WebStorm 6.0.1 Web Help

Tools | Test RESTful Web Service

View | Tool Windows | REST Client

Tools | Test RESTful Web Service

View | Tool Windows | REST Client

Use the REST Client tool window for testing a RESTful Web Service. The tool window is intended for composing and submitting test requests to Web service methods based on the service API, as well as for viewing and analyzing server responses.

Note

  • View | Tool Windows | REST Client - the tool window can be accessed this way after you have opened it using the Tools | Test RESTful Web Service command.
  • The tool window is available only when the REST Client bundled plugin is enabled. The plugin is active by default. If not, activate it in the Plugins page of the Settings dialog box.

On this page:

Common Request Settings

In this area, choose the request method and specify the data to compose the request URI from.

ItemDescription
HTTP method In this drop-down list, specify the request method. The available options are:
Host/port In this text box, type the URL address of the host where the target Web service is deployed and the port it listens to. By default, the port number is 80. If another port is used, specify it explicitly in the format <host URL>:<port number>.
PathIn this drop-down list, specify the relative path to the target method.
ItemTooltip and shortcutDescription
runSubmit requestClick this button to submit the generated test request to the server.
closeCloseClose the REST Client tool window.
helpHelpShow this page.

Note

The server response code and the content length are shown in the upper-right corner of the REST Client tool window.

Request Parameters Tab

Use this tab to specify the parameters to be passed to the service in the generated test request either through the query string for GET requests or through the request body for other request types. Also configure interaction between the client side and the Web service by specifying the format of data that the service and the client accept.

ItemDescription
Header data In this pane, specify the technical data included in the request header. These data are passed through header fields and define the format of the input parameters (accept field), the response format (content-type field), the caching mechanism (cache-control field), etc.

The set of fields and their values should comply with the Web service API. In other words, the specified input format should be exactly the one expected by the Web service as well as the expected response format should be exactly the one that the service returns.

For accept, content-type, and some other fields WebStorm provides a list of suggested values. Choose the relevant format type from the Value drop-down list.

Query string parameters In this pane, specify the parameters to be passed to the target method through a query string inside the URL. This approach is used for requests of the type GET. By default, the pane shows an empty list with one line. To add a parameter, type its name and value in the corresponding fields. As soon as you complete one parameter definition, a new empty line is added automatically. The set of parameters and their types should comply with the Web service API, in particular, they should be exactly the same as the input parameters of the target method.
  • Don't send anything: select this check box to suppress sending the specified query string parameters and disable the controls in the Query string parameters pane. This may be helpful, for example, if you want to test passing parameters through other request methods in the request body but still preserve the data typed in the Query string parameters pane.
Request body The pane is disabled when the GET request method is selected. In this pane, specify the input parameters to be passed to the target method inside a request message body.
  • Empty: choose this option to send a request with an empty body.
  • Text: choose this option to send a request with a string of parameters with values. Specify the parameters in the text box next to the option.
  • File contents: choose this option to have the parameters inserted in the request body from a local text file. Specify the source text file in the File to send field.
  • File upload(multipart/form-data): choose this option if you want to pass a binary file as a parameter, which requires that the file be converted. Specify the source binary file in the File to send field.
Configure HTTP Proxy Click this link to specify proxy server settings in the dialog box that opens.

Response Tab

Use this tab to view responses from the Web service. By default, responses are shown in the plain text form. Use the icons of the tab to have them displayed in the editor in the HTML, XML, and JSON formats.

ItemTooltipDescription
classTypeHtml View as HTML Click this button to open a new tab in the main editor window and display there the response as HTML.
classTypeXml View as XML Click this button to open a new tab in the main editor window and display there the server response as XML.
viewAsJSON View as JSON Click this button to open a new tab in the main editor window and display there the server response as JSON.
iconOpenInDefaultWebBrowser.png Open in browser Click this button to view the response in your default Web browser.

Response Headers Tab

The tab shows the technical data provided in the headers of Web service responses.

See Also

Procedures:

Getting Started:

Web Resources: