WebInject - Open Source Web Service Testing Tool Gets High Marks

InfoWorld article:

Three open source Web service testing tools get high marks

Rick Grehan of InfoWorld reviewed 3 popular open source tools for testing web services.  Rick is a contributing editor of the InfoWorld Test Center.  One of the tools he reviewed was WebInject (which I wrote).

"In this roundup, I examined three tools that purport to verify that your Web services do what they are supposed to do, that they resist graceless failure, and (in some cases) that they conduct themselves with efficiency. The tools are soapUI, TestMaker, and WebInject. All are open source, and are available for free download and incorporation into your next Web services project."

From the article:

WebInject

WebInject is a super-lightweight testing tool that can automate the testing of both Web services and Web applications. In fact, WebInject's ability to test XML/SOAP Web services appears to be a recent addition to the tool, as earlier versions could not readily handle the SOAP protocol.

Written in Perl, WebInject is primarily a command-line tool, though its author provides a thin Perl/Tk user interface that at least simplifies the execution of tests for those unwilling to spend too much time at the command prompt. If you're not familiar with Perl, don't panic. WebInject is built so that you can construct your tests without having to touch so much as a byte of Perl code.

WebInject is really an execution and reporting engine. Unlike the other tools, it has no IDE-style user interface, so tests must be written in an editor outside of the WebInject UI. This gives WebInject a less professional feel, but doesn't hamper the tool. I envision users of WebInject having directories filled with text files of various test “templates.” To add a new test case, the user just pops open his or her favorite editor, does some cutting, some pasting, and a bit of tweaking to alter the template to fit the specific circumstance, and ba-ding!, you've got a new test case.

...

In essence, a WebInject “project” is nothing more than an XML file filled with a set of elements strung one after the other. WebInject's simple structure lets you build tests with amazing rapidity. You must, however, have a moderately good understanding of the mechanics of SOAP protocols as well as a tool that lets you generate and capture HTTP/SOAP requests and responses. You'll need the requests to build the POST body and the responses so that you can create proper “verifypositive” and “verifynegative” regular expressions to check for success or failure. I used the Web Service Toolkit add-on for Eclipse to grab requests and responses for WebInject; once I had gotten the hang of it, I fell easily into the groove of building test cases.

Review Score:
Very Good 8.3

Cost:
Free download - open source

Platforms
Any platform that runs Perl or has a Perl interpreter installed

Bottom Line:
Much less feature-rich than the other tools, the lightweight WebInject nonetheless bolts out of the starting gate. If you need testing that will be off the ground and flying in minutes, reach for WebInject. On the other hand, it has far fewer capabilities than the other two products in this test, and unless you want to hack the Perl code, WebInject's feature set is pretty much what you install.

visit www.webInject.org
for more of my tools, visit: www.goldb.org