XPath Match Assertion

This assertion is available in multiple ReadyAPI applications. Depending on the application, it validates the following data:

• Functional tests
• Security tests
• APIs (Virtual)

Follow these steps:

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1. Open a test step.

2. Click Add assertion.

In the New Assertions dialog, search for the XPath Match assertion or select it manually in the Property Content category.

Follow these steps:

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1. Open a security test.

2. Click Response Assertion next to any scan.

3. Click in the Assertions panel

In the New Assertions dialog, search for the XPath Match assertion or select it manually in the Property Content category.

Follow these steps:

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1. Open a virtual service.

2. Open the Assertions drop-down panel.

3. Click in the Assertions panel

In the New Assertions dialog, search for the XPath Match assertion or select it manually in the Property Content category.

1. In the XPath Expression edit box, specify the XPath expression you want to use for this search or use the toolbar controls.

   To use the toolbar controls, run the request you want to validate at least once.

   

   Click the image to enlarge it.

   To create the expression automatically, click one of the following icons on the toolbar:

   Option	Description
   	Call the Select XPath dialog. Use it to select a node from the last request or response and create an XPath expression for this node. See below.
   	Get the last request or response namespace and declare it.

2. In the Expected Result edit box, specify the value you are expecting to get. You can use the property expansion to point at a specific node.

   Use these commands to select the value from the existing request or response:

   Option	Description
   Select Content	Add a property expansion to the result.
   Select from Current	Get a value from the last response you have received (or the last request the virtual service has received).

3. If needed, use additional options to enhance the results you will get:

   Option	Description
   Allow Wildcards	Use an asterisk wildcard (*) for varying parts of the value. Note: If you do not select this option, the assertion will fail on dynamic values.
   Ignore Namespace Prefixes	To avoid name conflicts, XML elements use prefixes. A prefix points to a namespace that is associated with an element. Typically, the namespaces are represented by URIs. When this option is disabled, the assertion compares both prefixes and corresponding URIs. If this option is enabled, the assertion compares actual URIs that are declared for each prefix, but ignores the prefix names. Example ExampleExample Consider two XML elements: <p1:element xmlns:p1="URI"> ... </p1:element> and <p2:element xmlns:p2="URI"> ... </p2:element> Here, p1 and p2 are different prefixes that point to the same namespace. If the Ignore Namespace Prefixes option is disabled, the assertion treats these elements as different; and if the option is enabled, the assertion treats them as equal.
   Ignore XML comments	Skip XML comments during the comparison.

4. To test your assertion on the last response you have received (or the last request the virtual service has received), click Test.

To avoid typing the desired XPath expression manually, click and select the desired XML element or attribute in the subsequent dialog.

ReadyAPI will form an XPath expression that points to the selected item, and will set the result of the last request or response as the expected result.

If a node you are selecting contains a single child, ReadyAPI will try to get its text instead of the object itself.

Example

ExampleExample

You are trying to access the second child of the object node using the following expression:

//ns1:object[1]

If the object node contains only one child, ReadyAPI will implicitly replace the expression with the following one:

//ns1:object[1]/text

Since there is no child with the 1 index, this expression will return null.