Testing your custom data source API server

To check whether your server handles the custom data source API requests as expected, you can use our test suite that covers basic use cases. It sends requests to your back end and expects a specific response in return.

Our testing program works for any server implementing the custom data source API, no matter the server-side technology used.

Testing your server requires two stages:

Prepare your server
Run the tests

Step 1. Prepare your server

Step 1.1. To pass our tests, your server should have an appropriately configured test index:

As a test dataset, use either data.json or data.csv files.
Our tests use the data index in requests to the server. Therefore, create an index with this name for the test data.

Step 1.2. After configuring the index, run your server.

Step 2. Run the tests

Complete the steps below to download, configure, and run our tests:

Step 2.1. You can find the test suite on our GitHub. Download the repository as a .zip archive or clone it with the following command:

git clone https://github.com/flexmonster/api-data-source
cd api-data-source/tests

Step 2.2. Install npm dependencies described in package.json:

npm install

Step 2.3. Open the tests/config.json file and specify the path to your API endpoints in the url property:

{
  "url": "path_to_your_server",
  // Other configs
}

Step 2.4. The tests/config.json file contains other configurations for the tests. Check them out and adjust if the default values do not work for your server.

Step 2.5. Run the test suite with the following command:

npm test

You will see test results in the console. For example:

Configurations for the tests

Tests can be adjusted to your custom data source API implementation through the tests/config.json file. It contains the following configuration properties:

Property/Type	Description
url String	The path to your API endpoints. Default value: `"http://localhost:3400/api/cube"`.
emptyValue Any value	Defines how your server should treat null or undefined values from the dataset. For example, our sample Node.js server replaces null and undefined values with an empty string (`""`). In this case, the `emptyValue` should be `""` — then the test suite will expect `""` instead of `null` and `undefined` in the server’s response. Default value: `""`.
valueFilters Boolean	Indicates whether to run tests for value filters. Set this property to `true` if you have implemented value filters. Note that these tests will work correctly only if your server: Implements version 2.8.5 of the custom data source API. Implements version 2.8.22 without multilevel hierarchy support (the advanced property of the /fields request is set to `false`). See how to check your custom data source API version. Default value: `false`.
hierarchy Boolean	Indicates whether to run tests for multilevel hierarchies. Set this property to `true` if you have implemented advanced hierarchical filters. Note that these tests will work correctly only if your server implements version 2.8.5 of the custom data source API. See how to check your custom data source API version. Default value: `false`.

Test overview

Let's have a look at the files you can find in the tests/test/ folder:

HandshakeRequestSpec.js - Tests the /handshake request implementation.
FieldsRequestSpec.js - Tests the /fields request implementation.
MembersRequestSpec.js - Tests the /members request implementation.
SelectRequestSpec.js - Tests the /select request implementation.
SelectRequestFlatSpec.js - Tests the /select request for the flat table implementation.
SelectRequestDrillThroughSpec.js - Tests the /select request for the drill-through view implementation.

What's next?

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