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14.

Controller Functional Test

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We just added a route and controller, and since this bundle is going to be used by, probably, billions of people, I want to make sure they work! How? By writing a good old-fashioned functional test that surfs to the new URL and checks the result.

In the tests/ directory, create a new Controller directory and a new PHP class inside called IpsumApiControllerTest. As always, make this extend TestCase from PHPUnit, and add a public function testIndex().

18 lines | LoremIpsumBundle/tests/Controller/IpsumApiControllerTest.php
// ... lines 1 - 10
class IpsumApiControllerTest extends TestCase
{
public function testIndex()
{
}
}

How to Boot a Fake App?

The setup for a functional test is pretty similar to an integration test: create a custom test kernel, but this time, import routes.xml inside. Then, we can use Symfony's BrowserKit to make requests into that kernel and check that we get a 200 status code back.

Start by stealing the testing kernel from the FunctionalTest class. Paste this at the bottom, and, just to avoid confusion, give it a different name: KnpULoremIpsumControllerKernel. Re-type the l and hit tab to add the use statement for the Kernel class.

43 lines | LoremIpsumBundle/tests/Controller/IpsumApiControllerTest.php
// ... lines 1 - 18
class KnpULoremIpsumControllerKernel extends Kernel
{
public function __construct()
{
parent::__construct('test', true);
}
public function registerBundles()
{
return [
new KnpULoremIpsumBundle(),
];
}
public function registerContainerConfiguration(LoaderInterface $loader)
{
$loader->load(function(ContainerBuilder $container) {
});
}
public function getCacheDir()
{
return __DIR__.'/../cache/'.spl_object_hash($this);
}
}

Then, we can simplify: we don't need any special configuration: just call the parent constructor. Re-type the bundle name and hit tab to get the use statement, and do this on the other two highlighted classes below. Empty the load() callback for now.

Yep, we're just booting a kernel with one bundle... super boring.

Do we Need FrameworkBundle Now?

And here's where things get confusing. In composer.json, as you know, we do not have a dependency on symfony/framework-bundle. But now... we have a route and controller... and... well... the entire routing and controller system comes from FrameworkBundle! In other words, while not impossible, it's incredibly unlikely that someone will want to import our route, but not use FrameworkBundle.

This means that we now depend on FrameworkBundle. Well actually, that's not entirely true. Our new route & controller are optional features. So, in a perfect world, FrameworkBundle should still be an optional dependency. In other words, we are not going to add it to the require key. In reality, if you did, no big deal - but we're doing things the harder, more interesting way.

This leaves us with a big ugly problem! In order to test that the route and controller work, we need the route & controller system! We need FrameworkBundle! This is yet another case when we need a dependency, but we only need the dependency when we're developing the bundle or running tests. Find your terminal and run:

composer require symfony/framework-bundle --dev

Let this download. Excellent!

Importing Routes from the Kernel

Back in the test, thanks to FrameworkBundle, we can use a really cool trait to make life simpler. Full disclosure, I helped created the trait - so of course I think it's cool. But really, it makes life easier: use MicroKernelTrait. Remove registerContainerConfiguration() and, instead go back again to the Code -> Generate menu - or Command + N on a Mac - and implement the two missing methods: configureContainer(), and configureRoutes().

Tip

Starting in Symfony 5.1, the first argument to configureRoutes() should be RoutingConfigurator $routes.

51 lines | LoremIpsumBundle/tests/Controller/IpsumApiControllerTest.php
// ... lines 1 - 20
class KnpULoremIpsumControllerKernel extends Kernel
{
use MicroKernelTrait;
// ... lines 24 - 36
protected function configureRoutes(RouteCollectionBuilder $routes)
{
}
// ... line 41
protected function configureContainer(ContainerBuilder $c, LoaderInterface $loader)
{
}
// ... lines 46 - 50
}

Cool! So... let's import our route! $routes->import(), then the path to that file: __DIR__.'/../../src/Resources/config/routes.xml'.

Tip

If you're using the RoutingConfigurator $routes argument to configureRoutes() (Symfony 5.1 and later), then import with:

$routes->import(__DIR__.'/../../src/Resources/config/routes.xml')->prefix('/api');

51 lines | LoremIpsumBundle/tests/Controller/IpsumApiControllerTest.php
// ... lines 1 - 36
protected function configureRoutes(RouteCollectionBuilder $routes)
{
$routes->import(__DIR__.'/../../src/Resources/config/routes.xml', '/api');
}
// ... lines 41 - 51

Setting up the Test Client

Nice! And... that's really all the kernel needs. Back up in testIndex(), create the new kernel: new KnpULoremIpsumControllerKernel().

57 lines | LoremIpsumBundle/tests/Controller/IpsumApiControllerTest.php
// ... lines 1 - 13
class IpsumApiControllerTest extends TestCase
{
public function testIndex()
{
$kernel = new KnpULoremIpsumControllerKernel();
// ... lines 19 - 23
}
}
// ... lines 26 - 57

Now, you can almost pretend like this a normal functional test in a normal Symfony app. Create a test client: $client = new Client() - the one from FrameworkBundle - and pass it the $kernel.

Tip

In Symfony 4.3 and higher, use KernelBrowser instead of Client: the class was renamed.

Use this to make requests into the app with $client->request(). You will not get auto-completion for this method - we'll find out why soon. Make a GET request, and for the URL... actually, down in configureRoutes(), ah, I forgot to add a prefix! Add /api as the second argument. Make the request to /api/.

57 lines | LoremIpsumBundle/tests/Controller/IpsumApiControllerTest.php
// ... lines 1 - 15
public function testIndex()
{
// ... line 18
$client = new Client($kernel);
$client->request('GET', '/api/');
// ... lines 21 - 23
}
// ... lines 25 - 57

57 lines | LoremIpsumBundle/tests/Controller/IpsumApiControllerTest.php
// ... lines 1 - 26
class KnpULoremIpsumControllerKernel extends Kernel
{
// ... lines 29 - 42
protected function configureRoutes(RouteCollectionBuilder $routes)
{
$routes->import(__DIR__.'/../../src/Resources/config/routes.xml', '/api');
}
// ... lines 47 - 56
}

Cool! Let's dump the response to see what it looks like: var_dump($client->getResponse()->getContent()). Then add an assert that 200 matches $client->getResponse()->getStatusCode().

57 lines | LoremIpsumBundle/tests/Controller/IpsumApiControllerTest.php
// ... lines 1 - 13
class IpsumApiControllerTest extends TestCase
{
public function testIndex()
{
// ... lines 18 - 21
var_dump($client->getResponse()->getContent());
$this->assertSame(200, $client->getResponse()->getStatusCode());
}
}
// ... lines 26 - 57

Alright! Let's give this a try! Find your terminal, and run those tests!

./vendor/bin/simple-phpunit

Woh! They are not happy:

Fatal error class BrowserKit\Client does not exist.

Hmm. This comes from the http-kernel\Client class. Here's what's happening: we use the Client class from FrameworkBundle, that extends Client from http-kernel, and that tries to use a class from a component called browser-kit, which is an optional dependency of http-kernel. Geez.

Basically, we're trying to use a class from a library that we don't have installed. You know the drill, find your terminal and run:

composer require "symfony/browser-kit:^4.0" --dev

When that finishes, try the test again!

./vendor/bin/simple-phpunit

Oof. It just looks awful:

LogicException: Container extension "framework" is not registered.

This comes from ContainerBuilder, which is called from somewhere inside MicroKernelTrait. This is a bit tougher to track down. When we use MicroKernelTrait, behind the scenes, it adds some framework configuration to the container in order to configure the router. But... our kernel does not enable FrameworkBundle!

No problem: add new FrameworkBundle to our bundles array.

60 lines | LoremIpsumBundle/tests/Controller/IpsumApiControllerTest.php
// ... lines 1 - 35
public function registerBundles()
{
return [
// ... line 39
new FrameworkBundle(),
];
}
// ... lines 43 - 60

Then, go back and try the tests again: hold your breath:

./vendor/bin/simple-phpunit

No! Hmm:

The service url_signer has a dependency on a non-existent parameter "kernel.secret".

This is a fancy way of saying that, for some reason, there is a missing parameter. It turns out that FrameworkBundle has one required piece of configuration. In your application, open config/packages/framework.yaml. Yep, right on top: the secret key.

This is used in various places for security, and, since it needs to be unique and secret, Symfony can't give you a default value. For our testing kernel, it's meaningless, but it needs to exist. In configureContainer(), add $c->loadFromExtension() passing it framework and an array with secret set to anything. The FrameworkExtension uses this value to set that missing parameter.

Tip

In Symfony 5.1, to avoid a deprecation warning, you'll also need to set a router key with utf8: true:

'secret' => 'F00',
'router' => ['utf8' => true],

60 lines | LoremIpsumBundle/tests/Controller/IpsumApiControllerTest.php
// ... lines 1 - 48
protected function configureContainer(ContainerBuilder $c, LoaderInterface $loader)
{
$c->loadFromExtension('framework', [
'secret' => 'F00',
]);
}
// ... lines 55 - 60

Do those tests... one, last time:

./vendor/bin/simple-phpunit

Phew! They pass! The response status code is 200 and you can even see the JSON. Go back to the test and take out the var_dump().

Next, let's get away from tests and talk about events: the best way to allow users to hook into your controller logic.