Donovan Brown

Technology Blog

I can't access app.config from my web test plug in

26 April 2013 Donovan-Brown Work (0)
Problem:  I want to read the connection strings from my app.config of my Web Test Project but it never loads.  Solution:  Use the Configuration Manager OpenMappedExeConfiguration call to load the app.config file.  Code:  // Map the new configuration file.ExeConfigurationFileMap configFileMap = new ExeConfigurationFileMap();configFileMap.ExeConfigFilename =   System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().ManifestModule.Name + ".config"; // Get the mapped configuration filevar config = ConfigurationManager.OpenMappedExeConfiguration(   configFileMap, ConfigurationUserLevel.None); Explanation: The app.config of the test project is not loaded for web or load tests, because they are run in the same application domain as the test process (either vstesthost.exe or qtagent.exe), so they will load their config files instead. Therefore, we simply load the configuration file ourselves. Loading a configuration file is a two phased process.  First we build a ExcConfigurationFileMap object and set the name of our configuration file to be loaded. Then we open that file with a call to OpenMappedExeConfiguration method of the ConfigurationManager class. I am not a fan of hard coded values so we are going to get the name of the assembly using reflection and simply concatenate ".config" to the end of it.  Calling System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().ManifestModule.Name will return the name of the assembly. After calling OpenMappedExeConfiguration you can use the returned object to access the connection strings or any other data from the app.config.

My web test data source is not loading all the columns from my csv file.

05 December 2012 Donovan-Brown Work (0)
Problem: I have a data driven web test that calls other web test. The called web tests are also data bound to data loaded by the parent data source.  When I run my test I was getting the following error: Request failed: Context parameter 'FluidManagement.FluidManagement_json#csv.spacer2' not found in test context Solution: Expand the Data Sources node of your web test until you can select the desired table.  From the Properties window change the Select Columns from “Only select bound columns” to “Select all columns”. Explanation: The default behavior is to only select the columns that are bound the web test that defines the data source.  This is a reasonable assumption as long as the test does not call any other data bound web test.  If the test you call rely on columns that are not bound in the caller you must change the Select Columns setting.

How do I validate data in my database during a web test

25 August 2011 Donovan-Brown Work (0)
Problem: The only way I can verify the success of my web test is to read a value from a database. Solution: Create a custom validation rule that can validate the value in the database. Code: using System; using System.ComponentModel; using System.Data.SqlClient; using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.WebTesting; namespace TestUtil {    [DisplayName("SQL Validation Rule")]    [Description("Executes the query and compares the first column of the first row to the Expected value.")]    public class SQLValidationRule : ValidationRule    {       public SQLValidationRule()       {          IgnoreCase = true;       }       [Description("The query to execute and extract the first column from. In Select * from x where column={0}. You can leave the where clause if it is not needed.")]       public string Query { get; set; }       [DisplayName("Connection String")]       [Description("The full connection string to the database")]       public string ConnectionString { get; set; }       [DisplayName("Where Clause Context Parameter Name")]       [Description("The name of an optional context parameter to use if there is a where clause in the query.")]       public string WhereClauseContextParameterName { get; set; }       [DefaultValue(true)]       [DisplayName("Ignore Case")]       [Description("When set to true the case of the word is not used")]       public bool IgnoreCase { get; set; }       [DisplayName("Expected Value")]       [Description("The value to compare the first column too.")]       public string ExpectedValue { get; set; }       public override void Validate(object sender, ValidationEventArgs e)       {          string where = null;          if(!string.IsNullOrEmpty(WhereClauseContextParameterName))             where = e.WebTest.Context[WhereClauseContextParameterName].ToString();          string result = ExecuteQuery(ConnectionString, Query, where);          e.IsValid = string.Compare(result, ExpectedValue, IgnoreCase) == 0;       }       private string ExecuteQuery(string connectionString, string query, string where)       {          SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection(connectionString);          string cmdText = string.Format(query, where);          SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand(cmdText, conn);          try          {             conn.Open();             SqlDataReader dr = cmd.ExecuteReader();             if(dr.Read())                return dr.GetValue(0).ToString();          }          catch(Exception e)          {             System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine(e.Message);          }          finally          {             conn.Close();          }          return null;       }    } } Explanation: Creating a custom validation rule for web test is extremely simple.  Simply create a new public class that derives from Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.WebTesting.ValidationRule and override the Validate method.  If you create the class in your test project it will become immediately available the next time you try to add a validation rule to a web request.  If you created the class in a separate class library simply add a reference to that class library in your test project. This particular validation rule has the five following properties: Query – This is the query to be executed on the database connection.  Only the first column of the first record is used in the comparison of this validation rule.  The query can have a single where condition in the where clause that uses a context parameter value.  For example “Select Name from Table1 where ID={0}”.  At runtime the validation rule will look up the value of the provided context parameter and replace {0} with the value stored in the context parameter.  Using a context parameter is completely optional. Connection String – The connection string to a SQL Server database. This can also be a context parameter entered in {{ContextParameterName}} format.  Otherwise you may simple enter a literal string. Where Clause Context Parameter Name – The context parameter to be used to replace the {0} if any of the query. Ignore Case – Identifies if case should be ignored or not during the string comparison. Expected Value – The value to compare the first column of the first row too.  This can also be a context parameter entered in {{ContextParameterName}} format.  Otherwise you may simple enter a literal string. You can download the file below. SQLValidationRule.cs (2.48 kb)

How to change the display name of my Find Text validation rule

03 August 2011 Donovan-Brown Work (0)
Problem I can’t easily tell what my Find Text validation rule is searching for in my Web Test. Solution Change the DisplayName value in the Web Test xml to something more meaningful. From Solution Explorer right click on the Web Test and select Open With… then select XML (Text) Editor and click OK.  Once the file is open search the file for DisplayName="Find Text".  Replace Find Text with something more meaningful.  Save the file and close it.  Now right click on the Web Test from Solution Explorer and select Open With… and select the Web Test Editor (Default).  Now expand the Validation Rules folder under the desired web request.  The Find Text validation rule label will be the value you typed in. Explanation For some reason the creator of this validation run did not expose the DisplayName property so it could be change from the Properties Window.  However, the value is there and can be changed from the xml file.  This is very helpful when you have several Find Text validation rules on the same request.