MTA HOW TO’s
Index
How can MTA access my Mendix projects?
How can I create an API key for my Mendix account?
How can MTA access the environment that my Mendix App is running on?
How can I add the MTA Plugin user to my Mendix project?
How can MTA test logic that exists only in pages?
How can MTA access my Mendix projects?
To access Mendix projects, the user who logs in to MTA must be linked to a Mendix user.
- First, login to MTA using the credentials provided by Menditect.
- Click the user icon on the top right
- Fill in these fields under Mendix credentials:
- The Mendix account username;
- An API key created for this Mendix profile.
- Click Save.
- To test if the link works, add a new Test Application. The Mendix projects should be visible.
How can I create an API key for my Mendix account?
- Login to the Mendix developer portal and open the profile page, or go to https://sprintr.home.mendix.com/link/profilesettings
- Click API keys in the left menu
- Click Create new API key
- Enter a short description for the API key, for instance “MTA”
- Copy the generated API key and store it in a secure environment, like a password manager
- The API key is valid until it is deleted from the Mendix profile.
- For more information about API keys, read the Mendix documentation:
https://docs.mendix.com/developerportal/community-tools/mendix-profile#api-key
How can MTA access the environment that my Mendix App is running on?
After MTA can access the projects linked to the Mendix user, the Mendix model can be downloaded for a selected revision. However, to communicate with the environment the App is running on, the MTA Plugin User must be linked as well.
- Add a new Test Application, or open an existing one and click on the pencil icon next to the existing plugin user settings, to edit:
- In the Mendix application under test, a local user has been created with the “MTA Plugin” role. Enter the username and password in this page:
- Click “Check plugin” to make sure a connection can be made.
Note: If this check is performed three times unsuccessfully because the password is incorrect, Mendix can temporarily block the user.
How can I add the MTA Plugin user to my Mendix project?
Download the MTA plugin module from Github with the highest Mendix version possible for your project. Check the version that is displayed on the Plugin. It represents the lowest supported Mendix version, all higher Mendix versions are supported.
https://github.com/Menditect/MENDITECT-MTA-Plugin/releases
Import the MTA plugin module package in your test application as a new module.
Make sure to delete any old JAR files like mta-plugin-***.jar from the userlib subfolder in your project directory.
Create a user role 'MTAPluginUser' and make sure not to select any modules in this step
Select the following roles for user role 'MTAPluginUser'
'MTAPluginUser' from MTAPlugin module
'User' from System module
'User' from Administration module
Go to navigation and create a role-based home page for MTAPluginUser for the primary navigation layout
Select Edit. Mendix shows page 'Role-based home pages'
Select New. Mendix shows page 'Select user role'
Select user role 'MTAPluginUser'
Select target and select page HomepageMTAPluginModule
Repeat this step for all other navigation layouts in use (tablet, phone, hybrid)
Start the test application and login with a user role that has Create rights on Account
Create a local user (not a web service user) with the role 'MTAPluginUser'. Give the user a name and note it for later.
How can MTA test logic that exists only in pages?
There can be different scenarios in a Mendix project where logic exists in pages. For every scenario, there is a different solution to test the logic in MTA. In the case of a microflow being executed from a page, these are the steps to follow:
- create an automatic test case in a test suite
- click on top of the list of test steps on ‘Test case details’ to make them visible
- now click on the link to Mendix Studio:
- the project will open in Mendix Studio (alternatively, it is possible to open the project in Mendix Studio Pro)
- open the page where the microflow is executed
- click on the button, link of other element, where the microflow is executed (this can be an On Change event, for example)
- click on “Go To” in the Properties tab to open the microflow
- determine how the input parameters of the microflow are constructed
- optionally it can be necessary to add an Object test step in between, in case the input parameters are not yet available
- create a new Microflow test step in MTA, and select the above microflow
Other frontend logic not concerning microflows, like frontend validation or visibility constraints, can be simulated in MTA.
How can I test an API in MTA?
Testing an API means creating an integration test where two apps communicate. One hypothetical app (A) executes a REST call. The other app (B) hosting a REST service, will answer. In MTA it is not possible to directly execute a REST call or host a REST service, but it is possible to use the microflows where the REST call or service depends on.
Test a REST call
To test app (A), a microflow that performs the REST call can be used. This microflow is executed from MTA, and will contain the following elements:
- input parameters being used in the REST call;
- a create variable action where the URL to the API is constructed;
- the REST call, yielding a JSON string;
- executing the submicroflow containing any custom logic;
- optionally any output parameters to be used in following test steps in MTA.
Alternatively, only the submicroflow containing the logic could be used for unit testing. This means however the JSON string must be manually entered in MTA, using a Create Object test step.
Finally the steps in MTA to test are:
- execute above microflow with the necessary parameters;
- a retrieve object, with the output of test step 1, containing an assert (either on object count, or on attribute, depending on the expected result).
Test a published REST service
To test app (B), the microflow is executed that is part of the REST operation.
To find this microflow, open the Published REST service in Mendix Studio Pro en select Show for that REST operation:
This microflow will contain the same input parameter data as the microflow executing the REST call for app (A), but the parameters are typed. For example:
The output of this microflow is an httpresponse.
Finally the steps in MTA to test are:
- execute above microflow with the necessary parameters;
- retrieve object, with the output of test step 1 (httpresponse), and one or more asserts on the attributes of the httpresponse, for example “StatusCode = 200”.