CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#web-servicesunit-testing
Steven Behnke
Steven Behnke

Reputation: 3344

How to unit test C# Web Service with Visual Studio 2008

How are you supposed to unit test a web service in C# with Visual Studio 2008? When I generate a unit test it adds an actual reference to the web service class instead of a web reference. It sets the attributes specified in:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms243399(VS.80).aspx#TestingWebServiceLocally

Yet, it will complete without executing the test. I attempted to add the call to WebServiceHelper.TryUrlRedirection(...) but the call does not like the target since it inherits from WebService, not WebClientProtocol.

Upvotes: 12

Views: 22455

Answers (6)

Chris Brandsma
Chris Brandsma

Reputation: 11736

If you are writing a web service, try to put all logic in another (testable) layer. Each Web method should have a little code as possible. Then you will have little reason to test the web method directly because you can test the underlying layers.

[WebMethod]
public void DoSomething()
{ 
   hander.DoSomething();
}

If you are consuming a web method, wrap the generated caller in a class wrapper, and implement an interface for the class wrapper. Then, anytime you need to call the web service, use the interface to call the method. You want to use the interface so as to make the class wrapper swappable during testing (using Rhino Mocks, Moq, or TypeMock).

Upvotes: 8

csharpforevermore
csharpforevermore

Reputation: 1523

Know that there are two types of Web Service. Those you write yourself and want to test, and those that you consume. For the former, the above rules apply. However, I would say that sometimes I see developers testing against external web services. Logic dictates that a third party service is unreliable and therefore requires much more testing. In object-oriented programming, it is best to understand the separation of concern that Martin Fowler and the others all told us about. This means that we should not test systems external to our own.

However, I like to write wrapper classes to provide useful functionality against the services. For example, Bing Maps has a number of amazingly powerful functions. I write tests against these just to ensure that they give me the expected values. Although not extensive, the point of them is that if the web service dies for any reason (authentication key expires, etc) then I can be informed of it via the Test Server.

Upvotes: 0

Ra.
Ra.

Reputation: 289

I had problems with this as well, so i use this workaround: http://techkn0w.wordpress.com/2009/07/01/unit-testing-an-asmx-web-service-in-visual-studio-2008/

Upvotes: 1

Sarah Vessels
Sarah Vessels

Reputation: 31630

Above my web method unit tests, I have the following:

// TODO: Ensure that the UrlToTest attribute specifies a URL to an ASP.NET page (for example,
// http://.../Default.aspx). This is necessary for the unit test to be executed on the web server,
// whether you are testing a page, web service, or a WCF service.
[HostType("ASP.NET")]
[UrlToTest("http://localhost/MyWebService")]

In addition to the usual:

[TestMethod()]
[DeploymentItem("MyWebService.dll")]

This code came about from using the Visual Studio 2008 Unit Test Wizard.

Upvotes: 0

Doron Yaacoby
Doron Yaacoby

Reputation: 9740

What I usually do is not test directly against the web-service, but to try and put as little code as possible in the service, and call a different class which does all the real work. Then I write unit tests for that other class. It turns out that class can sometimes be useful outside of the web-service context, so this way - you gain twice.

Upvotes: 24

JoshBerke
JoshBerke

Reputation: 67068

You can add a service reference to your unit test project or generate your client stub and put the class in your unit test project.

Upvotes: 1

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