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JSON Test Assertions & Seeding the Database

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Let's make this test real with data and assertions.

There are two main ways to do assertions with Browser. First, it comes with a bunch of built-in methods to help, like ->assertJson(). Or... you can always just grab the JSON that comes back from an endpoint and check things using the built-in PHPUnit assertions you know and love. We'll see both.

Let's start by checking ->assertJson(). When we run that:

symfony php bin/phpunit

It passes! Cool! We know that this response should have a hydra:totalItems property set to the number of results. Right now, our database is empty... but we can at least assert that it matches zero.

To do that, use ->assertJsonMatches(). This is a special method from Browser that uses a special syntax that allows us to read different parts off the JSON. We'll dig into it in a minute.

But this one is simple: assert that hydra:totalItems equals 0.

When we try this:

symfony php bin/phpunit

It fails! But with a great error:

mtdowling/jmespath.php is required to search JSON

Hello JMESPath

Ah, we need to install that! Copy the composer require line, find your terminal, and run it:

composer require mtdowling/jmespath.php --dev

This "JMESPath" thing is actually super cool: it's a "query language" for reading different parts of any JSON. For example, if this is your JSON and you want to read the a key, just say a. Simple.

But you can also do deeper, like: a.b.c.d. Or, get crazier: grab the 1 index, or grab a.b.c, then the 0 index, .d, the 1 index then the 0 index. You can even slice the array in different ways. Basically... you can go nuts.

But we're not going to lose our minds with this. It's a handy syntax... but if things get too complex, we can always test the JSON manually, which we'll do in a bit.

Anyway, now that we have the library installed, let's run the test again.

symfony php bin/phpunit

It still fails! With a weird error:

Syntax error at character 5 hydra:totalItems.

Unfortunately, the : is a special character inside of JMESPath. So whenever we have a :, we need to put quotes around that key.

Not ideal, but not a huge inconvenience.

Now when we try it:

symfony php bin/phpunit

It passes!

Seeding the Database

But... this isn't a very interesting test: we're just asserting that we get nothing back... because the database is empty. To make our test real, we need data: we need to seed the database with data at the start of the test.

Fortunately, Foundry makes that dead-simple. At the top, call DragonTreasureFactory::createMany() and let's create 5 treasures. Now, below, assert that we get 5 results. It's just that simple. And actually, let me put our dump back so we can see the result.

Try it now:

symfony php bin/phpunit

It passes! And if you look up, yea! The response has 5 treasures! Dang, that was easy.

Next: let's use JMESPath to assert something more challenging. Then we'll back up and see how we can dig into Browser to give us infinite flexibility - and simplicity - when it comes to testing JSON.

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What PHP libraries does this tutorial use?

// composer.json
{
    "require": {
        "php": ">=8.1",
        "ext-ctype": "*",
        "ext-iconv": "*",
        "api-platform/core": "^3.0", // v3.1.2
        "doctrine/annotations": "^2.0", // 2.0.1
        "doctrine/doctrine-bundle": "^2.8", // 2.8.3
        "doctrine/doctrine-migrations-bundle": "^3.2", // 3.2.2
        "doctrine/orm": "^2.14", // 2.14.1
        "nelmio/cors-bundle": "^2.2", // 2.2.0
        "nesbot/carbon": "^2.64", // 2.66.0
        "phpdocumentor/reflection-docblock": "^5.3", // 5.3.0
        "phpstan/phpdoc-parser": "^1.15", // 1.16.1
        "symfony/asset": "6.2.*", // v6.2.5
        "symfony/console": "6.2.*", // v6.2.5
        "symfony/dotenv": "6.2.*", // v6.2.5
        "symfony/expression-language": "6.2.*", // v6.2.5
        "symfony/flex": "^2", // v2.2.4
        "symfony/framework-bundle": "6.2.*", // v6.2.5
        "symfony/property-access": "6.2.*", // v6.2.5
        "symfony/property-info": "6.2.*", // v6.2.5
        "symfony/runtime": "6.2.*", // v6.2.5
        "symfony/security-bundle": "6.2.*", // v6.2.6
        "symfony/serializer": "6.2.*", // v6.2.5
        "symfony/twig-bundle": "6.2.*", // v6.2.5
        "symfony/ux-react": "^2.6", // v2.7.1
        "symfony/ux-vue": "^2.7", // v2.7.1
        "symfony/validator": "6.2.*", // v6.2.5
        "symfony/webpack-encore-bundle": "^1.16", // v1.16.1
        "symfony/yaml": "6.2.*" // v6.2.5
    },
    "require-dev": {
        "doctrine/doctrine-fixtures-bundle": "^3.4", // 3.4.2
        "mtdowling/jmespath.php": "^2.6", // 2.6.1
        "phpunit/phpunit": "^9.5", // 9.6.3
        "symfony/browser-kit": "6.2.*", // v6.2.5
        "symfony/css-selector": "6.2.*", // v6.2.5
        "symfony/debug-bundle": "6.2.*", // v6.2.5
        "symfony/maker-bundle": "^1.48", // v1.48.0
        "symfony/monolog-bundle": "^3.0", // v3.8.0
        "symfony/phpunit-bridge": "^6.2", // v6.2.5
        "symfony/stopwatch": "6.2.*", // v6.2.5
        "symfony/web-profiler-bundle": "6.2.*", // v6.2.5
        "zenstruck/browser": "^1.2", // v1.2.0
        "zenstruck/foundry": "^1.26" // v1.28.0
    }
}