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Reference Guide
This guide provides the topics to help the API tester use the product by using the user interface, commands or scripts. This guide is intended for API testers.
Messages
HCL OneTest™ API can publish and subscribe to messages as part of a test. A message normally consists of two parts: a header and a body. The header usually adheres to a predefined logical construction, while the structure of the body can be more arbitrary.
Using repeating and optional elements
You can use HCL OneTest™ API to create repeating elements within a message from a test data set or to read all values from repeating elements in a received message.
Organization of test data in messages
The test data must be organized in a normalized form.

Reference Guide
This guide provides the topics to help the API tester use the product by using the user interface, commands or scripts. This guide is intended for API testers.
- HCL OneTest™ API overview
  This section provides an overview of HCL OneTest™ API, including information about projects and files, the HCL OneTest API user interface, environments, and project settings and preferences.
- Architecture School
  Use the Architecture School perspective to build a system under test by using the logical, physical, and synchronization views. You can also use this perspective to manage the schemas available in your project.
- Recording Studio
  With HCL OneTest™ API, you can record events (messages or database interactions) sent to and from the system under test. Use Recording Studio to control what parts of the system should be recorded. These parts could be specific parts of the system infrastructure or specific services using that infrastructure. You can then use the recorded events as a source of tests and other interactions with the system. In Recording Studio, you can record the traffic over a number of different transports.
- Test Factory
  The Test Factory perspective is one of the main areas in HCL OneTest™ API. You can create all the tests and the required artifacts/data to support them.
- Test Lab
  You use the Test Lab to execute test assets, repair tests, and open test assets for editing directly from this perspective. You can execute all of the tests, test suites, and stubs that are created in Test Factory.
- Results Gallery
  You use the Results Gallery perspective to view an execution summary and detailed coverage, and error reports for executed test suites and for test cases that were executed within a suite or as part of a test cycle.
- Messages
  HCL OneTest™ API can publish and subscribe to messages as part of a test. A message normally consists of two parts: a header and a body. The header usually adheres to a predefined logical construction, while the structure of the body can be more arbitrary.
  - Selecting transports and formatters
    The first step in building a message is to select a transport and formatter, available at the top of the message Config tab.
  - Message headers
    Message headers contain metadata about the message itself (for example, sender and destination details, message properties, message type). Headers for different transports contain different types of information.
  - Message bodies
    The message body is constructed below the message header in publishers and subscribers.
  - Using repeating and optional elements
    You can use HCL OneTest™ API to create repeating elements within a message from a test data set or to read all values from repeating elements in a received message.
    - Repeating elements and list tags
      You can store the values of repeating elements in a tag, either as a single value or as a list. Tags that contain lists of values are referred to as list tags. The values stored list tags can be reported in the test output.
    - Organization of test data in messages
      The test data must be organized in a normalized form.
    - Example: Repeating elements in messages
      A common use of repeating elements would be to populate tags with lists of data or generate repeating XML elements. The following example illustrates how to do both.
  - Formatting a message with MIME, S/MIME, DIME, and multipart content
    When you are working with messages that can contain multiple parts, you must format the message as a Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) message. You can also apply a MIME or a Direct Internet Message Encapsulation (DIME) schema to the message. You can apply the secure MIME (S/MIME) standard to encrypt or digitally sign outbound messages.
  - Adding attachments to a message
    Attachments can be added to parts of a message by right-clicking the wanted node and selecting Add Attachment from the menu.
  - Configuring the XML message properties for test actions
    By using message properties in HCL OneTest™ API, you can configure how message content is treated in test actions (for example, Publish, Subscribe).
  - Creating messages and applying them to tests
    You can create a message that contains requirements and drag that message onto an action in a test. After you create a message, you can build it by specifying the transports and formatters.
  - Messaging transports, formatters, and dynamic formatters
    HCL OneTest™ API uses a decoupled, plug-in architecture to provide maximum flexibility in regards to the messaging transport software in use by a system under test. A formatter translates messages from the native transport format (for example, TIBCO Rendezvous) to the internal format understood by HCL OneTest API, known as A3 (Accelerated Adaptor Architecture).
  - The Field Editor
    Use the Field Editor to specify that a message field (data attribute) be populated by using or fulfilling certain criteria. Open the editor by double-clicking a field or element name within a message or a stub, by or right-clicking the field and selecting Contents > Edit.
  - Troubleshooting: Messages
    You can use a workaround to a problem that you might encounter when you work with message fields.
- Schemas
  HCL OneTest™ API can handle many types of content. For the product to be able to interpret the variety of content types, it must associate a content format description, or schema with the content.
- Database resources, connections, and bindings
  HCL OneTest™ API can interact with any database that supports connectivity through the JDBC specification. These interactions can be used to extract or update data where necessary, and test data sets can be taken directly from database table content.
- Identity stores and SSL
  An identity store can group a collection of one or more certificates that can be used in HCL OneTest™ API to validate and authenticate connections that use SSL. After you create an identity store, you can use it to enable SSL communications in various messaging transports.
- Scripting within tests and stubs
  You can use scripts in HCL OneTest™ API that include the HCL OneTest API legacy scripting language, ECMAScript (such as JavaScript™), Chai, or any third-party scripting language that you install.
- External tools
  HCL OneTest™ API is primarily GUI-based, but you can also run or view tests, suites, and stubs outside of the HCL OneTest API.
- Test actions
  Actions are the building blocks of a test. A test consists of a series of steps and each step is an action. Actions can be defined for tests and stubs.
- Formatting and parsing date-time patterns
  For some fields in HCL OneTest™ API, you can define patterns for date-time formatting. Pattern letters are repeated, as their number determines the exact presentation of the date-time information that they represent.
- The Add Numbers service
  The Add Numbers service, included with HCL OneTest™ API, provides a simple way to generate messages that you can observe with topology discovery or capture in Recording Studio.

Organization of test data in messages

The test data must be organized in a normalized form.

The first column must contain an identifier that groups all the data from a particular record. Each subsequent column must be populated according to the following rules:

Each piece of data for a level of the hierarchy must exist on the same row, including the first child
Subsequent children must exist on new rows
A child cannot appear on the same row as the child of its parent's sibling
The end of the data for a particular depth can be padded out with null values
Note: When you are creating the test data set, ensure that the Allow null values option is enabled, specifying the string that designates a null value within the data set. For Excel spreadsheets, an empty cell would be permitted by enabling the option and leaving the value field blank. If some other string is used to indicate null values, then that string must be specified.

For an example of test data, see Test data set.