<title>JSONAssert - Write JSON Unit Tests with Less Code - Cookbook</title>

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<h1>JSONassert</h1>

<h2>a <a href="http://skyscreamer.org">Skyscreamer</a> project</h2>

<br clear="all" />

<ul>

<li><a class="intro" href="./">Introduction</a></li>

<li><a class="cookbook" href="">Cookbook</a></li>

<li><a class="quickstart" href="quickstart.html">Quickstart</a></li>

<li><a class="javadoc" href="apidocs/index.html">Javadoc</a></li>

<li><a class="download" href="https://github.com/skyscreamer/JSONassert/tags">Download</a></li>

<li><a class="contrib" href="https://github.com/skyscreamer/jsonassert"> &nbsp; </a></li>

</ul>

<a name="cookbook"></a>

<h2>Cookbook</h2>

<p>Assertion parameters can be a java.lang.String with JSON data, an org.json.JSONObject, or an org.json.JSONArray.

For readability, we'll use strings in the following examples.</p>

<div class="example">

<p>A really simple example. Get a JSON object and test its ID:</p>

<blockquote>

<a>@Test</a><br/>

<a>public void testSimple() {</a><br/>

<a> &nbsp; String result = getJSONResult("/user/1.json");</a><br/>

<a> &nbsp; JSONAssert.assertEquals("{id:1}", result, false); <span class="emphasize italics">// Pass</span></a><br/>

<a>}</a><br/>

</blockquote>

</div>

<div class="example">

<p>If you enable <span class="italics">strictMode</span>, then extended fields fail:</p>

<blockquote>

<a>String result = "{id:1,name:\"Juergen\"}";</a><br/>

<a>JSONAssert.assertEquals("{id:1}", result, <span class="emphasize">false</span>); <span class="emphasize italics">// Pass</span></a><br/>

<a>JSONAssert.assertEquals("{id:1}", result, <span class="emphasize">true</span>); <span class="emphasize italics">// Fail</span></a><br/>

</blockquote>

</div>

<div class="example">

<p>Strict or not, field order does not matter:</p>

<blockquote>

<a>String result = "{id:1,name:\"Juergen\"}";</a><br/>

<a>JSONAssert.assertEquals("{name:\"Juergen\",id:1}", result, true); <span class="emphasize italics">// Pass</span></a><br/>

</blockquote>

</div>

<p>Because application interfaces are naturally extended as they mature, it is recommended that you

default to leaving strict mode off, except in particular cases.</p>

<div class="example">

<p>Arrays rules are different. If sequence is important, you can enable strict mode:</p>

<blockquote>

<a>String result = "[1,2,3,4,5]";</a><br/>

<a>JSONAssert.assertEquals("[1,2,3,4,5]", result, true); <span class="emphasize italics">// Pass</span></a><br/>

<a>JSONAssert.assertEquals("[5,3,2,1,4]", result, true); <span class="emphasize italics">// Fail</span></a><br/>

</blockquote>

</div>

<div class="example">

<p>When strict mode is off, arrays can be in any order:</p>

<blockquote>

<a>String result = "[1,2,3,4,5]";</a><br/>

<a>JSONAssert.assertEquals("[5,3,2,1,4]", result, false); <span class="emphasize italics">// Pass</span></a><br/>

</blockquote>

</div>

<div class="example">

<p>Strict or not, arrays must match. They can't be "extended" like object fields can:</p>

<blockquote>

<a>String result = "[1,2,3,4,5]";</a><br/>

<a>JSONAssert.assertEquals("[1,2,3,4,5]", result, false); <span class="emphasize italics">// Pass</span></a><br/>

<a>JSONAssert.assertEquals("[1,2,3]", result, false); <span class="emphasize italics">// Fail</span></a><br/>

<a>JSONAssert.assertEquals("[1,2,3,4,5,6]", result, false); <span class="emphasize italics">// Fail</span></a><br/>

</blockquote>

</div>

<p>The example so far are simple, but this will work for JSON objects of any size (per VM memory limits), depth,

or complexity.</p>

<div class="example">

<p>You can test arrays of arrays, loose/strict ordering constraints apply at all levels:</p>

<blockquote>

<a>String result = "{id:1,stuff:[[1,2],[2,3],[],[3,4]]}";</a><br/>

<a>JSONAssert.assertEquals("{id:1,stuff:[[1,2],[2,3],[],[3,4]]}", result, true); <span class="emphasize italics">// Pass</span></a><br/>

<a>JSONAssert.assertEquals("{id:1,stuff:[[4,3],[3,2],[],[1,2]]}", result, false); <span class="emphasize italics">// Pass</span></a><br/>

</blockquote>

</div>

<div class="example">

<p>You can test arrays of arrays, loose/strict ordering constraints apply at all levels:</p>

<blockquote>

<a>String result = "{id:1,name:\"Joe\",friends:[{id:2,name:\"Pat\",pets:[\"dog\"]},{id:3,name:\"Sue\",pets:[\"bird\",\"fish\"]}],pets:[]}";</a><br/>

<a>JSONAssert.assertEquals("{id:1,name:\"Joe\",friends:[{id:2,name:\"Pat\",pets:[\"dog\"]},{id:3,name:\"Sue\",pets:[\"bird\",\"fish\"]}],pets:[]}", result, true); <span class="emphasize italics">// Pass</span></a><br/>

<a>JSONAssert.assertEquals("{name:\"Joe\",friends:[{id:3,name:\"Sue\",pets:[\"fish\",\"bird\"]},{id:2,name:\"Pat\",pets:[\"dog\"]}],pets:[],id:1}", result, false); <span class="emphasize italics">// Pass</span></a><br/>

</blockquote>

</div>

<div class="example">

<p>As you can see, tests work against any level of depth:</p>

<blockquote>

<a>String result = "{a:{b:{c:{d:{e:{f:{g:{h:{i:{j:{k:{l:{m:{n:{o:{p:\"blah\"}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}";</a><br/>

<a>JSONAssert.assertEquals("{a:{b:{c:{d:{e:{f:{g:{h:{i:{j:{k:{l:{m:{n:{o:{p:\"blah\"}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}",

result, true); <span class="emphasize italics">// Pass</span></a><br/>

</blockquote>

</div>