Structured Field Tests

These are test cases for implementations of Structured Fields for HTTP. They currently test draft 17 of the specification.

Test Format

Each test file is a JSON document that contains an array of test records. A test record is an object with the following members:

• name: A string describing the test
• raw: An array of strings, each representing a field value received
• header_type: One of "item", "list", "dictionary"
• expected: The expected data structure after parsing (if successful). Required, unless must_fail is true.
• must_fail: boolean indicating whether the test is required to fail. Defaults to false.
• can_fail: boolean indicating whether failing this test is acceptable; for SHOULDs. Defaults to false.
• canonical: An array of strings representing the canonical form of the field value, if it is different from raw. Not applicable if must_fail is true.

The expected data structure maps the types in Structured Fields to JSON as follows:

• Dictionary: JSON object which maps [member-name (Key), member-value (Item or Inner-List)] pairs
• List: JSON array, where each element is either an Item or Inner-List
• Inner-List: JSON array with two elements, the list (a JSON array of Items) and Parameters
• Item: JSON array with two elements, the Bare-Item and Parameters
• Bare-Item: one of:
  • Integer: JSON numbers; e.g. 1
  • Float: JSON numbers; e.g. 2.5
  • String: JSON string; e.g., "foo"
  • Token: token __type Object (see below)
  • Binary Content: binary __type Object (see below)
• Parameters: a JSON object which maps [param-name (Key), param-value (Bare-Item)] pairs

For any test that case that has a valid outcome (i.e. must_fail is not true) the expected data structure can be serialised. The expected result of this serialisation is the canonical member if specified, or raw otherwise. The canonical form of a List or Dictionary with no members is an empty array, to represent the field being omitted.

Test cases in the serialisation-tests directory can be used to test serialisation of an invalid or non-canonical value. The expected structure (as defined above) should serialise to the canonical form, unless must_fail is true -- in which case the value cannot be serialised. These cases do not have a raw element.

__type Objects

Because JSON doesn't natively accommodate some data types that Structured Fields does, the expected member uses an object with a __type member and a value member to represent these values.

For example:

{
  "__type": "token",
  "value": "foo"
}

... carries a "foo" token. The following types are defined:

• token: carries a Token as a JSON string; e.g., "bar"
• binary: carries Binary Content as a base32-encoded JSON string; e.g., "ZXW6==="

Writing Tests

All tests should have a descriptive name. Tests should be as simple as possible - just what's required to test a specific piece of behavior. If you want to test interacting behaviors, create tests for each behavior as well as the interaction.

Please feel free to contribute!