C#•2y ago

Unit Testing, AcionResult Metadata Properties and JsonSerializer.Deserialize [Answered]

Hi all, I'm trying to add Unit Test to my WebAPI. I choose to call my endpoints with an httpclient and make my asserts on deserialized response. Now, it'm almost my first Unit Test experience so I don't know if I'm right or not so my first question is. Should it is an approach? After that, when I try to deserialize my reponse, all content contains metadata properties that, in Array cases, change completely the type of property (object with { "$id": "1", "$values": [<the-array>]), so deserialize not work if I specify the response type. Is there a way to avoid/ignore metadata properties and just return my plain model? Now I'm trying to remove them through Regex Replace but (and here it is the third question), Regex found correctly my pattern with groups, I try to return Group[1].Value from my MatchEvaluator but Regex.Replace return exactly the input variable, without changes, any help? Thank you in advance

60 Replies

Pobiega•2y ago

If you could show some code, this would be much easier. Can you show the controller, your tests, and perhaps some of your response models?

ronkpunk•2y ago

ok just a minute this is my controller method

      [HttpGet]
      [Route("")]
      public ActionResult Get()
      {
            try
            {
                return this.Ok(this.iMapper.Map<UserGet>(this.CurrentUser));
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                this.logger.LogError(ex, "Error getting current user");
                return this.Problem(ex.ToString());
            }
        }

      [HttpGet]
      [Route("")]
      public ActionResult Get()
      {
            try
            {
                return this.Ok(this.iMapper.Map<UserGet>(this.CurrentUser));
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                this.logger.LogError(ex, "Error getting current user");
                return this.Problem(ex.ToString());
            }
        }

Pobiega•2y ago

$code

MODiX•2y ago

To post C# code type the following: ```cs // code here ``` Get an example by typing $codegif in chat If your code is too long, post it to: https://paste.mod.gg/

Pobiega•2y ago

okay, and what does UserGet look like? any custom mapping going on or just normal stuff?

ronkpunk•2y ago

Unit Test

[Fact(DisplayName = "Recupero lista tenant")/*, TestPriority(2)*/]
public async Task TestGet()
{
    var response = await this.httpHelper.Get("", otherParams); //it works
    Assert.Equal(HttpStatusCode.OK, response.StatusCode);
    Assert.Equal(MediaTypeWithQualityHeaderValue.Parse("application/json; charset=utf-8"), response.Content.Headers.ContentType);

    var myObj = await this.httpHelper.GetContent<List<UserGet>>(response);
    Assert.NotNull(tenantResponse);
}

[Fact(DisplayName = "Recupero lista tenant")/*, TestPriority(2)*/]
public async Task TestGet()
{
    var response = await this.httpHelper.Get("", otherParams); //it works
    Assert.Equal(HttpStatusCode.OK, response.StatusCode);
    Assert.Equal(MediaTypeWithQualityHeaderValue.Parse("application/json; charset=utf-8"), response.Content.Headers.ContentType);

    var myObj = await this.httpHelper.GetContent<List<UserGet>>(response);
    Assert.NotNull(tenantResponse);
}

Pobiega•2y ago

hm, I don't see any WAF or similar here, where do you start the API?

ronkpunk•2y ago

Models

public class UserGet
    {
        public int UserId { get; set; }
        public string NameSurname { get; set; } = null!;
        public string Email { get; set; } = null!;

        public bool IsActive { get; set; }

        public HashSet<UserTenantRoleGet> UserTenantRoles { get; set; }
    }

public class UserTenantRoleGet
    {
        public int UserId { get; set; }
        public string UserMail { get; set; }
        public string UserName { get; set; }

        public int TenantId { get; set; }
        public Guid TenantGuid { get; set; }
        public string TenantName { get; set; }

        public int RoleID { get; set; }
        public string RoleName { get; set; }

        public List<AccessControlListGet> AccessControlList { get; set; }

    }

public class AccessControlListGet
    {
        public int Id { get; set; }
        public int RoleId { get; set; }
        public string RoleName { get; set; }
        public int EntityScopeId { get; set; }
        public string EntityScopeName { get; set; }
        public bool CanRead { get; set; }
        public bool CanWrite { get; set; }

    }

public class UserGet
    {
        public int UserId { get; set; }
        public string NameSurname { get; set; } = null!;
        public string Email { get; set; } = null!;

        public bool IsActive { get; set; }

        public HashSet<UserTenantRoleGet> UserTenantRoles { get; set; }
    }

public class UserTenantRoleGet
    {
        public int UserId { get; set; }
        public string UserMail { get; set; }
        public string UserName { get; set; }

        public int TenantId { get; set; }
        public Guid TenantGuid { get; set; }
        public string TenantName { get; set; }

        public int RoleID { get; set; }
        public string RoleName { get; set; }

        public List<AccessControlListGet> AccessControlList { get; set; }

    }

public class AccessControlListGet
    {
        public int Id { get; set; }
        public int RoleId { get; set; }
        public string RoleName { get; set; }
        public int EntityScopeId { get; set; }
        public string EntityScopeName { get; set; }
        public bool CanRead { get; set; }
        public bool CanWrite { get; set; }

    }

Pobiega•2y ago

what is httpHelper?

ronkpunk•2y ago

I've a BaseTest Unit with all theese things, dbContext, playgroundApplication and so on httpHelper is a custom class I made

Pobiega•2y ago

well its hard to help you troubleshoot things when you are not showing where the stuff is happening 😛 http helper seems to be making the actual HTTP requests, so we need to see that

ronkpunk•2y ago

ahahah sorry, I'm writing it now

Pobiega•2y ago

and perhaps show the raw response you get for the user endpoint?

ronkpunk•2y ago

the raw response it a HttpMessageResponse the content red as string is that {"$id":"1","UserId":2219,"NameSurname":"Namebd2547c4-879c-44b3-927a-5a5d19262187","Email":"Mailc5643a9a-74be-4395-add7-9cce004a68b4","IsActive":true,"UserTenantRoles":{"$id":"2","$values":[{"$id":"3","UserId":2219,"UserMail":"Mailc5643a9a-74be-4395-add7-9cce004a68b4","UserName":"Namebd2547c4-879c-44b3-927a-5a5d19262187","TenantId":2727,"TenantGuid":"92298313-27aa-437f-a454-6539be1699de","TenantName":"Name3c1cb7af-9050-489e-ae60-c224e260adf2","RoleID":1,"RoleName":"Admin","AccessControlList":{"$id":"4","$values":[{"$id":"5","Id":9,"RoleId":1,"RoleName":"Admin","EntityScopeId":1,"EntityScopeName":"Tenants","CanRead":true,"CanWrite":true},{"$id":"6","Id":10,"RoleId":1,"RoleName":"Admin","EntityScopeId":6,"EntityScopeName":"Updates","CanRead":true,"CanWrite":true},{"$id":"7","Id":11,"RoleId":1,"RoleName":"Admin","EntityScopeId":3,"EntityScopeName":"Tvs","CanRead":true,"CanWrite":true},{"$id":"8","Id":12,"RoleId":1,"RoleName":"Admin","EntityScopeId":2,"EntityScopeName":"Users","CanRead":true,"CanWrite":true},{"$id":"9","Id":13,"RoleId":1,"RoleName":"Admin","EntityScopeId":4,"EntityScopeName":"Media","CanRead":true,"CanWrite":true},{"$id":"10","Id":14,"RoleId":1,"RoleName":"Admin","EntityScopeId":5,"EntityScopeName":"Pages","CanRead":true,"CanWrite":true}]}}]}}

Pobiega•2y ago

yeah but if you extract the string body yeah

ronkpunk•2y ago

(sorry, I'm a little slow to copy and paste)

Pobiega•2y ago

and if you visit this endpoint with a normal browser, do you get the same json? or is the metadata only showing during tests?

ronkpunk•2y ago

yes I've tried with postman

Pobiega•2y ago

yes to what 🙂

ronkpunk•2y ago

and I can see metadata properties and also calling API from frontend have theese properties

Pobiega•2y ago

ah okay, sounds like there is a problem with the mapping then is that AutoMapper?

ronkpunk•2y ago

yep (i'm looking for its config)

Pobiega•2y ago

hm, thats weird

public class UserGet
    {
        public int UserId { get; set; }
        public string NameSurname { get; set; } = null!;
        public string Email { get; set; } = null!;

        public bool IsActive { get; set; }

        public HashSet<UserTenantRoleGet> UserTenantRoles { get; set; }
    }

public class UserGet
    {
        public int UserId { get; set; }
        public string NameSurname { get; set; } = null!;
        public string Email { get; set; } = null!;

        public bool IsActive { get; set; }

        public HashSet<UserTenantRoleGet> UserTenantRoles { get; set; }
    }

given that model, there shouldn't be any metadata unless something funny is going on with the this.Ok Normally, you would type the controller action ie public ActionResult Get() would be

public ActionResult<UserGet> Get()
{ ...

public ActionResult<UserGet> Get()
{ ...

and just return the value directly, instead of manually wrapping it in an OK exceptions will automatically become a Problem, by the default http pipeline I gotta run, but will be back in ~30-60

ronkpunk•2y ago

ok, thank you so I've to change my Controller like that

[HttpGet]
        [Route("")]
        public ActionResult<UserGet> Get()
        {
            try
            {
                return this.iMapper.Map<UserGet>(this.CurrentUser);
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                this.logger.LogError(ex, "Error getting current tenant");
                return this.Problem(ex.ToString());
            }
        }

[HttpGet]
        [Route("")]
        public ActionResult<UserGet> Get()
        {
            try
            {
                return this.iMapper.Map<UserGet>(this.CurrentUser);
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                this.logger.LogError(ex, "Error getting current tenant");
                return this.Problem(ex.ToString());
            }
        }

HttpClientHelper.cs

public class HttpClientHelper
    {
        public async Task<HttpResponseMessage> Get(string route, otherParams)
        {
            return await this.Send(HttpMethod.Get, route, otherParams);
        }
        private async Task<HttpResponseMessage> Send(HttpMethod method, string? route, otherParams)
        {
            var request = new HttpRequestMessage(method,
                this.GetRoute(this._routePrefix, route ?? ""));

            using var client = this.GetClient(customHeaders);
            return await client.SendAsync(request);
        }

        private HttpClient GetClient(TokenResponseDto accessToken = null, Dictionary<string, string> customHeaders = null)
        {
            var client = this._application.CreateClient();

            client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Clear();
            client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Add(new MediaTypeWithQualityHeaderValue("application/json"));

            if (customHeaders != null && customHeaders.Any()) {
                foreach (var customHeader in customHeaders) {
                    client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add(customHeader.Key, customHeader.Value);
                }
            }
            return client;
        }

public async Task<T> GetContent<T>(HttpResponseMessage response)
        {
            var body = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();

            var regex = new Regex("(?:\\{\\\"\\$id\\\":\\\"[0-9]+\\\",\\\"\\$values\\\":(\\[[^\\]]+\\])\\})");
            var matchEval = new MatchEvaluator((match) => {
                return match.Groups[1].Value;
            });
            var newBody = regex.Replace(body, m => m.Groups[1].Value);
            var model = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<T>(newBody);
            return model;
        }
}

public class HttpClientHelper
    {
        public async Task<HttpResponseMessage> Get(string route, otherParams)
        {
            return await this.Send(HttpMethod.Get, route, otherParams);
        }
        private async Task<HttpResponseMessage> Send(HttpMethod method, string? route, otherParams)
        {
            var request = new HttpRequestMessage(method,
                this.GetRoute(this._routePrefix, route ?? ""));

            using var client = this.GetClient(customHeaders);
            return await client.SendAsync(request);
        }

        private HttpClient GetClient(TokenResponseDto accessToken = null, Dictionary<string, string> customHeaders = null)
        {
            var client = this._application.CreateClient();

            client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Clear();
            client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Add(new MediaTypeWithQualityHeaderValue("application/json"));

            if (customHeaders != null && customHeaders.Any()) {
                foreach (var customHeader in customHeaders) {
                    client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add(customHeader.Key, customHeader.Value);
                }
            }
            return client;
        }

public async Task<T> GetContent<T>(HttpResponseMessage response)
        {
            var body = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();

            var regex = new Regex("(?:\\{\\\"\\$id\\\":\\\"[0-9]+\\\",\\\"\\$values\\\":(\\[[^\\]]+\\])\\})");
            var matchEval = new MatchEvaluator((match) => {
                return match.Groups[1].Value;
            });
            var newBody = regex.Replace(body, m => m.Groups[1].Value);
            var model = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<T>(newBody);
            return model;
        }
}

I've tried to change returned type according with your suggestion but still get the same response

Pobiega•2y ago

Back. Okay, so I find it weird that your response contains the$id property regardless of what you do

ronkpunk•2y ago

maybe Automapper config?

Pobiega•2y ago

and we'll need to figure that out before moving on to testing Potentially. Do you have any automapper profiles loaded?

ronkpunk•2y ago

yep

Pobiega•2y ago

okay, show me? actually, a faster way to rule that out is comment out the mapping, and just do return new UserGet(); maybe give it some values

ronkpunk•2y ago

this.CreateMap<TVC.Backend.Data.Models.User, UserGet>()
                .ForMember(dest => dest.Email, opt => opt.MapFrom(src => src.Mail))
                .ForMember(dest => dest.NameSurname, opt => opt.MapFrom(src => src.Name))
                .ForMember(dest => dest.UserId, opt => opt.MapFrom(src => src.Id))
                .ForMember(dest => dest.UserTenantRoles, opt => opt.MapFrom(src => src.UsersTenantsRoles))
                .ForMember(dest => dest.IsActive, opt => opt.MapFrom(src => src.MailConfirmed.HasValue && src.MailConfirmed.Value))
                .ReverseMap();

this.CreateMap<TVC.Backend.Data.Models.User, UserGet>()
                .ForMember(dest => dest.Email, opt => opt.MapFrom(src => src.Mail))
                .ForMember(dest => dest.NameSurname, opt => opt.MapFrom(src => src.Name))
                .ForMember(dest => dest.UserId, opt => opt.MapFrom(src => src.Id))
                .ForMember(dest => dest.UserTenantRoles, opt => opt.MapFrom(src => src.UsersTenantsRoles))
                .ForMember(dest => dest.IsActive, opt => opt.MapFrom(src => src.MailConfirmed.HasValue && src.MailConfirmed.Value))
                .ReverseMap();

where backend data model user is the EF model

Pobiega•2y ago

right

ronkpunk•2y ago

UserGet is the "outer" model

Pobiega•2y ago

this is all fine, not the source yeah the DTO

ronkpunk•2y ago

yep

Pobiega•2y ago

actually, my current line of thinking is that this is because of a bad-configured json serializer in ASP what .NET/ASP version are you using?

ronkpunk•2y ago

Net 6

Pobiega•2y ago

okay do you configure the json serializer at all? should be in your startup.cs file, most likely

ronkpunk•2y ago

i'm looking in my program.cs and so on

Pobiega•2y ago

can you show that file? just make sure it doesnt contain any connectionstrings or tokens

ronkpunk•2y ago

builder.Services .AddControllers(options => { options.Filters.Add<AclActionFilter>(); }) .AddJsonOptions(options => { options.JsonSerializerOptions.ReferenceHandler = ReferenceHandler.Preserve; options.JsonSerializerOptions.PropertyNameCaseInsensitive = true; options.JsonSerializerOptions.PropertyNamingPolicy = null; }); this is in my program.cs

Pobiega•2y ago

alright, here we go

ronkpunk•2y ago

it there a way to use the shortcut to highlight the code?

Pobiega•2y ago

wdym?

ronkpunk•2y ago

modix suggested me before but I've to search it in chat every time ^^

Pobiega•2y ago

just type three backticks: ```cs <your code here> ```

ronkpunk•2y ago

I've italian layout and no backticks in my keyboard

Pobiega•2y ago

oh. and a newline after the cs Im sure its there somewhere. On mine, its shift + the key left of backspace. (swedish layout) turns out there might not be, lol https://superuser.com/questions/667622/italian-keyboard-entering-tilde-and-backtick-characters-without-changin

Pobiega•2y ago

ronkpunk•2y ago

yeah, Alt 96, thank you

Pobiega•2y ago

you can edit your keyboard layout btw so you could add it 🙂

ronkpunk•2y ago

I'll try to add next time

Pobiega•2y ago

its useful in progrmaming okay options.JsonSerializerOptions.ReferenceHandler = ReferenceHandler.Preserve; its this line that adds the $id field

Pobiega•2y ago

Pobiega•2y ago

you should avoid having cyclic references in general its really bad practice :p

ronkpunk•2y ago

ok, I'll try to remove it but if I remember right, I added it to resolve other issues I'm trying to remove them but in some cases they return...

Pobiega•2y ago

well, since you are using DTOs you should be mapping them away example:

public class Person
{
    public Pet Pet { get; set; }
}

public class Pet
{
    public Person Owner { get; set; }
}

public class Person
{
    public Pet Pet { get; set; }
}

public class Pet
{
    public Person Owner { get; set; }
}

this makes sense at a C# level but for json, if you tried serializing this you'd get a forever nested structure, as json doesnt support references (natively) instead, you'd probably rely on Ids, or jsut the structure itself if a pet can only have one owner, we can list them as an array under the person essentially just removing the Owner prop from the pet, when serializing thats a great usecase for a DTO EF navigation properties will often lead to this result which is why its important to map them to DTOs before returning

ronkpunk•2y ago

Yep, but in some case I had nested objects to avoid too much call from frontend and sometime it creates a loop I inherit the backend from old developer and trying to fix many things maybe this is the right time I resolve also this ^^

Pobiega•2y ago

absolutely yes 😛

ronkpunk•2y ago

yep, I'll confirm that removing ReferenceHandler resolve this issue thank you for your help and for your patience

Accord•2y ago

✅ This post has been marked as answered!

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Unit Testing, AcionResult Metadata Properties and JsonSerializer.Deserialize [Answered]