Forum Discussion

pb1's avatar
pb1
Contributor
6 years ago

JSONPath - negative match alternatives

Hi there.

 

We are currently trying to assert, that two sibling nodes in a JSON do not have the same value in one of their parameters. For example for the parameter position:

 

nodes:[{
  "name":"value1",
  "position":0
},{
  "name":"value2",
  "position":0
}]

The JSON is invalid because we expect the value of "position" to be different for each node.

 

 

How do we write an assertion for this that does not require the usage of groovy? In XPath Expressions we can use additional logic like the following (not a valid XPath, just an example)

//Results[1]/ResultSet[1]/Row[1]/nodes[1].position != //Results[1]/ResultSet[1]/Row[1]/nodes[2].position

Is there a related functionality for JSONPaths or other alternatives that allow you to use a negative-match?

 

(I would like solutions outside of groovy-scripting, either in the expected value or as its own step, I am fully aware that those would be the simplest solutions)

 

Thanks in advance for any help provided

pb1

  • richie's avatar
    richie
    6 years ago

    Hi pb1 

     

    I don't think there is a native functionality option.  I asked this question about 6 months ago - but the 3 XPATH/XML options I'm aware of didnt work for JSONPATH/JSON.

     

    The only answer I found was to use groovy (which Rao kindly put together for me). 

     

    If someone does come back with a non-groovy answer - great! I'd welcome knowing the option - but for now when I have to do this when the response type is json - I rely on groovy.

     

    I have one other suggestion that 'might' help you get around this that's just popped in my head - so never tried it myself.  Depending on your webservice (for this particular test step which returns json) you could add an Accept header (value = application/xml) - to force the response content type to XML.  Perhaps you could use one of the XML related options using this approach?  I appreciate it wouldn't be the first option you might consider - but if you're really adamant you dont want to try groovy - switching the content to XML for this single test might allow you to get around this?

     

    Hope this helps!......although I suspect it didn't!

     

    Cheers,

     

    rich

     

  • richie's avatar
    richie
    Community Hero
    6 years ago

    Hi pb1 

     

    I don't think there is a native functionality option.  I asked this question about 6 months ago - but the 3 XPATH/XML options I'm aware of didnt work for JSONPATH/JSON.

     

    The only answer I found was to use groovy (which Rao kindly put together for me). 

     

    If someone does come back with a non-groovy answer - great! I'd welcome knowing the option - but for now when I have to do this when the response type is json - I rely on groovy.

     

    I have one other suggestion that 'might' help you get around this that's just popped in my head - so never tried it myself.  Depending on your webservice (for this particular test step which returns json) you could add an Accept header (value = application/xml) - to force the response content type to XML.  Perhaps you could use one of the XML related options using this approach?  I appreciate it wouldn't be the first option you might consider - but if you're really adamant you dont want to try groovy - switching the content to XML for this single test might allow you to get around this?

     

    Hope this helps!......although I suspect it didn't!

     

    Cheers,

     

    rich

     

    • pb1's avatar
      pb1
      Contributor
      6 years ago

      Hey richie

       

      Thanks for your answer, I have done some digging myself and was also unable to find anything that doesn't use XPath. Groovy solves this easily and I personally don't mind it but the test-manager in our project has an aversion to code in tests and prefers things to be solved natively in SoapUI - if there are no native solutions provided we will simply use a groovy-script to solve it.

       

      Our services do not allow forcing formats aside from JSON, neat idea though!

      • nmrao's avatar
        nmrao
        Champion Level 3
        6 years ago
        Writing assertions in groovy and executing them in soapUI is integral part.
        No external install of groovy is needed and this should be made clear to the people.
        After all, if assertions couldn't be in place then it is as equal as not tested.