4 Important Features of SoapUI Pro for Pro Audience – SoapUI Tutorial #12

In this article, we will look at the 4 important features of SoapUI Pro for Pro Audience. Let’s get started.

SoapUI comes in two versions – Open Source Free (SoapUI) and SoapUI Pro (now SoapUI NG pro).

So far we were discussing common automation concepts and functional testing basics such as creating projects, test suite/case/steps, properties, assertions, groovy script programming etc. You can check out the tutorials for all these concepts from this SoapUI series on this page.

Now, it is time for us to examine SoapUI Pro and its salient features which are more refined and are targeted at better and faster testing.

Note that we have not discussed the features of the SoapUI NG Pro version here. Apart from the few new features, all the features discussed in the article below are also present in SoapUI NG pro.

4 Important Features of SoapUI Pro

Feature #1: Point to Click (Drag & Drop)

This enables test steps in a certain test suite to be cloned easily. This will allow you to duplicate work without having to recreate it.

Here is how you can do it

Make your project tree as below. We are going to add a test request by dragging and dropping into another project.

• Double click on the Testcase node present under the test suite from GlobalWeather project tree
• Then drag the Request1 from DemoWebServices -> BarCodeSoap tree and drop it into the test case screen.
• Take a look at the following screenshot to get a better idea.

(Click on the image for an enlarged view)

• SoapUI Pro will ask us for confirmation. Choose Yes.
• We will see Add Request to Testcase dialogue where we need to enter a new request name
• Let me enter “GenerateBarCodeRequest” in the request text field.
• Once it is done, click OK to save. Here’s the screenshot that shows the newly added test case under the test suite.

Similarly, we can add a test suite or other nodes from one project to another project just by dragging and dropping.

Feature #2: Data Driven Testing

SoapUI Pro uses data source test steps that will connect external data sources and feed the data to the web service. The data source test step comes with a data source loop that enables iterating the data and sending it to the web service. This feature is useful for both functional-data driven and load testing.

The data sources supported are Excel, JDBC, XML and any other compatible databases. More than one data source can be connected at a time.

Here is an example – The data source project will look like this:

Feature #3: Reporting

SoapUI Pro offers different types of reports for better and easier analysis. They are as follows:

• Printable Report – allows us to export as PDF, HTML, RTF, Excel etc.
• Data Export – can be used to extract specific data such as XML and CSV formats.
• HTML Reports –generates the result in an HTML format that can be published on any web page.

Now let us create a sample report for the test suite execution. Follow these steps:

• Create a project with http://www.webservicex.net/globalweather.asmx?WSDL
• Then add the test suite and test steps as shown in the following screenshot

• Once the test requests are configured properly, double-click on the test suite
• Click on the run button from the toolbar to start the execution
• SoapUI will start the execution and finally show the test suite execution status
• Now click on the Create Report icon from the test suite toolbar.
• It will ask you to select the report type that you wish to create
• Make the required changes and then click OK to generate a report. You can now see the generated report.

Similarly, we can generate a data export report. Click on the Create Report icon from the toolbar. SoapUI Pro will launch the Create Report dialogue window. In the dialogue, check all the datasets and change the format to CSV so we can verify the report data with Excel. Also, check the Generate Header Row check box. Finally, specify the destination folder where the report has to be saved. Look at the following screenshot.

On OK, SoapUI Pro will generate three files (with the name as shown in the datasets section) in the mentioned location on your hard drive. If any errors occur during execution, error log files will also be created in the same location.

JUnit Style HTML Reports

The JUnit Style HTML Report will generate test results for each test suite and test cases. To create an HTML report, click on the icon. In the Format drop-down, click the JUnit-Style HTML report option. Next, click Single Page if it is not selected already. Then specify the destination folder path and click OK. The following HTML format report can be obtained.

(Click on the image for an enlarged view)

Feature #4: Coverage Feature in SoapUI Pro

Coverage features are used to analyse the covered REST or SOAP services. This will be captured during functional testing and mock service testing. Coverage status can be checked for the following test suite:

• Double click on the test suite name
• Execute the test suite by clicking on the run icon
• Once execution is completed, you will see the Coverage tab present next to the Test Cases tab. Please refer to the following screenshot

(Click on the image for an enlarged view)

Coverage feature focuses on functional tests, mock services and HTTP monitor scenarios. It also covers project level, test suite and test case levels as can be seen below:

SOAP and REST Services

SOAP, created by Microsoft, follows certain standards. It is a protocol that uses XML to transfer messages across the world through the Internet. An important feature is the built-in error handling, in both request and response. Interestingly, we don’t need to use Web Services Description Language (WSDL-a file that is associated with SOAP). WSDL contains the definition of how the web services are working and how we can refer to it.

As we all know SOAP-based services will be identified by its image indicator in the SoapUI project. See the screenshot below.

Representational State Transfer services (REST) are an alternative to SOAP because of their lighter control. For instance, if we use any script such as JavaScript with SOAP, we will have to prepare XML structure accordingly- which might be harder.

REST does not have complexities as it supports CSV, JSON and RSS format. We can get the output data for REST services in the above-mentioned formats. Please see screenshot below for REST services for Soap UI Pro.

There are some variances between SOAP and REST web services. Let’s use what they are.

SOAP

• Heavyweight standards that require some procedure to access the web services.
• Platform, language and transport independent as it does not require HTTP
• Widespread acceptance
• Error handling integration.
• Seamless integration with many languages

REST

• Faster than SOAP
• Efficient as it supports various formats like JSON, CSV, RSS
• Many open source plugins and tools are available to test REST services easily.
  

Conclusion

As the name SoapUI Pro indicates, it is the Pro version that comes with a number of additional features, which make it easier to use, faster, secure, more capable and versatile. Even though there are a lot of other features that are more specific to a pro audience, the ones listed in the above article are the ones applicable to most generic users.

Next SoapUI Pro tutorial #13 – In the next tutorial we will learn more about Soap and REST services.

Keep reading and please don’t forget to post your feedback or questions in the comments section below. We would love to hear from you.