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Adding Transactions

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You can easily add Transactions that describe the behavior of a Service using a supported file format. The Transaction Repository supports HTTP(s) stateless transactions. SOAP over HTTP(s) Transactions are supported as long as you provide the required headers. You can also manually edit or add Transactions that may not be represented in a file anywhere.

The following file formats are supported:

  • Swagger 2.0 (JSON and YAML)
  • Swagger 3.0/Open API (JSON and YAML)
    Note: You can import multiple Swagger files in a zip file, as long as the main file in the zip is called index.json or index.yaml.
  • HAR files
  • RR Pairs
    Note: Upload RR pairs as a zip file with one or more pairs. File formats must follow the name-req and name-rsp format, where the name string is the same across pairs. For example: login-req.txt and login-rsp.txt.
  • WSDL (WSDL or zip for multiple files)
    Note: You can import multiple WSDL files in a zip format, as long as the main file in the zip is called index.wsdl.
  • Exported Transactions JSON file, created from the export operation from the Service drop-down list. For more information, see Export Service with all Transactions.
  • JSON file created from the Blazemeter Proxy Recorder.
  • WireMock and Mocklab definitions in JSON format
  • CodeSV definitions in JSON format

In a Transaction, you provide criteria by which a request would match the Transaction, and a response that the Mock Service returns when a match is detected. The Request criteria can be a fully formed request, like a valid GET call, or a regular expression that would return a match for multiple potential requests. For more information about matching and strategies for creating requests, see Request Matching Examples.

In addition to creating Mock Service out of transactions, you can also create Mock Services out of MAR files. MAR files are portable versions of virtual services hosted in Broadcom's enterprise Service Virtualization product. They are treated differently than raw transaction data. For more information about MAR files, see Adding MAR Files.

Add Transactions from a File

You can add Transactions from a variety of sources. You can edit those Transactions after you import them to tune the matching criteria. For more information about the Request and Response fields, see Adding Transactions Manually.

Follow these steps:

  1. Log into your BlazeMeter account and click the Mock Services tab.
  2. Click Asset Catalog.
  3. Drag your file into the upload area, or click the area to browse for the file you want. This file should contain all of the Transactions that you want to use for your Mock Service.
    uploadboxnew.png
    Note: If you want to upload multiple Swagger files using a zip file, the main file in the zip file must be named index.json or index.yaml for the upload to work.
    The Import Transactions dialog opens.
    import-transactions.jpg
  4. Select the Service that you want to add these Transactions to.
    To create a new Service:
    1. Click Select Service.
    2. Enter the name for your new Service and click Add Service.
  5. If you want to assign one or more tags to these Transactions, type the tag name(s) in the Tags field and press Enter.
    • Tags make Transactions easier to identify, especially within a large Service. You can provide tag definitions here to apply the defined tags to all imported Transactions. Or you can define tags at the Transaction level after import.
    • To enter multiple tags, press Enter after each tag name.
  6. Click Import.
    The Transactions are added to the transaction repository as part of the selected service.
    transactionimportresults.png

Edit Transactions

When you import files into the transaction repository, the Transactions in the file are imported exactly as they appear in the file. You will often want or need to make those Transactions more useful by updating the URL to broaden the matching criteria, or duplicate the Transaction to add a similar Transaction that was not available in the file.

Follow these steps:

  1. In the main menu, navigate to the Mock Services tab and click Mock Services. 
  2. Click the Open Details button to expand a Mock Service.
    open-ms-details.png
    You can see a list of transactions in your catalog and in the particular Mock Service.
  3. Click the Edit Transaction button next to the transaction that you want to edit. You can edit the transaction in your catalog, as well as in this Mock Service.
    edit-transactions-button.png
  4. (Optional) If you want to preserve the existing Transaction, you can clone it. See Clone Transactions.
  5. Update Name, Service, and Description as needed.
  6. If you want to assign one or more tags to these transactions, type the tag name(s) in the Tags field and press Enter.
    Note: To enter multiple tags, press Enter after each tag name.
  7. In the Request Matcher tab, make changes to the existing request data.
    For example, you can change a direct URL into a regular expression that will match multiple similar requests. Or you can add parameters or other additional matching criteria to a request.
    See  Request Matching Examples for more information about modifying request data.
  8. Click Save.
    The updated Transaction is saved and available for adding into a Mock Service or Template.

Clone Transactions

Follow these steps:

  1. Log into your BlazeMeter account and click the Mock Services tab.
  2. Click the Asset Catalog tab.
  3. Click the Transactions tab.
  4. In the Actions column, click the Clone Transactions button. 
    clone-transactions.pngA duplicate of the Transaction is created. You can expand the new Transaction and make any required edits there.

Add Transactions Manually

You can manually add Transactions to the repository to account for Transactions that might not be represented in a file or specification. Cloning a similar Transaction is the simplest way to add a new Transaction without importing, but you can create a Transaction from scratch if a good reference point is not available.

Follow these steps:

  1. Log into your BlazeMeter account and click the Mock Services tab.
  2. Click Asset Catalog.
  3. Click the + button to Add Transaction.
    The Transaction details page opens.
    transactions-request-matcher.png
  4. Enter a name for the Transaction in the Name field.
  5. Select the Service you want to add this Transaction to from the Service drop-down.
    To create a new Service:
    1. Click Select Service.
    2. Enter the name for your new Service and click Add Service.
  6. If you want to assign one or more tags to these transactions, type the tag name(s) in the Tags field and press Enter.
    Note: To enter multiple tags, press Enter after each tag name.
  7. Enter a Description for the Transaction.
  8. In the Request Matcher tab, select the type of Transaction you want to add.
    The following transaction types are supported:
    • GET
    • POST
    • PUT
    • DELETE
    • PATCH
    • OPTIONS
    • TRACE
    • HEAD
    • CONNECT
    • ANY
  9. Select the proper option on the right of the URL field:
    • Select Equals if you are entering a specific URL in the field that you only want to match when that specific request URL is received.
    • Select Matches regex if you are entering a URL with regular expression elements that you want to match when the request URL fulfills the regex matching criteria.
  10. Enter the URL or regular expression in the URL field.
    If you are editing an imported Transaction, you can change the URL to a regular expression to make the Transaction match against a broader set of requests. For help with URL matching, see  Request Matching Examples.
  11. Click Add in each of the following tabs to add the details of your Transaction if you want to match against any of these entities in your request:
    For detailed help and examples, see  Request Matching Examples.
    • Headers
      Note: As a best practice, avoid using the "host" header in any request matching criteria, as it can adversely affect transaction matching.
    • Query Parameters
    • Cookies
    • Credentials
    • Body
  12. In the Response tab, select the Status Code to return with the response when a match occurs.
    response-tab.png
  13. Enter the full response body in the Body field
  14. (Optional) Add Response Headers. Use the Edit Wizard to define dynamic response values.
  15. (Optional) Provide Proxy URL values.
  16. (Optional) Specify a Think Time to simulate realistic delays. For more information, see Think Time.
  17. (Optional) Under Redirect to Live System, define the URL of your Live System Endpoint. All requests that match this transaction will be redirected to the live system. For more information about use cases, see Live System Endpoint in the Creating Your First Mock Service article.
  18. Click Save.
    The Transaction is added to the transaction repository.
    transactionimportresults.png

Request Matching Examples

Adding or editing the requests in your Transactions to match against the appropriate range of potential requests that you might use for testing helps make your Mock Services powerful and efficient.

This topic includes guidance and examples for entering matching criteria for each one of the request matcher inputs:

URL

The URL is the primary request URL. You can format the URL in a variety of ways for matching purposes, including:

  • A complete request URL that will only match when the Mock Service receives that exact request. Use the Equals setting for this type of request. Any parameters must be entered in the Query Parameters section.
  • A partial request URL with regular expression text that will return a match for any request that matches the expression criteria. Use the Matches regex setting for this type of request.
  • A complete request URL that serves as the root of a request with parameters or other information that you include in the other matching fields. For example, you can include a root URL, and then enter parameter matching criteria in the Query Parameters section that uses regular expressions.

Examples:

awsretrieveobject.PNG

This URL returns a direct match of the AWS S3 GET request for an object named report.json.

6.png

This URL returns a match for a petstore GET request that includes the string 'dog' in its path.

Matches:

  • https://petstore.blazemeter.com/api/pets/dogs
  • https://petstore.blazemeter.com/api/pets/animals/dog
  • https://petstore.blazemeter.com/api/pets/animals/dogs/small

Does Not Match:

  • https://petstore.blazemeter.com/api/pets/cats
  • https://petstore.blazemeter.com/api/pets/Dogs

Note: The RegEx matches are case sensitive. 

Headers

Use the Headers field to include any headers that must be present to return a match. The header value can be an exact value or a regular expression.

Example: 

petstorewithheader.PNG

This URL returns a match for a petstore GET request when an Accept header is included with the exact value of application/json.

Note: As a best practice, avoid using the Host header in any request matching criteria, as it can adversely affect transaction matching.

Query Parameters

Use query parameters to define a range of parameters that will result in a match. You can include multiple parameters, and the parameters can be exact values or regular expressions. When you define multiple parameters, all parameters much be present for the request to match.

When you use an equals matcher with query parameters, the incoming value is decoded before the comparison is made. Therefore, if you are trying to match on a value that is encoded within a URL, like "http://notreal/?status=25%25%20full", use the decoded value in the matcher ("25% full") instead of the encoded value in the URL.

Example: 

1.png

This request matches any time when the URL matches the URL and the search_criteria query parameter is present with any value, including an empty value.

Matches:

https://petstore.blazemeter.com/api/pets?search_criteria=brown 

https://petstore.blazemeter.com/api/pets?search_criteria=white 

https://petstore.blazemeter.com/api/pets?search_criteria 

Does Not Match:

https://petstore.blazemeter.com/api/pets 

https://petstore.blazemeter.com/api/pets?page=1 

3.png

This request matches any time when the URL matches the URL and the search_criteria parameter contains the values white or black.

Matches:

https://petstore.blazemeter.com/api/pets?search_criteria=black

https://petstore.blazemeter.com/api/pets?search_criteria=white

Does Not Match:

https://petstore.blazemeter.com/api/pets?search_criteria=brown 

https://petstore.blazemeter.com/api/pets

5.png

The one matches a request that contains the values white or black in the search_criteria query parameter (defined as regular expression matching) and does NOT contain the query parameter store.

Matches: 

https://petstore.blazemeter.com/api/pets?search_criteria=black

https://petstore.blazemeter.com/api/pets?search_criteria=white&page=1

Does Not Match:

https://petstore.blazemeter.com/api/pets?search_criteria=white&store=london

https://petstore.blazemeter.com/api/pets?store=london

https://petstore.blazemeter.com/api/pets?page=1

Cookies

Include cookies if the request needs to pass certain cookies to return a match.

Credentials

Include credentials if the request needs to include specific credentials to return a match.

Body

Include body text in the Body section if the request needs to include specific text in the request body to return a match. You can include multiple match conditions that are important to you without having to define the entire request body.

For example, you might include a match condition looking for an XPATH state, and a second match condition looking for a status code in the body. In this scenario, the entire request body doesn't have to match - only the XPATH state and status code that you specified. This is a more efficient method for defining the criteria that matter to you, because if you simply included the entire request body instead, any small deviation in the body content would cause the transaction to not match.

To match the content of XML or JSON documents semantically, while ignoring the format, use the Equals XML or Equals JSON matchers. These matchers ignore whitespace, formatting, and the order of fields.
To match JSON or XML fields that contain specific values, while the rest of the fields can have any value, use placeholders.

Examples:

The following Body Matcher requires a string match for "name": "John", and accepts any content for the membership and email fields:

{
  "name":        "John", 
  "membership": "${json-unit.any-string}", 
  "email":      "${json-unit.ignore-element}" 
}

For more information, see How to Do Advanced Request Matching With BlazeMeter.

Nested Path Formats for Request Matchers

Transactions now support a new in-house format of XPath and JSONPath matchers. This format can be used to check if an element matching the XPath or JSONPath matches a specific value or to a Regex so you can use Regular Expressions together with XPath and JSONPath. The structure of this new format looks like:

[[ PATH, Function ]]

The only available functions supported right now are “equalTo” (to match a specific value) and “matching” (to evaluate against a Regex). Here are some examples of this format:

XPath:

  • [[ /company/employee/name/text(), equalTo(John) ]] - Checks to find an element with name as “John”
  • [[ /company/employee/name/text(), matching(.*)]] - Checks to find an element with any name

JsonPath:

  • [[ $.company.employee.name, equalTo(John) ]] -  Checks to find an element with name as “John”
  • [[ $.company.employee.name, matching(.*)]] - Checks to find an element with any name

The XPath and JSONPath request wizards have been changed to generate paths as per this new in-house format. 

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