JSONObject Expected to find an object with property ['XXX'] in path $

Question

I have made a program to consume a third part API: I have a service Called:NewsService

@Service
public class NewsService {
    @Autowired
    private NewsRepository newsRepository;
    public List<News> getTopStories() throws Exception{
        RestTemplate restTemplate = new RestTemplate();
        JSONObject news = new JSONObject();
        NewsStories newsentity = new NewsStories();
        List<News> stories = new ArrayList<News>();
        ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
        String getUrl = "https://api.nytimes.com/svc/topstories/v2/home.json?api-key=84e19f8ee1c7489a97481d2ed85af15c";
        HttpHeaders headers = new HttpHeaders();
        headers.setContentType(MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON);
        HttpEntity<Map> entity = new HttpEntity<Map>(headers);
        ResponseEntity<Map> newsList = restTemplate.exchange(getUrl, HttpMethod.GET, entity, Map.class);
        if (newsList.getStatusCode() == HttpStatus.OK) {
            news = new JSONObject(newsList.getBody());
            newsentity = mapper.readValue(news.toString(),NewsStories.class);
            newsentity.getStories().forEach(stories::add);
        }
        return stories;
    }
}`

I have my controller

@RestController
@RequestMapping("/api/")
public class NewsController {
        @Autowired
        NewsService newsService = new NewsService();
        @RequestMapping(value = "/news/topstories", method = RequestMethod.GET)
        public @ResponseBody List<News> getNews() throws Exception {
            return this.newsService.getTopStories();
        }
}`

Everything is ok, however when i running my test (I cann't change it by internal audit control) Here my Test.

@SpringBootTest
@RunWith(SpringRunner.class)
public class ProjectApplicationTests {
    private MockMvc mockMvc;
    @Autowired
    WebApplicationContext context;
    @Before
    public void setup() {
        mockMvc = MockMvcBuilders.webAppContextSetup(context).build();
    }
    @Test
    public void Newstest_ok() throws Exception {
        mockMvc.perform(get("/api/news/topstories" )).andDo(print())
                .andExpect(status().isOk())
                .andExpect(MockMvcResultMatchers.jsonPath("$.title").exists())
                .andExpect(MockMvcResultMatchers.jsonPath("$.section").exists());
}`

Next to run the program I have problem with the check validation Exist() in my program. Could you help me? below the log after to runt the test.

2018-07-18 09:40:49.100 INFO 23324 --- [ main] o.s.b.t.m.w.SpringBootMockServletContext : Initializing Spring FrameworkServlet '' 2018-07-18 09:40:49.100 INFO 23324 --- [
main] o.s.t.web.servlet.TestDispatcherServlet : FrameworkServlet '': initialization started 2018-07-18 09:40:49.116 INFO 23324 --- [
main] o.s.t.web.servlet.TestDispatcherServlet : FrameworkServlet '': initialization completed in 16 ms MockHttpServletRequest: HTTP Method = GET Request URI = /api/news/topstories Parameters = {} Headers = {} Body = Session Attrs = {} Handler: Type = com.example.project.Web.NewsController Method = public java.util.List com.example.project.Web.NewsController.getNews() throws java.lang.Exception Async: Async started = false Async result = null Resolved Exception: Type = null ModelAndView: View name = null View = null Model = null FlashMap: Attributes = null MockHttpServletResponse: Status = 200 Error message = null Headers = {Content-Type=[application/json;charset=UTF-8]} Content type = application/json;charset=UTF-8 Body = [{"title":"Donald Trump, Barack Obama, European Union: Your Wednesday Briefing","section":"Briefing"},{"title":"New York Today: Will Green Roofs Get the Green Light?","section":"New York"},{"title":"California Today: Will a Representative’s Views on Russia Affect His Re-election Campaign?","section":"U.S."},{"title":"A Besieged Trump Says He Misspoke on Russian Election Meddling","section":"World"}] Forwarded URL = null Redirected URL = null Cookies = [] java.lang.AssertionError: No value at JSON path "$.title" at org.springframework.test.util.JsonPathExpectationsHelper.evaluateJsonPath(JsonPathExpectationsHelper.java:290) at org.springframework.test.util.JsonPathExpectationsHelper.assertExistsAndReturn(JsonPathExpectationsHelper.java:306) at org.springframework.test.util.JsonPathExpectationsHelper.exists(JsonPathExpectationsHelper.java:184) at org.springframework.test.web.servlet.result.JsonPathResultMatchers.lambda$exists$3(JsonPathResultMatchers.java:123) at org.springframework.test.web.servlet.MockMvc$1.andExpect(MockMvc.java:178) at com.example.project.ProjectApplicationTests.Newstest_ok(ProjectApplicationTests.java:44) at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method) at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62) at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43) at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:498) at org.junit.runners.model.FrameworkMethod$1.runReflectiveCall(FrameworkMethod.java:50) at org.junit.internal.runners.model.ReflectiveCallable.run(ReflectiveCallable.java:12) at org.junit.runners.model.FrameworkMethod.invokeExplosively(FrameworkMethod.java:47) at org.junit.internal.runners.statements.InvokeMethod.evaluate(InvokeMethod.java:17) at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.statements.RunBeforeTestExecutionCallbacks.evaluate(RunBeforeTestExecutionCallbacks.java:73) at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.statements.RunAfterTestExecutionCallbacks.evaluate(RunAfterTestExecutionCallbacks.java:83) at org.junit.internal.runners.statements.RunBefores.evaluate(RunBefores.java:26) at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.statements.RunBeforeTestMethodCallbacks.evaluate(RunBeforeTestMethodCallbacks.java:75) at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.statements.RunAfterTestMethodCallbacks.evaluate(RunAfterTestMethodCallbacks.java:86) at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.statements.SpringRepeat.evaluate(SpringRepeat.java:84) at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.runLeaf(ParentRunner.java:325) at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.runChild(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.java:251) at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.runChild(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.java:97) at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$3.run(ParentRunner.java:290) at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$1.schedule(ParentRunner.java:71) at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.runChildren(ParentRunner.java:288) at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.access$000(ParentRunner.java:58) at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$2.evaluate(ParentRunner.java:268) at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.statements.RunBeforeTestClassCallbacks.evaluate(RunBeforeTestClassCallbacks.java:61) at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.statements.RunAfterTestClassCallbacks.evaluate(RunAfterTestClassCallbacks.java:70) at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.run(ParentRunner.java:363) at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.run(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.java:190) at org.junit.runner.JUnitCore.run(JUnitCore.java:137) at com.intellij.junit4.JUnit4IdeaTestRunner.startRunnerWithArgs(JUnit4IdeaTestRunner.java:68) at com.intellij.rt.execution.junit.IdeaTestRunner$Repeater.startRunnerWithArgs(IdeaTestRunner.java:47) at com.intellij.rt.execution.junit.JUnitStarter.prepareStreamsAndStart(JUnitStarter.java:242) at com.intellij.rt.execution.junit.JUnitStarter.main(JUnitStarter.java:70) Caused by: com.jayway.jsonpath.PathNotFoundException: Expected to find an object with property ['title'] in path $ but found 'net.minidev.json.JSONArray'. This is not a json object according to the JsonProvider: 'com.jayway.jsonpath.spi.json.JsonSmartJsonProvider'. at com.jayway.jsonpath.internal.path.PropertyPathToken.evaluate(PropertyPathToken.java:71) at com.jayway.jsonpath.internal.path.RootPathToken.evaluate(RootPathToken.java:62) at com.jayway.jsonpath.internal.path.CompiledPath.evaluate(CompiledPath.java:53) at com.jayway.jsonpath.internal.path.CompiledPath.evaluate(CompiledPath.java:61) at com.jayway.jsonpath.JsonPath.read(JsonPath.java:187) at com.jayway.jsonpath.JsonPath.read(JsonPath.java:345) at com.jayway.jsonpath.JsonPath.read(JsonPath.java:329) at org.springframework.test.util.JsonPathExpectationsHelper.evaluateJsonPath(JsonPathExpectationsHelper.java:286) ... 36 more

`

With Postman http://localhost:8080/api/news/topstories I get Json data and status is 200 Ok.

Solution 1

As per JSON response we can see that controller is returning body as Array of Objects.

To access each object in Spring MVC Test use following assertion:

.andExpect(jsonPath("[0].title").value("titlevalue0"))
.andExpect(jsonPath("[1].title").value("titlevalue1"))

Solution 2

Here is the complete solution of using json path extractor using simple java program: jar:- json-path-2.2.0.jar, json-simple-1.1.1.jar, slf4j-log4j12-1.7.5.jar

yourjsonfile.json

{
    "store": {
        "book": [
            {
                "category": "reference",
                "author": "Nigel Rees",
                "title": "Sayings of the Century",
                "price": 8.95
            },
            {
                "category": "fiction",
                "author": "Evelyn Waugh",
                "title": "Sword of Honour",
                "price": 12.99
            },
            {
                "category": "fiction",
                "author": "Herman Melville",
                "title": "Moby Dick",
                "isbn": "0-553-21311-3",
                "price": 8.99
            },
            {
                "category": "fiction",
                "author": "J. R. R. Tolkien",
                "title": "The Lord of the Rings",
                "isbn": "0-395-19395-8",
                "price": 22.99
            }
        ],
        "bicycle": {
            "color": "red",
            "price": 19.95
        }
    },
    "expensive": 10
}

public class Readjson {

    public static void main(String[] args) throws FileNotFoundException, IOException, ParseException {
        JSONParser parser = new JSONParser();
        Object obj = parser.parse(new FileReader("yourjsonfile.json"));

        Object res = JsonPath.read(obj, "$..title");

        System.out.println(res);

    }

}

["Sayings of the Century","Sword of Honour","Moby Dick","The Lord of the Rings"]