagine you receive a message in your test with some generated message identifier values. You have no chance to predict the identifier value because it was generated at runtime by a foreign application. You can ignore the value in order to protect your validation. But in many cases you might need to return this identifier in the respective response message or somewhat later on in the test. So we have to save the dynamic message content for reuse in later test steps. The solution is simple and very powerful. We can extract dynamic values from received messages and save those to test variables. Add this code to your message receiving action.

XML DSL

<extract>
  <header name="Operation" variable="operation"/>
  <message path="/TestRequest/VersionId" variable="versionId"/>
</extract>

Java DSL designer

@CitrusTest
public void receiveMessageTest() {
    receive("helloServiceServer")
        .extractFromHeader("Operation", "operation")
        .extractFromPayload("//TestRequest/VersionId", "versionId");

    echo("Extracted operation from header is: ${operation}");
    echo("Extracted version from payload is: ${versionId}");
}

As you can see Citrus is able to extract both header and message payload content into test variables. It does not matter if you use new test variables or existing variables as target. The extraction will automatically create a new variable in case it does not exist. The time the variable was created all following test actions can access the test variables as usual. So you can reference the variable values in response messages or other test steps ahead.

	Tip
	We can also use expression result types in order to manipulate the test variable outcome. In case we use a boolean result type the existence of elements can be saved to variable values. The result type node-set translates a node list result to a comma separated string of all values in this node list. Simply use the expression result type attributes as shown in previous sections.

When it comes to XML namespaces you have to be careful with your XPath expressions. Lets have a look at an example message that uses XML namespaces:

<ns1:TestMessage xmlns:ns1="http://citrus.com/namespace">
    <ns1:TestHeader>
        <ns1:CorrelationId>_</ns1:CorrelationId>
        <ns1:Timestamp>2001-12-17T09:30:47.0Z</ns1:Timestamp>
        <ns1:VersionId>2</ns1:VersionId>
    </ns1:TestHeader>
    <ns1:TestBody>
        <ns1:Customer>
            <ns1:Id>1</ns1:Id>
        </ns1:Customer>
    </ns1:TestBody>
</ns1:TestMessage>

Now we would like to validate some elements in this message using XPath

<message>
  <validate>
    <xpath expression="//TestMessage/TestHeader/VersionId" value="2"/>
    <xpath expression="//TestMessage/TestHeader/CorrelationId" value="${correlationId}"/>
  </validate>
</message>

The validation will fail although the XPath expression looks correct regarding the XML tree. Because the message uses the namespace xmlns:ns1="http://citrus.com/namespace" with its prefix ns1 our XPath expression is not able to find the elements. The correct XPath expression uses the namespace prefix as defined in the message.

<message>
  <validate>
    <xpath expression="//ns1:TestMessage/ns1:TestHeader/ns1:VersionId" value="2"/>
    <xpath expression="//ns1:TestMessage/ns1:TestHeader/ns1:CorrelationId" value="${correlationId}"/>
</message>

Now the expressions work fine and the validation is successful. But this is quite error prone. This is because the test is now depending on the namespace prefix that is used by some application. As soon as the message is sent with a different namespace prefix (e.g. ns2) the validation will fail again.

You can avoid this effect when specifying your own namespace context and your own namespace prefix during validation.

<message>
  <validate>
    <xpath expression="//pfx:TestMessage/pfx:TestHeader/pfx:VersionId" value="2"/>
    <xpath expression="//pfx:TestMessage/pfx:TestHeader/pfx:CorrelationId" value="${correlationId}"/>
    <namespace prefix="pfx" value="http://citrus.com/namespace"/>
  </validate>
</message>

Now the test in independent from any namespace prefix in the received message. The namespace context will resolve the namespaces and find the elements although the message might use different prefixes. The only thing that matters is that the namespace value (http://citrus.com/namespace) matches.

Tip

Instead of this namespace context on validation level you can also have a global namespace context which is valid in all test cases. We just add a bean in the basic Spring application context configuration which defines global namespace mappings. <namespace-context> <namespace prefix="def" uri="http://www.consol.de/samples/sayHello"/> </namespace-context> Once defined the def namespace prefix is valid in all test cases and all XPath expressions. This enables you to free your test cases from namespace prefix bindings that might be broken with time. You can use these global namespace mappings wherever XPath expressions are valid inside a test case (validation, ignore, extract).

In the previous section we have seen that XML namespaces can get tricky with XPath validation. Default namespaces can do even more! So lets look at the example with default namespaces:

<TestMessage xmlns="http://citrus.com/namespace">
    <TestHeader>
        <CorrelationId>_</CorrelationId>
        <Timestamp>2001-12-17T09:30:47.0Z</Timestamp>
        <VersionId>2</VersionId>
    </TestHeader>
    <TestBody>
        <Customer>
            <Id>1</Id>
        </Customer>
    </TestBody>
</TestMessage>

The message uses default namespaces. The following approach in XPath will fail due to namespace problems.

<message>
  <validate>
    <xpath expression="//TestMessage/TestHeader/VersionId" value="2"/>
    <xpath expression="//TestMessage/TestHeader/CorrelationId" value="${correlationId}"/>
  </validate>
</message>

Even default namespaces need to be specified in the XPath expressions. Look at the following code listing that works fine with default namespaces:

<message>
  <validate>
    <xpath expression="//:TestMessage/:TestHeader/:VersionId" value="2"/>
    <xpath expression="//:TestMessage/:TestHeader/:CorrelationId" value="${correlationId}"/>
  </validate>
</message>

	Tip
	It is recommended to use the namespace context as described in the previous chapter when validating. Only this approach ensures flexibility and stable test cases regarding namespace changes.

First thing we want to do with JSONPath is to manipulate a message content before it is actually sent out. This is very useful when working with message file resources that are reused accross multiple test cases. Each test case can manipulate the message content individually with JSONPath before sending. Lets have a look at this simple sample:

<message type="json">
  <resource file="file:path/to/user.json" />
  <element path="$.user.name" value="Admin" />
  <element path="$.user.admin" value="true" />
  <element path="$..status" value="closed" />
</message>

We use a basic message content file that is called user.json. The content of the file is following JSON data structure:

{ user:
  {
    "id": citrus:randomNumber(10)
    "name": "Unknown",
    "admin": "?",
    "projects":
      [{
        "name": "Project1",
        "status": "open"
      },
      {
        "name": "Project2",
        "status": "open"
      },
      {
        "name": "Project3",
        "status": "closed"
      }]
  }
}

Citrus loads the file content and used it as message payload. Before the message is sent out the JSONPath expressions have the chance to manipulate the message content. All JSONPath expressions are evaluated and the give values overwrite existing values accordingly. The resulting message looks like follows:

{ user:
  {
    "id": citrus:randomNumber(10)
    "name": "Admin",
    "admin": "true",
    "projects":
      [{
        "name": "Project1",
        "status": "closed"
      },
      {
        "name": "Project2",
        "status": "closed"
      },
      {
        "name": "Project3",
        "status": "closed"
      }]
  }
}

The JSONPath expressions have set the user name to Admin. The admin boolean property was set to true and all project status values were set to closed. Now the message is ready to be sent out. In case a JSONPath expression should fail to find a matching element within the message structure the test case will fail.

With this JSONPath mechanism ou are able to manipulate message content before it is sent or received within Citrus. This makes life very easy when using message resource files that are reused across multiple test cases.

Lets continue to use JSONPath expressions when validating a receive message in Citrus:

<message type="json">
  <validate>
    <json-path expression="$.user.name" value="Penny"/>
    <json-path expression="$['user']['name']" value="${userName}"/>
    <json-path expression="$.user.aliases" value="["penny","jenny","nanny"]"/>
    <json-path expression="$.user[?(@.admin)].password" value="@startsWith('$%00')@"/>
    <json-path expression="$.user.address[?(@.type='office')]"
        value="{"city":"Munich","street":"Company Street","type":"office"}"/>
  </validate>
</message>

The above JSONPath expressions will be evaluated when Citrus validates the received message. The expression result is compared to the expected value where expectations can be static values as well as test variables and validation matcher expressions. In case a JSONPath expression should not be able to find any elements the test case will also fail.

JSON is a pretty simple yet powerful message format. Simplified a JSON message just knows JSONObject, JSONArray and JSONValue items. The handling of JSONObject and JSONValue items in JSONPath expressions is straight forward. We just use a dot notated syntax for walking through the JSONObject hierarchy. The handling of JSONArray items is also not very difficult either. Citrus will try the best to convert JSONArray items to String representation values for comparison.

	Important
	JSONPath expressions will only work on JSON message formats. This is why we have to tell Citrus the correct message format. By default Citrus is working with XML message data and therefore the XML validation mechanisms do apply by default. With the message type attribute set to json we make sure that Citrus enables JSON specific features on the message validation such as JSONPath support.

Citrus is able to save message content to test variables at test runtime. When an incoming message is passing the message validation the user can extract some values of that received message to new test variables for later use in the test. This is especially handsome when having to send back some dynamic values. So lets save some values using JSONPath:

<message type="json">
  <data>
    { user:
      {
        "name": "Admin",
        "password": "secret",
        "admin": "true",
        "aliases": ["penny","chef","master"]
      }
    }
  </data>
  <extract>
    <message path="$.user.name" variable="userName"/>
    <message path="$.user.aliases" variable="userAliases"/>
    <message path="$.user[?(@.admin)].password" variable="adminPassword"/>
  </extract>
</message>

With this example we have extracted three new test variables via JSONPath expression evaluation. The three test variables will be available to all upcoming test actions. The variable values are:

userName=Admin
userAliases=["penny","chef","master"]
adminPassword=secret

As you can see we can also extract complex JSONObject items or JSONArray items. The test variable value is a String representation of the complex object.

The next usage scenario for JSONPath expressions in Citrus is the ignoring of elements during message validation. As you already know Citrus provides powerful validation mechanisms for XML and JSON message format. The framework is able to compare received and expected message contents with powerful validator implementations. Now it this time we want to use a JSONPath expression for ignoring a very specific entry in the JSON object structure.

<message type="json">
  <data>
  {
      "users":
      [{
        "name": "Jane",
        "token": "?",
        "lastLogin": 0
      },
      {
        "name": "Penny",
        "token": "?",
        "lastLogin": 0
      },
      {
        "name": "Mary",
        "token": "?",
        "lastLogin": 0
      }]
  }
  </data>
  <ignore expression="$.users[*].token" />
  <ignore expression="$..lastLogin" />
</message>

This time we add JSONPath expressions as ignore statements. This means that we explicitly leave out the evaluated elements from validation. Obviously this mechanism is a good thing to do when dynamic message data simply is not deterministic such as timestamps and dynamic identifiers. In the example above we explicitly skip the token entry and all lastLogin values that are obviously timestamp values in milliseconds.

The JSONPath evaluation is very powerful when it comes to select a set of JSON objects and elements. This is how we can ignore several elements with one single JSONPath expression which is very powerful.

In a integration test scenario we want to trigger processes and call interface services on the system under test. In order to do this we need to be able to send messages to various message transports. Therefore the send message test action in Citrus is one of the most important test actions. First of all let us have a look at the Citrus message definition in Citrus:

A message consists of a message header (name-value pairs) and a message payload. Later in this section we will see different ways of constructing a message with payload and header values. But first of all let's concentrate on a simple sending message action inside a test case.

XML DSL

<testcase name="SendMessageTest">
    <description>Basic send message example</description>

    <variables>
        <variable name="text" value="Hello Citrus!"/>
        <variable name="messageId" value="Mx1x123456789"/>
    </variables>

    <actions>
        <send endpoint="helloServiceEndpoint">
            <message>
                <payload>
                    <TestMessage>
                        <Text>${text}</Text>
                    </TestMessage>
                </payload>
            </message>
            <header>
                <element name="Operation" value="sayHello"/>
                <element name="MessageId" value="${messageId}"/>
            </header>
        </send>
    </actions>
</testcase>

The sample uses both header and payload as message parts to send. In both parts you can use variable definitions (see ${text} and ${messageId}). So first of all let us recap what variables do. Test variables are defined at the very beginning of the test case and are valid throughout all actions that take place in the test. This means that actions can simply reference a variable by the expression ${variable-name}.

	Tip
	Use variables wherever you can! At least the important entities of a test should be defined as variables at the beginning. The test case improves maintainability and flexibility when using variables.

Now lets have a closer look at the sending action. The 'endpoint' attribute might catch your attention first. This attribute references a message endpoint in Citrus configuration by name. As previously mentioned the message endpoint definition lives in a separate configuration file and contains the actual message transport settings. In this example the "helloServiceEndpoint" is referenced which is a message endpoint for sending out messages via JMS or HTTP for instance.

The test case is not aware of any transport details, because it does not have to. The advantages are obvious: On the one hand multiple test cases can reference the message endpoint definition for better reuse. Secondly test cases are independent of message transport details. So connection factories, user credentials, endpoint uri values and so on are not present in the test case.

In other words the "endpoint" attribute of the <send> element specifies which message endpoint definition to use and therefore where the message should go to. Once again all available message endpoints are configured in a separate Citrus configuration file. We will come to this later on. Be sure to always pick the right message endpoint type in order to publish your message to the right destination.

If you do not like the XML language you can also use pure Java code to define the same test. In Java you would also make use of the message endpoint definition and reference this instance. The same test as shown above in Java DSL looks like this:

Java DSL designer

import org.testng.ITestContext;
import org.testng.annotations.Test;
import com.consol.citrus.annotations.CitrusTest;
import com.consol.citrus.dsl.testng.TestNGCitrusTestDesigner;

@Test
public class SendMessageTestDesigner extends TestNGCitrusTestDesigner {

    @CitrusTest(name = "SendMessageTest")
    public void sendMessageTest() {
        description("Basic send message example");

        variable("text", "Hello Citrus!");
        variable("messageId", "Mx1x123456789");

        send("helloServiceEndpoint")
                .payload("<TestMessage>" +
                    "<Text>${text}</Text>" +
                    "</TestMessage>")
                .header("Operation", "sayHello")
                .header("RequestTag", "${messageId}");
    }
}

Java DSL runner

import org.testng.ITestContext;
import org.testng.annotations.Test;
import com.consol.citrus.annotations.CitrusTest;
import com.consol.citrus.dsl.testng.TestNGCitrusTestRunner;

@Test
public class SendMessageTestRunner extends TestNGCitrusTestRunner {

    @CitrusTest(name = "SendMessageTest")
    public void sendMessageTest() {
        variable("text", "Hello Citrus!");
        variable("messageId", "Mx1x123456789");

        send(action -> action.endpoint("helloServiceEndpoint")
                .payload("<TestMessage>" +
                        "<Text>${text}</Text>" +
                    "</TestMessage>")
                .header("Operation", "sayHello")
                .header("RequestTag", "${messageId}"));
    }
}

Instead of using the XML tags for send we use methods from TestNGCitrusTestDesigner class. The same message endpoint is referenced within the send message action.

Now that the message sender pattern is clear we can concentrate on how to specify the message content to be sent. There are several possibilities for you to define message content in Citrus:

XML DSL

<send endpoint="helloServiceEndpoint">
    <message>
        <payload>
            <!-- message payload as XML -->
        </payload>
    </message>
</send>

<send endpoint="helloServiceEndpoint">
    <message>
        <data>
            <![CDATA[
                <!-- message payload as XML -->
            ]]>
        </data>
    </message>
</send>

<send endpoint="helloServiceEndpoint">
    <message>
        <resource file="classpath:com/consol/citrus/messages/TestRequest.xml" />
    </message>
</send>

The most important thing when dealing with sending actions is to prepare the message payload and header. You are able to construct the message payload either by nested XML child nodes (payload), as inline CDATA (<data>) or external file (<resource>).

Note

Sometimes the nested XML message payload elements may cause XSD schema validation rule violations. This is because of variable values not fitting the XSD schema rules for example. In this scenario you could also use simple CDATA sections as payload data. In this case you need to use the <data> element in contrast to the <payload> element that we have used in our examples so far. With this alternative you can skip the XML schema validation from your IDE at design time. Unfortunately you will loose the XSD auto completion features many XML editors offer when constructing your payload.

The The same possibilities apply to the Citrus Java DSL.

Java DSL designer

@CitrusTest
public void messagingTest() {
    send("helloServiceEndpoint")
        .payload("<TestMessage>" +
                "<Text>Hello!</Text>" +
            "</TestMessage>");
}

@CitrusTest
public void messagingTest() {
    send("helloServiceEndpoint")
        .payload(new ClassPathResource("com/consol/citrus/messages/TestRequest.xml"));
}

@CitrusTest
public void messagingTest() {
    send("helloServiceEndpoint")
        .payloadModel(new TestRequest("Hello Citrus!"));
}

@CitrusTest
public void messagingTest() {
    send("helloServiceEndpoint")
        .message(new DefaultMessage("<TestRequest><Message>Hello World!</Message></TestRequest>")));
}

Besides defining message payloads as normal Strings and via external file resource (classpath and file system) you can also use model objects as payload data in Java DSL. This model object payload requires a proper message marshaller that should be available as Spring bean inside the application context. By default Citrus is searching for a bean of type org.springframework.oxm.Marshaller.

In case you have multiple message marshallers in the application context you have to tell Citrus which one to use in this particular send message action.

@CitrusTest
public void messagingTest() {
    send("helloServiceEndpoint")
        .payloadModel(new TestRequest("Hello Citrus!"), "myMessageMarshallerBean");
}

Now Citrus will marshal the message payload with the message marshaller bean named myMessageMarshallerBean. This way you can have multiple message marshaller implementations active in your project (XML, JSON, and so on).

Last not least the message can be defined as Citrus message object. Here you can choose one of the different message implementations used in Citrus for SOAP, Http or JMS messages. Or you just use the default message implementation or maybe a custom implementation.

Before sending takes place you can explicitly overwrite some message values in payload. You can think of overwriting specific message elements with variable values. Also you can overwrite values using XPath(Chapter 10, Using XPath) or JSONPath (Chapter 11, Using JSONPath) expressions.

The message header is part of our duty of defining proper messages, too. So Citrus uses name-value pairs like "Operation" and "MessageId" in the next example to set message header entries. Depending on what message endpoint is used and which message transport underneath the header values will be shipped in different ways. In JMS the headers go to the header section of the message, in Http we set mime headers accordingly, in SOAP we can access the SOAP header elements and so on. Citrus aims to do the hard work for you. So Citrus knows how to set headers on different message transports.

XML DSL

<send endpoint="helloServiceEndpoint">
    <message>
        <payload>
            <TestMessage>
                <Text>Hello!</Text>
            </TestMessage>
        </payload>
    </message>
    <header>
        <element name="Operation" value="sayHello"/>
    </header>
</receive>

The message headers to send are defined by a simple name and value pair. Of course you can use test variables in header values as well. Let's see how this looks like in Java DSL:

Java DSL designer

@CitrusTest
public void messagingTest() {
    receive("helloServiceEndpoint")
        .payload("<TestMessage>" +
                "<Text>Hello!</Text>" +
            "</TestMessage>")
        .header("Operation", "sayHello");
}

Java DSL runner

@CitrusTest
public void messagingTest() {
    receive(action -> action.endpoint("helloServiceEndpoint")
        .payload("<TestMessage>" +
                "<Text>Hello!</Text>" +
            "</TestMessage>")
        .header("Operation", "sayHello"));
}

This is basically how to send messages in Citrus. The test case is responsible for constructing the message content while the predefined message endpoint holds transport specific settings. Test cases reference endpoint components to publish messages to the outside world. The variable support in message payload and message header enables you to add dynamic values before sending out the message.

Just like sending messages the receiving part is a very important action in an integration test. Honestly the receive action is even more important in Citrus as we also want to validate the incoming message contents. We are writing a test so we also need assertions and checks that everything works as expected.

As already mentioned before a message consists of a message header (name-value pairs) and a message payload. Later in this document we will see how to validate incoming messages with payload and header values. We start with a very simple example:

XML DSL

<receive endpoint="helloServiceEndpoint">
    <message>
        <payload>
            <TestMessage>
                <Text>${text}</Text>
            </TestMessage>
        </payload>
    </message>
    <header>
        <element name="Operation" value="sayHello"/>
        <element name="MessageId" value="${messageId}"/>
    </header>
</receive>

Overall the receive message action looks quite similar to the send message action. Concepts are identical as we define the message content with payload and header values. We can use test variables in both message payload an headers. Now let us have a look at the Java DSL representation of this simple example:

Java DSL designer

@CitrusTest
public void messagingTest() {
    receive("helloServiceEndpoint")
        .payload("<TestMessage>" +
                    "<Text>${text}</Text>" +
                "</TestMessage>")
        .header("Operation", "sayHello")
        .header("MessageId", "${messageId}");
}

Java DSL runner

@CitrusTest
public void messagingTest() {
    receive(action -> action.endpoint("helloServiceEndpoint")
                .payload("<TestMessage>" +
                      "<Text>${text}</Text>" +
                    "</TestMessage>")
                .header("Operation", "sayHello")
                .header("MessageId", "${messageId}"));
}

The receive action waits for a message to arrive. The whole test execution is stopped while waiting for the message. This is important to ensure the step by step test workflow processing. Of course you can specify message timeouts so the receiver will only wait a given amount of time before raising a timeout error. Following from that timeout exception the test case fails as the message did not arrive in time. Citrus defines default timeout settings for all message receiving tasks.

In a good case scenario the message arrives in time and the content can be validated as a next step. This validation can be done in various ways. On the one hand you can specify a whole XML message that you expect as control template. In this case the received message structure is compared to the expected message content element by element. On the other hand you can use explicit element validation where only a small subset of message elements is included into validation.

Besides the message payload Citrus will also perform validation on the received message header values. Test variable usage is supported as usual during the whole validation process for payload and header checks.

In general the validation component (validator) in Citrus works hand in hand with a message receiving component as the following figure shows:

The message receiving component passes the message to the validator where the individual validation steps are performed. Let us have a closer look at the validation options and features step by step.

12.2.1. Validate message payloads

The most detailed validation of incoming messages is to define some expected message payload. The Citrus message validator will then perform a detailed message payload comparison. The incoming message has to match exactly to the expected message payload. The different message validator implementations in Citrus provide deep comparison of message structures such as XML, JSON and so on.

So by defining an expected message payload we validate the incoming message in syntax and semantics. In case a difference is identified by the message validator the validation and the test case fails with respective exceptions. This is how you can define message payloads in receive action:

XML DSL

<receive endpoint="helloServiceEndpoint">
<message>
  <payload>
    <!-- message payload as XML -->
  </payload>
</message>
</receive>

<receive endpoint="helloServiceEndpoint">
<message>
  <data>
      <![CDATA[
        <!-- message payload as XML -->
      ]]>
  </data>
</message>
</receive>

<receive endpoint="helloServiceEndpoint">
<message>
  <resource file="classpath:com/consol/citrus/messages/TestRequest.xml" />
</message>
</receive>

The three examples above represent three different ways of defining the message payload in a receive message action. On the one hand we can use inline message payloads as nested XML or CDATA sections in the test. On the other hand we can load the message content from external file resource.

Note

Sometimes the nested XML message payload elements may cause XSD schema validation rule violations. This is because of variable values not fitting the XSD schema rules for example. In this scenario you could also use simple CDATA sections as payload data. In this case you need to use the <data> element in contrast to the <payload> element that we have used in our examples so far. With this alternative you can skip the XML schema validation from your IDE at design time. Unfortunately you will loose the XSD auto completion features many XML editors offer when constructing your payload.

In Java DSL we also have multiple options for specifying the message payloads:

Java DSL designer

@CitrusTest
public void messagingTest() {
    receive("helloServiceEndpoint")
        .payload("<TestMessage>" +
                    "<Text>Hello!</Text>" +
                "</TestMessage>");
}

@CitrusTest
public void messagingTest() {
    receive("helloServiceEndpoint")
        .payload(new ClassPathResource("com/consol/citrus/messages/TestRequest.xml"));
}

@CitrusTest
public void messagingTest() {
    receive("helloServiceEndpoint")
        .payloadModel(new TestRequest("Hello Citrus!"));
}

@CitrusTest
public void messagingTest() {
    receive("helloServiceEndpoint")
        .message(new DefaultMessage("<TestRequest><Message>Hello World!</Message></TestRequest>")));
}

The examples above represent the basic variations of how to define message payloads in Citrus Java DSL. The payload can be a simple String or a Spring file resource (classpath or file system). In addition to that we can use a model object. When using model objects as payloads we need a proper message marshaller implementation in the Spring application context. By default this is a marshaller bean of type org.springframework.oxm.Marshaller that has to be present in the Spring application context. You can add such a bean for XML and JSON message marshalling for instance.

In case you have multiple message marshallers in the application context you have to tell Citrus which one to use in this particular send message action.

@CitrusTest
public void messagingTest() {
    receive("helloServiceEndpoint")
        .payloadModel(new TestRequest("Hello Citrus!"), "myMessageMarshallerBean");
}

Now Citrus will marshal the message payload with the message marshaller bean named myMessageMarshallerBean. This way you can have multiple message marshaller implementations active in your project (XML, JSON, and so on).

Last not least the message can be defined as Citrus message object. Here you can choose one of the different message implementations used in Citrus for SOAP, Http or JMS messages. Or you just use the default message implementation or maybe a custom implementation.

In general the expected message content can be manipulated using XPath (Chapter 10, Using XPath) or JSONPath (Chapter 11, Using JSONPath). In addition to that you can ignore some elements that are skipped in comparison. We will describe this later on in this section. Now lets continue with message header validation.

<receive endpoint="helloServiceEndpoint">
    <message>
        <payload>
        <TestMessage>
            <Text>Hello!</Text>
        </TestMessage>
        </payload>
    </message>
    <header>
        <element name="Operation" value="sayHello"/>
    </header>
</receive>

@CitrusTest
public void messagingTest() {
    receive("helloServiceEndpoint")
        .payload("<TestMessage>" +
                "<Text>Hello!</Text>" +
            "</TestMessage>")
        .header("Operation", "sayHello");
}

@CitrusTest
public void messagingTest() {
    receive(action -> action.endpoint("helloServiceEndpoint")
                .payload("<TestMessage>" +
                      "<Text>Hello!</Text>" +
                    "</TestMessage>")
                .header("Operation", "sayHello"));
}

12.2.3. Message selectors

The <selector> element inside the receiving action defines key-value pairs in order to filter the messages being received. The filter applies to the message headers. This means that a receiver will only accept messages matching a header element value. In messaging applications the header information often holds message ids, correlation ids, operation names and so on. With this information given you can explicitly listen for messages that belong to your test case. This is very helpful to avoid receiving messages that are still available on the message destination.

Lets say the tested software application keeps sending messages that belong to previous test cases. This could happen in retry situations where the application error handling automatically tries to solve a communication problem that occurred during previous test cases. As a result a message destination (e.g. a JMS message queue) contains messages that are not valid any more for the currently running test case. The test case might fail because the received message does not apply to the actual use case. So we will definitely run into validation errors as the expected message control values do not match.

Now we have to find a way to avoid these problems. The test could filter the messages on a destination to only receive messages that apply for the use case that is being tested. The Java Messaging System (JMS) came up with a message header selector that will only accept messages that fit the expected header values.

Let us have a closer look at a message selector inside a receiving action:

XML DSL

<selector>
    <element> name="correlationId" value="Cx1x123456789"</element>
    <element> name="operation" value="getOrders"</element>
</selector>

Java DSL designer

@CitrusTest
public void receiveMessageTest() {
    receive("testServiceEndpoint")
        .selector("correlationId='Cx1x123456789' AND operation='getOrders'");
}

Java DSL runner

@CitrusTest
public void receiveMessageTest() {
    receive(action -> action.endpoint("testServiceEndpoint")
                .selector("correlationId='Cx1x123456789' AND operation='getOrders'"));
}

This example shows how message selectors work. The selector will only accept messages that meet the correlation id and the operation in the header values. All other messages on the message destination are ignored. The selector elements are automatically associated to each other using the logical AND operator. This means that the message selector string would look like this: correlationId = 'Cx1x123456789' AND operation = 'getOrders'.

Instead of using several elements in the selector you can also define a selector string directly which gives you more power in constructing the selection logic yourself. This way you can use AND logical operators yourself.

<selector>
    <value>
        correlationId = 'Cx1x123456789' AND operation = 'getOrders'
    </value>
</selector>

	Important
	In case you want to run tests in parallel message selectors become essential in your test cases. The different tests running at the same time will steal messages from each other when you lack of message selection mechanisms.

	Important
	Previously only JMS message destinations offered support for message selectors! With Citrus version 1.2 we introduced message selector support for Spring Integration message channels, too (see Section 21.3, “Message selectors on channels”).

<send endpoint="helloServiceEndpoint">
<message>
    <builder type="groovy">
        markupBuilder.TestMessage {
                MessageId('${messageId}')
                Timestamp('?')
                VersionId('2')
                Text('Hello Citrus!')
            }
        }
    </builder>
    <element path="/TestMessage/Timestamp"
                value="${createDate}"/>
    </message>
    <header>
        <element name="Operation" value="sayHello"/>
        <element name="MessageId" value="${messageId}"/>
    </header>
</send>

<send endpoint="helloServiceEndpoint">
    <message>
        <builder type="groovy" file="classpath:com/consol/citrus/groovy/helloRequest.groovy"/>
    </message>
</send>

<receive endpoint="helloServiceEndpoint" timeout="5000">
    <message>
        <builder type="groovy">
            markupBuilder.TestResponse(xmlns: 'http://www.consol.de/schemas/samples/sayHello.xsd'){
                MessageId('${messageId}')
                CorrelationId('${correlationId}')
                User('HelloService')
                Text('Hello ${user}')
            }
        </builder>
    </message>
</receive>

In many cases it is necessary to access the database during a test. This enables a tester to also validate the persistent data in a database. It might also be helpful to prepare the database with some test data before running a test. You can do this using the two database actions that are described in the following sections.

12.3.1. SQL update, insert, delete

The <sql> action simply executes a group of SQL statements in order to change data in a database. Typically the action is used to prepare the database at the beginning of a test or to clean up the database at the end of a test. You can specify SQL statements like INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, CREATE TABLE, ALTER TABLE and many more.

On the one hand you can specify the statements as inline SQL or stored in an external SQL resource file as shown in the next two examples.

XML DSL

<actions>
    <sql datasource="someDataSource">
        <statement>DELETE FROM CUSTOMERS</statement>
        <statement>DELETE FROM ORDERS</statement>
    </sql>
    
    <sql datasource="myDataSource">
        <resource file="file:tests/unit/resources/script.sql"/>
    </sql>
</actions>

Java DSL designer

@Autowired
@Qualifier("myDataSource")
private DataSource dataSource;

@CitrusTest
public void sqlTest() {
    sql(dataSource)
        .statement("DELETE FROM CUSTOMERS")
        .statement("DELETE FROM ORDERS");
            
    sql(dataSource)
        .sqlResource("file:tests/unit/resources/script.sql");
}

Java DSL runner

@Autowired
@Qualifier("myDataSource")
private DataSource dataSource;

@CitrusTest
public void sqlTest() {
    sql(action -> action.dataSource(dataSource)
        .statement("DELETE FROM CUSTOMERS")
        .statement("DELETE FROM ORDERS"));

    sql(action -> action.dataSource(dataSource)
        .sqlResource("file:tests/unit/resources/script.sql"));
}

The first action uses inline SQL statements defined directly inside the test case. The next action uses an external SQL resource file instead. The file resource can hold several SQL statements separated by new lines. All statements inside the file are executed sequentially by the framework.

	Important
	You have to pay attention to some rules when dealing with external SQL resources. Each statement should begin in a new line It is not allowed to define statements with word wrapping Comments begin with two dashes "--"

	Note
	The external file is referenced either as file system resource or class path resource, by using the "file:" or "classpath:" prefix.

Both examples use the "datasource" attribute. This value defines the database data source to be used. The connection to a data source is mandatory, because the test case does not know about user credentials or database names. The 'datasource' attribute references predefined data sources that are located in a separate Spring configuration file.

12.3.2. SQL query

The <sql> query action is specially designed to execute SQL queries (SELECT * FROM). So the test is able to read data from a database. The query results are validated against expected data as shown in the next example.

XML DSL

<sql datasource="testDataSource">
    <statement>select NAME from CUSTOMERS where ID='${customerId}'</statement>
    <statement>select count(*) from ERRORS</statement>
    <statement>select ID from ORDERS where DESC LIKE 'Def%'</statement>
    <statement>select DESCRIPTION from ORDERS where ID='${id}'</statement>
    
    <validate column="ID" value="1"/>
    <validate column="NAME" value="Christoph"/>
    <validate column="COUNT(*)" value="${rowsCount}"/>
    <validate column="DESCRIPTION" value="null"/>
</sql>

Java DSL designer

@Autowired
@Qualifier("testDataSource")
private DataSource dataSource;

@CitrusTest
public void databaseQueryTest() {
    query(dataSource)
          .statement("select NAME from CUSTOMERS where CUSTOMER_ID='${customerId}'")
          .statement("select COUNT(1) as overall_cnt from ERRORS")
          .statement("select ORDER_ID from ORDERS where DESCRIPTION LIKE 'Migrate%'")
          .statement("select DESCRIPTION from ORDERS where ORDER_ID = 2")
          .validate("ORDER_ID", "1")
          .validate("NAME", "Christoph")
          .validate("OVERALL_CNT", "${rowsCount}")
          .validate("DESCRIPTION", "NULL");
}

Java DSL runner

@Autowired
@Qualifier("testDataSource")
private DataSource dataSource;

@CitrusTest
public void databaseQueryTest() {
    query(action -> action.dataSource(dataSource)
            .statement("select NAME from CUSTOMERS where CUSTOMER_ID='${customerId}'")
            .statement("select COUNT(1) as overall_cnt from ERRORS")
            .statement("select ORDER_ID from ORDERS where DESCRIPTION LIKE 'Migrate%'")
            .statement("select DESCRIPTION from ORDERS where ORDER_ID = 2")
            .validate("ORDER_ID", "1")
            .validate("NAME", "Christoph")
            .validate("OVERALL_CNT", "${rowsCount}")
            .validate("DESCRIPTION", "NULL"));
}

The action offers a wide range of validating functionality for database result sets. First of all you have to select the data via SQL statements. Here again you have the choice to use inline SQL statements or external file resource pattern.

The result sets are validated through <validate> elements. It is possible to do a detailed check on every selected column of the result set. Simply refer to the selected column name in order to validate its value. The usage of test variables is supported as well as database expressions like count(), avg(), min(), max().

You simply define the <validate> entry with the column name as the "column" attribute and any expected value expression as expected "value". The framework then will check the column to fit the expected value and raise validation errors in case of mismatch.

Looking at the first SELECT statement in the example you will see that test variables are supported in the SQL statements. The framework will replace the variable with its respective value before sending it to the database.

In the validation section variables can be used too. Look at the third validation entry, where the variable "${rowsCount}" is used. The last validation in this example shows, that NULL values are also supported as expected values.

If a single validation happens to fail, the whole action will fail with respective validation errors.

Important

The validation with "<validate column="..." value="..."/>" meets single row result sets as you specify a single column control value. In case you have multiple rows in a result set you rather need to validate the columns with multiple control values like this: <validate column="someColumnName"> <values> <value>Value in 1st row</value> <value>Value in 2nd row</value> <value>Value in 3rd row</value> <value>Value in x row</value> </values> </validate> Within Java you can pass a variable argument list to the validate method like this: query(dataSource) .statement("select NAME from WEEKDAYS where NAME LIKE 'S%'") .validate("NAME", "Saturday", "Sunday")

Next example shows how to work with multiple row result sets and multiple values to expect within one column:

  <sql datasource="testDataSource">
      <statement>select WEEKDAY as DAY, DESCRIPTION from WEEK</statement>
      <validate column="DAY">
          <values>
              <value>Monday</value>
              <value>Tuesday</value>
              <value>Wednesday</value>
              <value>Thursday</value>
              <value>Friday</value>
              <value>@ignore@</value>
              <value>@ignore@</value>
          </values>            	
      </validate>
      <validate column="DESCRIPTION">
          <values>
              <value>I hate Mondays!</value>
              <value>Tuesday is sports day</value>
              <value>The mid of the week</value>
              <value>Thursday we play chess</value>
              <value>Friday, the weekend is near!</value>
              <value>@ignore@</value>
              <value>@ignore@</value>
          </values>            	
      </validate>
  </sql>
      

For the validation of multiple rows the <validate> element is able to host a list of control values for a column. As you can see from the example above, you have to add a control value for each row in the result set. This also means that we have to take care of the total number of rows. Fortunately we can use the ignore placeholder, in order to skip the validation of a specific row in the result set. Functions and variables are supported as usual.

	Important
	It is important, that the control values are defined in the correct order, because they are compared one on one with the actual result set coming from database query. You may need to add "order by" SQL expressions to get the right order of rows returned. If any of the values fails in validation or the total number of rows is not equal, the whole action will fail with respective validation errors.

12.3.3. Groovy SQL result set validation

Groovy provides great support for accessing Java list objects and maps. As a Java SQL result set is nothing but a list of map representations, where each entry in the list defines a row in the result set and each map entry represents the columns and values. So with Groovy's list and map access we have great possibilities to validate a SQL result set - out of the box.

XML DSL

<sql datasource="testDataSource">
    <statement>select ID from CUSTOMERS where NAME='${customerName}'</statement>
    <statement>select ORDERTYPE, STATUS from ORDERS where ID='${orderId}'</statement>
    
    <validate-script type="groovy">
        assert rows.size() == 2
        assert rows[0].ID == '1'
        assert rows[1].STATUS == 'in progress'
        assert rows[1] == [ORDERTYPE:'SampleOrder', STATUS:'in progress']               
    </validate-script>
</sql>

Java DSL designer

query(dataSource)
    .statement("select ORDERTYPE, STATUS from ORDERS where ID='${orderId}'")
    .validateScript("assert rows.size == 2;" +
            "assert rows[0].ID == '1';" +
            "assert rows[0].STATUS == 'in progress';", "groovy");

Java DSL runner

query(action -> action.dataSource(dataSource)
    .statement("select ORDERTYPE, STATUS from ORDERS where ID='${orderId}'")
    .validateScript("assert rows.size == 2;" +
            "assert rows[0].ID == '1';" +
            "assert rows[0].STATUS == 'in progress';", "groovy"));

As you can see Groovy provides fantastic access methods to the SQL result set. We can browse the result set with named column values and check the size of the result set. We are also able to search for an entry, iterate over the result set and have other helpful operations. For a detailed description of the list and map handling in Groovy my advice for you is to have a look at the official Groovy documentation.

	Note
	In general other script languages do also support this kind of list and map access. For now we just have implemented the Groovy script support, but the framework is ready to work with all other great script languages out there, too (e.g. Scala, Clojure, Fantom, etc.). So if you prefer to work with another language join and help us implement those features.

<sql datasource="testDataSource">
    <statement>select ID from CUSTOMERS where NAME='${customerName}'</statement>
    <statement>select STATUS from ORDERS where ID='${orderId}'</statement>
    
    <extract column="ID" variable="${customerId}"/>
    <extract column="STATUS" variable="${orderStatus}"/>
</sql>

query(dataSource)
    .statement("select STATUS from ORDERS where ID='${orderId}'")
    .extract("STATUS", "orderStatus");

query(action -> action.dataSource(dataSource)
    .statement("select STATUS from ORDERS where ID='${orderId}'")
    .extract("STATUS", "orderStatus"));

This action shows how to make the test framework sleep for a given amount of time. The attribute 'time' defines the amount of time to wait in seconds. As shown in the next example decimal values are supported too. When no waiting time is specified the default time of 50000 milliseconds applies.

XML DSL

<testcase name="sleepTest">
    <actions>
        <sleep seconds="3.5"/>

        <sleep milliseconds="500"/>

        <sleep/>
    </actions>
</testcase>

Java DSL designer and runner

@CitrusTest
public void sleepTest() {
    sleep(500); // sleep 500 milliseconds

    sleep(); // sleep default time
}

When should somebody use this action? To us this action was always very useful in case the test needed to wait until an application had done some work. For example in some cases the application took some time to write some data into the database. We waited then a small amount of time in order to avoid unnecessary test failures, because the test framework simply validated the database too early. Or as another example the test may wait a given time until retry mechanisms are triggered in the tested application and then proceed with the test actions.

The test framework is written in Java and runs inside a Java virtual machine. The functionality of calling other Java objects and methods in this same Java VM through Java Reflection is self-evident. With this action you can call any Java API available at runtime through the specified Java classpath.

The action syntax looks like follows:

<java class="com.consol.citrus.test.util.InvocationDummy">
    <constructor>
        <argument type="">Test Invocation</argument>
    </constructor>
    <method name="invoke">
        <argument type="String[]">1,2</argument>
    </method>
</java>

<java class="com.consol.citrus.test.util.InvocationDummy">
    <constructor>
        <argument type="">Test Invocation</argument>
    </constructor>
    <method name="invoke">
        <argument type="int">4</argument>
        <argument type="String">Test Invocation</argument>
        <argument type="boolean">true</argument>
    </method>
</java>
    
<java class="com.consol.citrus.test.util.InvocationDummy">
    <method name="main">
        <argument type="String[]">4,Test,true </argument>
    </method>
</java>

The Java class is specified by fully qualified class name. Constructor arguments are added using the <constructor> element with a list of <argument> child elements. The type of the argument is defined within the respective attribute "type". By default the type would be String.

The invoked method on the Java object is simply referenced by its name. Method arguments do not bring anything new after knowing the constructor argument definition, do they?.

Method arguments support data type conversion too, even string arrays (useful when calling CLIs). In the third action in the example code you can see that colon separated strings are automatically converted to string arrays.

Simple data types are defined by their name (int, boolean, float etc.). Be sure that the invoked method and class constructor fit your arguments and vice versa, otherwise you will cause errors at runtime.

Besides instantiating a fully new object instance for a class how about reusing a bean instance available in Spring bean container. Simply use the ref attribute and refer to an existing bean in Spring application context.

<java ref="invocationDummy">
    <method name="invoke">
        <argument type="int">4</argument>
        <argument type="String">Test Invocation</argument>
        <argument type="boolean">true</argument>
    </method>
</java>

<bean id="invocationDummy" class="com.consol.citrus.test.util.InvocationDummy"/>
    

The method is invoked on the Spring bean instance. This is very useful as you can inject other objects (e.g. via Autowiring) to the Spring bean instance before method invocation in test takes place. This enables you to execute any Java logic inside a test case.

In some cases it might be necessary to validate that a message is not present on a destination. This means that this action expects a timeout when receiving a message from an endpoint destination. For instance the tester intends to ensure that no message is sent to a certain destination in a time period. In that case the timeout would not be a test aborting error but the expected behavior. And in contrast to the normal behavior when a message is received in the time period the test will fail with error.

In order to validate such a timeout situation the action <expectTimout> shall help. The usage is very simple as the following example shows:

XML DSL

<testcase name="receiveJMSTimeoutTest">
    <actions>
        <expect-timeout endpoint="myEndpoint" wait="500"/>
    </actions>
</testcase>

Java DSL designer

@Autowired
@Qualifier("myEndpoint")
private Endpoint myEndpoint;

@CitrusTest
public void receiveTimeoutTest() {
    receiveTimeout(myEndpoint)
        .timeout(500);
}

Java DSL runner

@Autowired
@Qualifier("myEndpoint")
private Endpoint myEndpoint;

@CitrusTest
public void receiveTimeoutTest() {
    receiveTimeout(action -> action.endpoint(myEndpoint)
                    .timeout(500));
}

The action offers two attributes:

Sometimes you may want to add some selector on the timeout receiving action. This way you can very selective check on a message to not be present on a message destination. This is possible with defining a message selector on the test action as follows.

XML DSL

<expect-timeout endpoint="myEndpoint" wait="500">
  <select>MessageId='123456789'<select/>
<expect-timeout/>

Java DSL designer

@CitrusTest
public void receiveTimeoutTest() {
    receiveTimeout(myEndpoint)
        .selector("MessageId = '123456789'")
        .timeout(500);
}

Java DSL runner

@CitrusTest
public void receiveTimeoutTest() {
    receiveTimeout(action -> action.endpoint(myEndpoint)
                    .selector("MessageId = '123456789'")
                    .timeout(500));
}

The <echo> action prints messages to the console/logger. This functionality is useful when debugging test runs. The property "message" defines the text that is printed. Tester might use it to print out debug messages and variables as shown the next code example:

XML DSL

<testcase name="echoTest">
    <variables>
        <variable name="date" value="citrus:currentDate()"/>
    </variables>
    <actions>
        <echo>
            <message>Hello Test Framework</message>
        </echo>
        
        <echo>
            <message>Current date is: ${date}</message>
        </echo>
    </actions>
</testcase>

Java DSL designer and runner

@CitrusTest
public void echoTest() {
    variable("date", "citrus:currentDate()");
    
    echo("Hello Test Framework");
    echo("Current date is: ${date}");
}

Result on the console:

Hello Test Framework
Current time is: 05.08.2008

Time measurement during a test can be very helpful. The <trace-time> action creates and monitors multiple timelines. The action offers the attribute "id" to identify a time line. The tester can of course use more than one time line with different ids simultaneously.

Read the next example and you will understand the mix of different time lines:

XML DSL

<testcase name="StopTimeTest">
    <actions>
        <trace-time/>
        
        <trace-time id="time_line_id"/>
        
        <sleep seconds="3.5"/>
        
        <trace-time id=" time_line_id "/>
        
        <sleep milliseconds="5000"/>
        
        <trace-time/>
        
        <trace-time id=" time_line_id "/>
    </actions>
</testcase>

Java DSL designer and runner

@CitrusTest
public void stopTimeTest() {
    stopTime();
    stopTime("time_line_id");
    sleep(3.5); // do something
    stopTime("time_line_id");
    sleep(5000); // do something
    stopTime();
    stopTime("time_line_id");
}

The test output looks like follows:

Starting TimeWatcher:
Starting TimeWatcher: time_line_id
TimeWatcher time_line_id after 3500 milliseconds
TimeWatcher after 8500 seconds
TimeWatcher time_line_id after 8500 milliseconds

	Note
	In case no time line id is specified the framework will measure the time for a default time line.

To print out the current elapsed time for a time line you simply have to place the <trace-time> action into the action chain again and again, using the respective time line identifier. The elapsed time will be printed out to the console every time.

As you know variables usually are defined at the beginning of the test case (Chapter 5, Test variables). It might also be helpful to reset existing variables as well as to define new variables during the test. The action <create-variables> is able to declare new variables or overwrite existing ones.

XML DSL

<testcase name="createVariablesTest">
    <variables>
        <variable name="myVariable" value="12345"/>
        <variable name="id" value="54321"/>
    </variables>
    <actions>
        <echo>
            <message>Current variable value: ${myVariable}</message>
        </echo>
        
        <create-variables>
            <variable name="myVariable" value="${id}"/>
            <variable name="newVariable" value="'this is a test'"/>
        </create-variables>
        
        <echo>
            <message>Current variable value: ${myVariable} </message>
        </echo>
    
        <echo>
            <message>
              New variable 'newVariable' has the value: ${newVariable}
            </message>
        </echo>
    </actions>
</testcase>

Java DSL designer and runner

@CitrusTest
public void createVariableTest() {
    variable("myVariable", "12345");
    variable("id", "54321");
    
    echo("Current variable value: ${myVariable}");

    createVariable("myVariable", "${id}");
    createVariable("newVariable", "this is a test");
    
    echo("Current variable value: ${myVariable}");
    
    echo("New variable 'newVariable' has the value: ${newVariable}");
}

Note

Please note the difference between the variable() method and the createVariable() method. The first initializes the test case with the test variables. So all variables defined with this method are valid from the very beginning of the test. In contrary to that the createVariable() is executed within the test action chain. The newly created variables are then valid for the rest of the test. Trailing actions can reference the variables as usual with the variable expression.

You already know the <echo> action that prints messages to the console or logger. The <trace-variables> action is specially designed to trace all currently valid test variables to the console. This was mainly used by us for debug reasons. The usage is quite simple:

XML DSL

<testcase name="traceVariablesTest">
    <variables>
        <variable name="myVariable" value="12345"/>
        <variable name="nextVariable" value="54321"/>
    </variables>
    <actions>
        <trace-variables>
            <variable name="myVariable"/>
            <variable name="nextVariable"/>
        </trace-variables>
        
        <trace-variables/>
    </actions>
</testcase>

Java DSL designer and runner

@CitrusTest
public void traceTest() {
    variable("myVariable", "12345");
    variable("nextVariable", "54321");
    
    traceVariables("myVariable", "nextVariable");
    traceVariables();
}

Simply add the <trace-variables> action to your action chain and all variables will be printed out to the console. You are able to define a special set of variables by using the <variable> child elements. See the output that was generated by the test example above:

Current value of variable myVariable = 12345
Current value of variable nextVariable = 54321

The <transform> action transforms XML fragments with XSLT in order to construct various XML representations. The transformation result is stored into a test variable for further usage. The property xml-data defines the XML source, that is going to be transformed, while xslt-data defines the XSLT transformation rules. The attribute variable specifies the target test variable which receives the transformation result. The tester might use the action to transform XML messages as shown in the next code example:

XML DSL

  <testcase name="transformTest">
      <actions>
          <transform variable="result">
              <xml-data>
                  <![CDATA[
                      <TestRequest>
                          <Message>Hello World!</Message>
                      </TestRequest>
                  ]]>
              </xml-data>
              <xslt-data>
                  <![CDATA[
                      <xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
                      <xsl:template match="/">
                          <html>
                              <body>
                                  <h2>Test Request</h2>
                                  <p>Message: <xsl:value-of select="TestRequest/Message"/></p>
                              </body>
                          </html>
                      </xsl:template>
                      </xsl:stylesheet>
                  ]]>
              </xslt-data>
          </transform>
          <echo>
              <message>${result}</message>
          </echo>
      </actions>
  </testcase>
    

The transformation above results to:

  <html>
      <body>
          <h2>Test Request</h2>
          <p>Message: Hello World!</p>
      </body>
  </html>
    

In the example we used CDATA sections to define the transformation source as well as the XSL transformation rules. As usual you can also use external file resources here. The transform action with external file resources looks like follows:

  <transform variable="result">
      <xml-resource file="classpath:transform-source.xml"/>
      <xslt-resource file="classpath:transform.xslt"/>
  </transform>
    

The Java DSL alternative for transforming data via XSTL in Citrus looks like follows:

Java DSL designer

@CitrusTest
public void transformTest() {
    transform()
        .source("<TestRequest>" +
                    "<Message>Hello World!</Message>" +
                "</TestRequest>")
        .xslt("<xsl:stylesheet version=\"1.0\" xmlns:xsl=\"http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform\">\n" +
                    "<xsl:template match=\"/\">\n" +
                    "<html>\n" +
                        "<body>\n" +
                            "<h2>Test Request</h2>\n" +
                            "<p>Message: <xsl:value-of select=\"TestRequest/Message\"/></p>\n" +
                        "</body>\n" +  
                    "</html>\n" +
                    "</xsl:template>\n" +
                "</xsl:stylesheet>")
        .result("result");
    
    echo("${result}");
    
    transform()
        .source(new ClassPathResource("com/consol/citrus/actions/transform-source.xml"))
        .xslt(new ClassPathResource("com/consol/citrus/actions/transform.xslt"))
        .result("result");
    
    echo("${result}");
}

Java DSL runner

@CitrusTest
public void transformTest() {
    transform(action ->
        action.source("<TestRequest>" +
                        "<Message>Hello World!</Message>" +
                    "</TestRequest>")
        .xslt("<xsl:stylesheet version=\"1.0\" xmlns:xsl=\"http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform\">\n" +
                "<xsl:template match=\"/\">\n" +
                "<html>\n" +
                    "<body>\n" +
                        "<h2>Test Request</h2>\n" +
                        "<p>Message: <xsl:value-of select=\"TestRequest/Message\"/></p>\n" +
                    "</body>\n" +
                "</html>\n" +
                "</xsl:template>\n" +
            "</xsl:stylesheet>")
        .result("result"));

    echo("${result}");

    transform(action ->
        action.source(new ClassPathResource("com/consol/citrus/actions/transform-source.xml"))
              .xslt(new ClassPathResource("com/consol/citrus/actions/transform.xslt"))
              .result("result"));

    echo("${result}");
}

Defining multi-line Strings with nested quotes is no fun in Java. So you may want to use external file resources for your scripts as shown in the second part of the example. In fact you could also use script languages like Groovy or Scala that have much better support for multi-line Strings.

Groovy is an agile dynamic language for the Java Platform. Groovy ships with a lot of very powerful features and fits perfectly with Java as it is based on Java and runs inside the JVM.

The Citrus Groovy support might be the entrance for you to write customized test actions. You can easily execute Groovy code inside a test case, just like a normal test action. The whole test context with all variables is available to the Groovy action. This means someone can change variable values or create new variables very easily.

Let's have a look at some examples in order to understand the possible Groovy code interactions in Citrus:

XML DSL

<testcase name="groovyTest">
  <variables>
    <variable name="time" value="citrus:currentDate()"/>
  </variables>
  <actions>
    <groovy>
        println 'Hello Citrus'
    </groovy>
    <groovy>
        println 'The variable is: ${time}'
    </groovy>
    <groovy resource="classpath:com/consol/citrus/script/example.groovy"/>
  </actions>
</testcase>

Java DSL designer

@CitrusTest
public void groovyTest() {
    groovy("println 'Hello Citrus'");
    groovy("println 'The variable is: ${time}'");
    
    groovy(new ClassPathResource("com/consol/citrus/script/example.groovy"));
}

Java DSL runner

@CitrusTest
public void groovyTest() {
    groovy(action -> action.script("println 'Hello Citrus'"));
    groovy(action -> action.script("println 'The variable is: ${time}'"));

    groovy(action -> action.script(new ClassPathResource("com/consol/citrus/script/example.groovy")));
}

As you can see it is possible to write Groovy code directly into the test case. Citrus will interpret and execute the Groovy code at runtime. As usual nested variable expressions are replaced with respective values. In general this is done in advance before the Groovy code is interpreted. For more complex Groovy code sections which grow in lines of code you can also reference external file resources.

After this basic Groovy code usage inside a test case we might be interested accessing the whole TestContext. The TestContext Java object holds all test variables and function definitions for the test case and can be referenced in Groovy code via simple naming convention. Just access the object reference 'context' and you are able to manipulate the TestContext (e.g. setting a new variable which is directly ready for use in following test actions).

XML DSL

<testcase name="groovyTest">
  <actions>
    <groovy>
      context.setVariable("greetingText","Hello Citrus")
      println context.getVariable("greetingText")
    </groovy>
    <echo>
      <message>New variable: ${greetingText}</message>
    </echo>
  </actions>
</testcase>

Note

The implicit TestContext access that was shown in the previous sample works with a default Groovy script template provided by Citrus. The Groovy code you write in the test case is automatically surrounded with a Groovy script which takes care of handling the TestContext. The default template looks like follows: import com.consol.citrus.* import com.consol.citrus.variable.* import com.consol.citrus.context.TestContext import com.consol.citrus.script.GroovyAction.ScriptExecutor public class GScript implements ScriptExecutor { public void execute(TestContext context) { @SCRIPTBODY@ } } Your code is placed in substitution to the @SCRIPTBODY@ placeholder. Now you might understand how Citrus handles the context automatically. You can also write your own script templates making more advanced usage of other Java APIs and Groovy code. Just add a script template path to the test action like this: <groovy script-template="classpath:my-custom-template.groovy"> [...] </groovy> On the other hand you can disable the automatic script template wrapping in your action at all: <groovy use-script-template="false"> println 'Just use some Groovy code' </groovy>

The next example deals with advanced Groovy code and writing whole classes. We write a new Groovy class which implements the ScriptExecutor interface offered by Citrus. This interface defines a special execute method and provides access to the whole TestContext for advanced test variables access.

<testcase name="groovyTest">
  <variables>
    <variable name="time" value="citrus:currentDate()"/>
  </variables>
  <actions>
    <groovy>
      <![CDATA[
        import com.consol.citrus.*
        import com.consol.citrus.variable.*
        import com.consol.citrus.context.TestContext
        import com.consol.citrus.script.GroovyAction.ScriptExecutor
        
        public class GScript implements ScriptExecutor {
            public void execute(TestContext context) {
                println context.getVariable("time")
            }
        }
      ]]>
    </groovy>
  </actions>
</testcase>

Implementing the ScriptExecutor interface in a custom Groovy class is applicable for very special test context manipulations as you are able to import and use other Java API classes in this code.

The fail action will generate an exception in order to terminate the test case with error. The test case will therefore not be successful in the reports.

The user can specify a custom error message for the exception in order to describe the error cause. Here is a very simple example to clarify the syntax:

XML DSL

<testcase name="failTest">
    <actions>
        <fail message="Test will fail with custom message"/>
    </actions>
</testcase>

Test results:

Execution of test: failTest failed! Nested exception is: 
com.consol.citrus.exceptions.CitrusRuntimeException: 
Test will fail with custom message

[...]

CITRUS TEST RESULTS

failTest          : failed - Exception is: Test will fail with custom message

Found 1 test cases to execute
Skipped 0 test cases (0.0%)
Executed 1 test cases, containing 3 actions
Tests failed:        1 (100.0%)
Tests successfully:  0 (0.0%) 

While using the Java DSL tester might want to raise some Java exceptions in the middle of configuring the test case. But this is not possible as we have to separate the design time and the execution time of the test case. The @CitrusTest annotated configuration method is called for building up the whole test case. After this method was processed the test gets executed in runtime oth the test. If you specify a throws exception statement in the configuration method this will not be done at runtime but at design time. This is why you have to use the special fail test action which raises a Java exception during the runtime of the test. The next example will not work as expected:

Java DSL designer and runner

@CitrusTest
public void wrongUsageSample() {
    // some test actions
    
    throw new ValidationException("This test should fail now"); // does not work as expected 
}

The validation exception above is directly raised before the test is able to start as the @CitrusTest annotated method does not represent the test runtime. Instead of this we have to use the fail action as follows:

Java DSL designer and runner

@CitrusTest
public void failTest() {
    // some test actions
    
    fail("This test should fail now"); // fails at test runtime as expected 
}

Now the test fails at runtime as the fail action is raised during the test execution as expected.

During the test case execution it is possible to read some user input from the command line. The test execution will stop and wait for keyboard inputs over the standard input stream. The user has to type the input and end it with the return key.

The user input is stored to the respective variable value.

XML DSL

<testcase name="inputTest">
    <variables>
        <variable name="userinput" value=""></variable>
        <variable name="userinput1" value=""></variable>
        <variable name="userinput2" value="y"></variable>
        <variable name="userinput3" value="yes"></variable>
        <variable name="userinput4" value=""></variable>
    </variables>
    <actions>
        <input/>
        <echo><message>user input was: ${userinput}</message></echo>
        
        <input message="Now press enter:" variable="userinput1"/>
        <echo><message>user input was: ${userinput1}</message></echo>
        
        <input message="Do you want to continue?" 
                  valid-answers="y/n" variable="userinput2"/>
        <echo><message>user input was: ${userinput2}</message></echo>
        
        <input message="Do you want to continue?" 
                  valid-answers="yes/no" variable="userinput3"/>
        <echo><message>user input was: ${userinput3}</message></echo>
        
        <input variable="userinput4"/>
        <echo><message>user input was: ${userinput4}</message></echo>
    </actions>
</testcase>

As you can see the input action is customizable with a prompt message that is displayed to the user and some valid answer possibilities. The user input is stored to a test variable for further use in the test case. In detail the input action offers following attributes:

The same action in Java DSL now looks quite familiar to us although attribute naming is slightly different:

Java DSL designer

@CitrusTest
public void inputActionTest() {
    variable("userinput", "");
    variable("userinput1", "");
    variable("userinput2", "y");
    variable("userinput3", "yes");
    variable("userinput4", "");
    
    input();
    echo("user input was: ${userinput}");
    input().message("Now press enter:").result("userinput1");
    echo("user input was: ${userinput1}");
    input().message("Do you want to continue?").answers("y", "n").result("userinput2");
    echo("user input was: ${userinput2}");
    input().message("Do you want to continue?").answers("yes", "no").result("userinput3");
    echo("user input was: ${userinput3}");
    input().result("userinput4");
    echo("user input was: ${userinput4}"); 
}

Java DSL runner

@CitrusTest
public void inputActionTest() {
    variable("userinput", "");
    variable("userinput1", "");
    variable("userinput2", "y");
    variable("userinput3", "yes");
    variable("userinput4", "");

    input(action -> {});
    echo("user input was: ${userinput}");
    input(action -> action.message("Now press enter:").result("userinput1"));
    echo("user input was: ${userinput1}");
    input(action -> action.message("Do you want to continue?").answers("y", "n").result("userinput2"));
    echo("user input was: ${userinput2}");
    input(action -> action.message("Do you want to continue?").answers("yes", "no").result("userinput3"));
    echo("user input was: ${userinput3}");
    input(action -> action.result("userinput4"));
    echo("user input was: ${userinput4}");
}

When the user input is restricted to a set of valid answers the input validation of course can fail due to mismatch. This is the case when the user provides some input not matching the valid answers given. In this case the user is again asked to provide valid input. The test action will continue to ask for valid input until a valid answer is given.

Note

User inputs may not fit to automatic testing in terms of continuous integration testing where no user is present to type in the correct answer over the keyboard. In this case you can always skip the user input in advance by specifying a variable that matches the user input variable name. As the user input variable is then already present the user input is missed out and the test proceeds automatically.

You are able to load properties from external property files and store them as test variables. The action will require a file resource either from class path or file system in order to read the property values.

Let us look at an example to get an idea about this action:

Content of load.properties:

username=Mickey Mouse
greeting.text=Hello Test Framework

XML DSL

<testcase name="loadPropertiesTest">
    <actions>
        <load>
            <properties file="file:tests/resources/load.properties"/>
        </load>
        
        <trace-variables/>
    </actions>
</testcase>

Java DSL designer and runner

@CitrusTest
public void loadPropertiesTest() {
    load("file:tests/resources/load.properties");
    
    traceVariables();
}

Output:

Current value of variable username = Mickey Mouse
Current value of variable greeting.text = Hello Test Framework

The action will load all available properties in the file load.properties and store them to the test case as local variables.

	Important
	Please be aware of the fact that existing variables are overwritten!

With this action you can make your test wait until a certain condition is satisfied. The attribute seconds defines the amount of time to wait in seconds. You can also use the milliseconds attribute for a more fine grained time value. The attribute interval defines the amount of time to wait between each check. The interval is always specified as millisecond time interval.

If the check does not exceed within the defined overall waiting time then the test execution fails with an appropriate error message. There are different types of conditions to check.

Next let us have a look at a simple example:

XML DSL

<testcase name="waitTest">
    <actions>
        <wait seconds="10" interval="2000" >
          <http url="http://sample.org/resource" statusCode="200" timeout="2000" />
        <wait/>
    </actions>
</testcase>

Java DSL designer and runner

@CitrusTest
public void waitTest() {
    waitFor().http("http://sample.org/resource").seconds(10L).interval(2000L);
}

The example waits for some Http server resource to be available with Http 200 OK response. Citrus will use HEAD request method by default. You can set the request method with the method attribute on the Http condition.

Next let us have a look at the file condition usage:

XML DSL

<testcase name="waitTest">
    <actions>
        <wait seconds="10" interval="2000" >
          <file path="path/to/resource/file.txt" />
        <wait/>
    </actions>
</testcase>

Java DSL designer and runner

@CitrusTest
public void waitTest() {
    waitFor().file("path/to/resource/file.txt");
}

Citrus checks for the file to exist under the given path. Only if the file exists the test will continue with further test actions.

When should somebody use this action? This action is very useful when you want your test to wait for a certain event to occur before continuing with the test execution. For example if you wish that your test waits until a Docker container is started or for an application to create a log file before continuing, then use this action. You can also create your own condition statements and bind it to the test action.

Purging JMS destinations during the test run is quite essential. Different test cases can influence each other when sending messages to the same JMS destinations. A test case should only receive those messages that actually belong to it. Therefore it is a good idea to purge all JMS queue destinations between the test cases. Obsolete messages that are stuck in a JMS queue for some reason are then removed so that the following test case is not offended.

Note

Citrus provides special support for JMS related features. We have to activate those JMS features in our test case by adding a special "jms" namespace and schema definition location to the test case XML. <spring:beans xmlns="http://www.citrusframework.org/schema/testcase" xmlns:spring="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:jms="http://www.citrusframework.org/schema/jms/testcase" xsi:schemaLocation=" http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans.xsd http://www.citrusframework.org/schema/testcase http://www.citrusframework.org/schema/testcase/citrus-testcase.xsd http://www.citrusframework.org/schema/jms/testcase http://www.citrusframework.org/schema/jms/testcase/citrus-jms-testcase.xsd"> [...] </beans>

Now we are ready to use the JMS features in our test case in order to purge some JMS queues. This can be done with following action definition:

XML DSL

<testcase name="purgeTest">
  <actions>
      <jms:purge-jms-queues>
          <jms:queue name="Some.JMS.QUEUE.Name"/>
          <jms:queue name="Another.JMS.QUEUE.Name"/>
          <jms:queue name="My.JMS.QUEUE.Name"/>
      </jms:purge-jms-queues>
      
      <jms:purge-jms-queues connection-factory="connectionFactory">
          <jms:queue name="Some.JMS.QUEUE.Name"/>
          <jms:queue name="Another.JMS.QUEUE.Name"/>
          <jms:queue name="My.JMS.QUEUE.Name"/>
      </jms:purge-jms-queues>
  </actions>
</testcase>

Notice that we have referenced the jms namespace when using the purge-jms-queues test action.

Java DSL designer

@Autowired
@Qualifier("connectionFactory")
private ConnectionFactory connectionFactory;

@CitrusTest
public void purgeTest() {
    purgeQueues()
        .queue("Some.JMS.QUEUE.Name")
        .queue("Another.JMS.QUEUE.Name");
        
    purgeQueues(connectionFactory)
        .timeout(150L) // custom timeout in ms
        .queue("Some.JMS.QUEUE.Name")
        .queue("Another.JMS.QUEUE.Name");
}

Java DSL runner

@Autowired
@Qualifier("connectionFactory")
private ConnectionFactory connectionFactory;

@CitrusTest
public void purgeTest() {
    purgeQueues(action ->
        action.queue("Some.JMS.QUEUE.Name")
            .queue("Another.JMS.QUEUE.Name"));

    purgeQueues(action -> action.connectionFactory(connectionFactory)
            .timeout(150L) // custom timeout in ms
            .queue("Some.JMS.QUEUE.Name")
            .queue("Another.JMS.QUEUE.Name"));
}

Purging the JMS queues in every test case is quite exhausting because every test case needs to define a purging action at the very beginning of the test. Fortunately the test suite definition offers tasks to run before, between and after the test cases which should ease up this tasks a lot. The test suite offers a very simple way to purge the destinations between the tests. See Section 37.3, “Before test” for more information about this.

As you can see in the next example it is quite easy to specify a group of destinations in the Spring configuration that get purged before a test is executed.

<citrus:before-test id="purgeBeforeTest">
    <citrus:actions>
        <jms:purge-jms-queues>
            <jms:queue name="Some.JMS.QUEUE.Name"/>
            <jms:queue name="Another.JMS.QUEUE.Name"/>
        </jms:purge-jms-queues>
    </citrus:actions>
</citrus:before-test>

	Note
	Please keep in mind that the JMS related configuration components in Citrus belong to a separate XML namespace jms:. We have to add this namespace declaration to each test case XML and Spring bean XML configuration file as described at the very beginning of this section.

The syntax for purging the destinations is the same as we used it inside the test case. So now we are able to purge JMS destinations with given destination names. But sometimes we do not want to rely on queue or topic names as we retrieve destinations over JNDI for instance. We can deal with destinations coming from JNDI lookup like follows:

<jee:jndi-lookup id="jmsQueueHelloRequestIn" jndi-name="jms/jmsQueueHelloRequestIn"/>
<jee:jndi-lookup id="jmsQueueHelloResponseOut" jndi-name="jms/jmsQueueHelloResponseOut"/>

<citrus:before-test id="purgeBeforeTest">
    <citrus:actions>
        <jms:purge-jms-queues>
            <jms:queue ref="jmsQueueHelloRequestIn"/>
            <jms:queue ref="jmsQueueHelloResponseOut"/>
        </jms:purge-jms-queues>
    </citrus:actions>
</citrus:before-test>

We just use the attribute 'ref' instead of 'name' and Citrus is looking for a bean reference for that identifier that resolves to a JMS destination. You can use the JNDI bean references inside a test case, too.

XML DSL

<testcase name="purgeTest">
  <actions>
      <jms:purge-jms-queues>
          <jms:queue ref="jmsQueueHelloRequestIn"/>
          <jms:queue ref="jmsQueueHelloResponseOut"/>
      </jms:purge-jms-queues>
  </actions>
</testcase>

Of course you can use queue object references also in Java DSL test cases. Here we easily can use Spring's dependency injection with autowiring to get the object references from the IoC container.

Java DSL designer

@Autowired
@Qualifier("jmsQueueHelloRequestIn")
private Queue jmsQueueHelloRequestIn;

@Autowired
@Qualifier("jmsQueueHelloResponseOut")
private Queue jmsQueueHelloResponseOut;

@CitrusTest
public void purgeTest() {
    purgeQueues()
        .queue(jmsQueueHelloRequestIn)
        .queue(jmsQueueHelloResponseOut);
}

Java DSL runner

@Autowired
@Qualifier("jmsQueueHelloRequestIn")
private Queue jmsQueueHelloRequestIn;

@Autowired
@Qualifier("jmsQueueHelloResponseOut")
private Queue jmsQueueHelloResponseOut;

@CitrusTest
public void purgeTest() {
    purgeQueues(action ->
        action.queue(jmsQueueHelloRequestIn)
            .queue(jmsQueueHelloResponseOut));
}

	Note
	You can mix queue name and queue object references as you like within one single purge queue test action.

Message channels define central messaging destinations in Citrus. These are namely in memory message queues holding messages for test cases. These messages may become obsolete during a test run, especially when test cases fail and stop in their message consumption. Purging these message channel destinations is essential in these scenarios in order to not influence upcoming test cases. Each test case should only receive those messages that actually refer to the test model. Therefore it is a good idea to purge all message channel destinations between the test cases. Obsolete messages that get stuck in a message channel destination for some reason are then removed so that upcoming test case are not broken.

Following action definition purges all messages from a list of message channels:

XML DSL

<testcase name="purgeChannelTest">
  <actions>
      <purge-channel>
          <channel name="someChannelName"/>
          <channel name="anotherChannelName"/>
      </purge-channel>
      
      <purge-channel>
          <channel ref="someChannel"/>
          <channel ref="anotherChannel"/>
      </purge-channel>
  </actions>
</testcase>

As you can see the test action supports channel names as well as channel references to Spring bean instances. When using channel references you refer to the Spring bean id or name in your application context.

The Java DSL works quite similar as you can read from next examples:

Java DSL designer

@Autowired
@Qualifier("channelResolver")
private DestinationResolver<MessageChannel> channelResolver;

@CitrusTest
public void purgeTest() {
    purgeChannels()
        .channelResolver(channelResolver)
        .channelNames("ch1", "ch2", "ch3")
        .channel("ch4");
}

Java DSL runner

@Autowired
@Qualifier("channelResolver")
private DestinationResolver<MessageChannel> channelResolver;

@CitrusTest
public void purgeTest() {
    purgeChannels(action ->
        action.channelResolver(channelResolver)
                .channelNames("ch1", "ch2", "ch3")
                .channel("ch4"));
}

The channel resolver reference is optional. By default Citrus will automatically use a Spring application context channel resolver so you just have to use the respective Spring bean names that are configured in the Spring application context. However setting a custom channel resolver may be adequate for you in some special cases.

While speaking of Spring application context bean references the next example uses such bean references for channels to purge.

Java DSL designer

@Autowired
@Qualifier("channel1")
private MessageChannel channel1;

@Autowired
@Qualifier("channel2")
private MessageChannel channel2;

@Autowired
@Qualifier("channel3")
private MessageChannel channel3;

@CitrusTest
public void purgeTest() {
    purgeChannels()
        .channels(channel1, channel2)
        .channel(channel3);
}

Java DSL runner

@Autowired
@Qualifier("channel1")
private MessageChannel channel1;

@Autowired
@Qualifier("channel2")
private MessageChannel channel2;

@Autowired
@Qualifier("channel3")
private MessageChannel channel3;

@CitrusTest
public void purgeTest() {
    purgeChannels(action ->
        action.channels(channel1, channel2)
                .channel(channel3));
}

Message selectors enable you to selectively remove messages from the destination. All messages that pass the message selection logic get deleted the other messages will remain unchanged inside the channel destination. The message selector is a Spring bean that implements a special message selector interface. A possible implementation could be a selector deleting all messages that are older than five seconds:

import org.springframework.messaging.Message;
import org.springframework.integration.core.MessageSelector;

public class TimeBasedMessageSelector implements MessageSelector {

    public boolean accept(Message<?> message) {
        if (System.currentTimeMillis() - message.getHeaders().getTimestamp() > 5000) {
            return false;
        } else {
            return true;
        }
    }

}

	Note
	The message selector returns false for those messages that should be deleted from the channel!

You simply define the message selector as a new Spring bean in the Citrus application context and reference it in your test action property.

<bean id="specialMessageSelector" 
    class="com.consol.citrus.special.TimeBasedMessageSelector"/>

Now let us have a look at how you reference the selector in your test case:

XML DSL

<purge-channels message-selector="specialMessageSelector">
  <channel name="someChannelName"/>
  <channel name="anotherChannelName"/>
</purge-channels>

Java DSL designer

@Autowired
@Qualifier("specialMessageSelector")
private MessageSelector specialMessageSelector;

@CitrusTest
public void purgeTest() {
    purgeChannels()
        .channelNames("ch1", "ch2", "ch3")
        .selector(specialMessageSelector);
}

Java DSL runner

@Autowired
@Qualifier("specialMessageSelector")
private MessageSelector specialMessageSelector;

@CitrusTest
public void purgeTest() {
    purgeChannels(action ->
        action.channelNames("ch1", "ch2", "ch3")
                .selector(specialMessageSelector));
}

In the examples above we use a message selector implementation that gets injected via Spring IoC container.

Purging channels in each test case every time is quite exhausting because every test case needs to define a purging action at the very beginning of the test. A more straight forward approach would be to introduce some purging action which is automatically executed before each test. Fortunately the Citrus test suite offers a very simple way to do this. It is described in Section 37.3, “Before test”.

When using the special action sequence before test cases we are able to purge channel destinations every time a test case executes. See the upcoming example to find out how the action is defined in the Spring configuration application context.

<citrus:before-test id="purgeBeforeTest">
    <citrus:actions>
        <purge-channel>
            <channel name="fooChannel"/>
            <channel name="barChannel"/>
        </purge-channel>
    </citrus:actions>
</citrus:before-test>

Just use this before-test bean in the Spring bean application context and the purge channel action is active. Obsolete messages that are waiting on the message channels for consumption are purged before the next test in line is executed.

Tip

Purging message channels becomes also very interesting when working with server instances in Citrus. Each server component automatically has an inbound message channel where incoming messages are stored to internally. So if you need to clean up a server that has already stored some incoming messages you can do this easily by purging the internal message channel. The message channel follows a naming convention {serverName}.inbound where {serverName} is the Spring bean name of the Citrus server endpoint component. If you purge this internal channel in a before test nature you are sure that obsolete messages on a server instance get purged before each test is executed.

Citrus works with message endpoints when sending and receiving messages. In general endpoints can also queue messages. This is especially the case when using JMS message endpoints or any server endpoint component in Citrus. These are in memory message queues holding messages for test cases. These messages may become obsolete during a test run, especially when a test case that would consume the messages fails. Deleting all messages from a message endpoint is therefore a useful task and is essential in such scenarios so that upcoming test cases are not influenced. Each test case should only receive those messages that actually refer to the test model. Therefore it is a good idea to purge all message endpoint destinations between the test cases. Obsolete messages that get stuck in a message endpoint destination for some reason are then removed so that upcoming test case are not broken.

Following action definition purges all messages from a list of message endpoints:

XML DSL

<testcase name="purgeEndpointTest">
  <actions>
      <purge-endpoint>
          <endpoint name="someEndpointName"/>
          <endpoint name="anotherEndpointName"/>
      </purge-endpoint>
      
      <purge-endpoint>
          <endpoint ref="someEndpoint"/>
          <endpoint ref="anotherEndpoint"/>
      </purge-endpoint>
  </actions>
</testcase>

As you can see the test action supports endpoint names as well as endpoint references to Spring bean instances. When using endpoint references you refer to the Spring bean name in your application context.

The Java DSL works quite similar - have a look:

Java DSL designer

@Autowired
@CitrusTest
public void purgeTest() {
    purgeEndpoints()
        .endpointNames("endpoint1", "endpoint2", "endpoint3")
        .endpoint("endpoint4");
}

Java DSL runner

@Autowired
@CitrusTest
public void purgeTest() {
    purgeEndpoints(action ->
        action.endpointNames("endpoint1", "endpoint2", "endpoint3")
                .endpoint("endpoint4"));
}

When using the Java DSL we can inject endpoint objects with Spring bean container IoC. The next example uses such bean references for endpoints in a purge action.

Java DSL designer

@Autowired
@Qualifier("endpoint1")
private Endpoint endpoint1;

@Autowired
@Qualifier("endpoint2")
private Endpoint endpoint2;

@Autowired
@Qualifier("endpoint3")
private Endpoint endpoint3;

@CitrusTest
public void purgeTest() {
    purgeEndpoints()
        .endpoints(endpoint1, endpoint2)
        .endpoint(endpoint3);
}

Java DSL runner

@Autowired
@Qualifier("endpoint1")
private Endpoint endpoint1;

@Autowired
@Qualifier("endpoint2")
private Endpoint endpoint2;

@Autowired
@Qualifier("endpoint3")
private Endpoint endpoint3;

@CitrusTest
public void purgeTest() {
    purgeEndpoints(action ->
        action.endpoints(endpoint1, endpoint2)
                .endpoint(endpoint3));
}

Message selectors enable you to selectively remove messages from an endpoint. All messages that meet the message selector condition get deleted and the other messages remain inside the endpoint destination. The message selector is either a normal String name-value representation or a map of key value pairs:

XML DSL

<purge-endpoints>
  <selector>
    <value>operation = 'sayHello'</value>
  </selector>
  <endpoint name="someEndpointName"/>
  <endpoint name="anotherEndpointName"/>
</purge-endpoints>

Java DSL designer

@CitrusTest
public void purgeTest() {
    purgeEndpoints()
        .endpointNames("endpoint1", "endpoint2", "endpoint3")
        .selector("operation = 'sayHello'");
}

Java DSL runner

@CitrusTest
public void purgeTest() {
    purgeEndpoints(action ->
        action.endpointNames("endpoint1", "endpoint2", "endpoint3")
                .selector("operation = 'sayHello'"));
}

In the examples above we use a String to represent the message selector expression. In general the message selector operates on the message header. So following on from that we remove all messages selectively that have a message header operation with its value sayHello.

Purging endpoints in each test case every time is quite exhausting because every test case needs to define a purging action at the very beginning of the test. A more straight forward approach would be to introduce some purging action which is automatically executed before each test. Fortunately the Citrus test suite offers a very simple way to do this. It is described in Section 37.3, “Before test”.

When using the special action sequence before test cases we are able to purge endpoint destinations every time a test case executes. See the upcoming example to find out how the action is defined in the Spring configuration application context.

<citrus:before-test id="purgeBeforeTest">
    <citrus:actions>
        <purge-endpoint>
            <endpoint name="fooEndpoint"/>
            <endpoint name="barEndpoint"/>
        </purge-endpoint>
    </citrus:actions>
</citrus:before-test>

Just use this before-test bean in the Spring bean application context and the purge endpoint action is active. Obsolete messages that are waiting on the message endpoints for consumption are purged before the next test in line is executed.

Tip

Purging message endpoints becomes also very interesting when working with server instances in Citrus. Each server component automatically has an inbound message endpoint where incoming messages are stored to internally. Citrus will automatically use this incoming message endpoint as target for the purge action so you can just use the server instance as you know it from your configuration in any purge action.

Citrus test actions fail with Java exceptions and error messages. This gives you the opportunity to expect an action to fail during test execution. You can simple assert a Java exception to be thrown during execution. See the example for an assert action definition in a test case:

XML DSL

<testcase name="assertFailureTest">
    <actions>
        <assert exception="com.consol.citrus.exceptions.CitrusRuntimeException"
                   message="Unknown variable ${date}">
            <echo>
                <message>Current date is: ${date}</message>
            </echo>
        </assert>
    </actions>
</testcase>

Java DSL designer and runner

@CitrusTest
public void assertTest() {
    assertException().exception(com.consol.citrus.exceptions.CitrusRuntimeException.class)
                     .message("Unknown variable ${date}")
                .when(echo("Current date is: ${date}"));
}

	Note
	Note that the assert action requires an exception. In case no exception is thrown by the embedded test action the assertion and the test case will fail!

The assert action always wraps a single test action, which is then monitored for failure. In case the nested test action fails with error you can validate the error in its type and error message (optional). The failure has to fit the expected one exactly otherwise the assertion fails itself.

	Important
	Important to notice is the fact that asserted exceptions do not cause failure of the test case. As you except the failure to happen the test continues with its work once the assertion is done successfully.

In the previous chapter we have seen how to expect failures in Citrus with assert action. Now the assert action is designed for single actions to be monitored and for failures to be expected in any case. The 'catch' action in contrary can hold several nested test actions and exception failure is optional.

The nested actions are error proof for the chosen exception type. This means possible exceptions are caught and ignored - the test case will not fail for this exception type. But only for this particular exception type! Other exception types that occur during execution do cause the test to fail as usual.

XML DSL

<testcase name="catchExceptionTest">
    <actions>
        <catch exception="com.consol.citrus.exceptions.CitrusRuntimeException">
            <echo>
                <message>Current date is: ${date}</message>
            </echo>
        </catch>
    </actions>
</testcase>

Java DSL designer and runner

@CitrusTest
public void catchTest() {
    catchException().exception(CitrusRuntimeException.class)
                    .when(echo("Current date is: ${date}"));
}

Important

Note that there is no validation available in a catch block. So catching exceptions is just to make a test more stable towards errors that can occur. The caught exception does not cause any failure in the test. The test case may continue with execution as if there was not failure. Also notice that the catch action is also happy when no exception at all is raised. In contrary to that the assert action requires the exception and an assert action is failing in positive processing.

Catching exceptions like this may only fit to very error prone action blocks where failures do not harm the test case success. Otherwise a failure in a test action should always reflect to the whole test case to fail with errors.

Note

Java developers might ask why not use try-catch Java block instead? The answer is simple yet very important to understand. The test method is called by the Java DSL test case builder for building the Citrus test. This can be referred to as the design time of the test. After the building test method was processed the test gets executed, which can be called the runtime of the test. This means that a try-catch block within the design time method will never perform during the test run. The only reliable way to add the catch capability to the test as part of the test case runtime is to use the Citrus test action which gets executed during test runtime.

The <ant> action loads a build.xml Ant file and executes one or more targets in the Ant project. The target is executed with optional build properties passed to the Ant run. The Ant build output is logged with Citrus logger and the test case success is bound to the Ant build success. This means in case the Ant build fails for some reason the test case will also fail with build exception accordingly.

See this basic Ant run example to see how it works within your test case:

XML DSL

<testcase name="AntRunTest">
    <variables>
        <variable name="today" value="citrus:currentDate()"/>
    </variables>
    <actions>
        <ant build-file="classpath:com/consol/citrus/actions/build.xml">
            <execute target="sayHello"/>
            <properties>
                <property name="date" value="${today}"/>
                <property name="welcomeText" value="Hello!"/>
            </properties>
        </ant>
    </actions>
</testcase>

Java DSL designer

@CitrusTest
public void antRunTest() {
    variable("today", "citrus:currentDate()");
    
    antrun("classpath:com/consol/citrus/actions/build.xml")
        .target("sayHello")
        .property("date", "${today}")
        .property("welcomeText", "$Hello!");
}

Java DSL runner

@CitrusTest
public void antRunTest() {
    variable("today", "citrus:currentDate()");

    antrun(action -> action.buildFilePath("classpath:com/consol/citrus/actions/build.xml")
                .target("sayHello")
                .property("date", "${today}")
                .property("welcomeText", "$Hello!"));
}

The respective build.xml Ant file must provide the target to call. For example:

<project name="citrus-build" default="sayHello">
    <property name="welcomeText" value="Welcome to Citrus!"></property>
    
    <target name="sayHello">
        <echo message="${welcomeText} - Today is ${date}"></echo>
    </target>
    
    <target name="sayGoodbye">
        <echo message="Goodbye everybody!"></echo>
    </target>
</project>

As you can see you can pass custom build properties to the Ant build execution. Existing Ant build properties are replaced and you can use the properties in your build file as usual.

You can also call multiple targets within one single build run by using a comma separated list of target names:

XML DSL

<testcase name="AntRunTest">
    <variables>
        <variable name="today" value="citrus:currentDate()"/>
    </variables>
    <actions>
        <ant build-file="classpath:com/consol/citrus/actions/build.xml">
            <execute targets="sayHello,sayGoodbye"/>
            <properties>
                <property name="date" value="${today}"/>
            </properties>
        </ant>
    </actions>
</testcase>

Java DSL designer

@CitrusTest
public void antRunTest() {
    variable("today", "citrus:currentDate()");
    
    antrun("classpath:com/consol/citrus/actions/build.xml")
        .targets("sayHello", "sayGoodbye")
        .property("date", "${today}");
}

Java DSL runner

@CitrusTest
public void antRunTest() {
    variable("today", "citrus:currentDate()");

    antrun(action -> action.buildFilePath("classpath:com/consol/citrus/actions/build.xml")
                .targets("sayHello", "sayGoodbye")
                .property("date", "${today}"));
}

The build properties can live in external file resource as an alternative to the inline property definitions. You just have to use the respective file resource path and all nested properties get loaded as build properties.

In addition to that you can also define a custom build listener. The build listener must implement the Ant API interface org.apache.tools.ant.BuildListener. During the Ant build run the build listener is called with several callback methods (e.g. buildStarted(), buildFinished(), targetStarted(), targetFinished(), ...). This is how you can add additional logic to the Ant build run from Citrus. A custom build listener could manage the fail state of your test case, in particular by raising some exception forcing the test case to fail accordingly.

XML DSL

<testcase name="AntRunTest">
    <actions>
        <ant build-file="classpath:com/consol/citrus/actions/build.xml" 
                build-listener="customBuildListener">
            <execute target="sayHello"/>
            <properties file="classpath:com/consol/citrus/actions/build.properties"/>
        </ant>
    </actions>
</testcase>

Java DSL designer

@Autowired
private BuildListener customBuildListener;

@CitrusTest
public void antRunTest() {
    antrun("classpath:com/consol/citrus/actions/build.xml")
        .target("sayHello")
        .propertyFile("classpath:com/consol/citrus/actions/build.properties")
        .listener(customBuildListener);
}

Java DSL runner

@Autowired
private BuildListener customBuildListener;

@CitrusTest
public void antRunTest() {
    antrun(action -> action.buildFilePath("classpath:com/consol/citrus/actions/build.xml")
            .target("sayHello")
            .propertyFile("classpath:com/consol/citrus/actions/build.properties")
            .listener(customBuildListener));
}

The customBuildListener used in the example above should reference a Spring bean in the Citrus application context. The bean implements the interface org.apache.tools.ant.BuildListener and controls the Ant build run.