Server-side Java testing with Cactus - JUnit in Action - page 264

S TEPPING THROUGH A TEST
For each test ( test XXX methods in the YYY TestCase classes), the six steps shown in
figure 14.2 take place. Let's step through them.

Execute beginXXX . If there is a begin XXX method, Cactus executes it. The
begin XXX method lets you pass information to the redirector. The TestSam-
pleServletIntegration example extends ServletTestCase and connects to
the Cactus servlet redirector. The servlet redirector is implemented as a servlet;
this is the entry point in the container. The Cactus client side calls the servlet
redirector by opening an HTTP connection to it. The begin XXX method sets up
HTTP -related parameters that are set in the HTTP request received by the serv-
let redirector. This method can be used to define HTTP POST / GET parameters,
HTTP cookies, HTTP headers, and so forth.
Here's an example:

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public void beginXXX(WebRequest request) {
request.addParameter("param1", "value1");
request.addCookie("cookie1", "value1");
[...]
}
In the TestSampleServletIntegration class, we've used the begin XXX method
to tell the redirector not to create an HTTP session (the default behavior cre-
ates one):

public void beginIsAuthenticatedNoSession(WebRequest request) {
request.setAutomaticSession(false);
}

Open the redirector connection. The YYY TestCase opens a connection to its redi-
rector. In this case, the ServletTestCase code opens an HTTP connection to
the servlet redirector (which is a servlet).

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Create the server-side TestCase instance. The redirector creates an instance of
the YYY TestCase class. Note that this is the second instance created by Cactus;
the first one was created on the client side (by the JU nit TestRunner ). Then the
redirector retrieves container objects and assigns them in the YYY TestCase
instance by setting class variables.
In the servlet example, the servlet redirector creates an instance of Test-
SampleServletIntegration and sets the following objects as class variables in it:
HttpServletRequest , HttpServletResponse , HttpSession , and others. The
servlet redirector is able to do this because it's a servlet. When it's called by the
Cactus client side, it has received a valid HttpServletRequest , HttpServlet-
Response , HttpSession , and other objects from the container and is passing
them to the YYY TestCase instance. It acts as a proxy/redirector (hence its name).
The redirector then starts the test (see step 4). Upon returning from the test,
it stores the test result in the ServletConfig servlet object along with any
exception that might have been raised during the test, so the test result can

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