# Building a mock API server for the ScholarX API **URL:** \ **Category:** ScholarX\ **Created:** [October 16, 2020, 3:06pm UTC](https://sef.discourse.group/t/building-a-mock-api-server-for-the-scholarx-api/186 "2020-10-16T15:06:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jaye](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/sef.discourse.group/jaye/32/810_2.png) [@jaye](https://sef.discourse.group/u/jaye)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 3:06pm UTC](https://sef.discourse.group/t/building-a-mock-api-server-for-the-scholarx-api/186/1 "2020-10-16T15:06:08Z")
Hello there, Since the API gateway task takes a few more days to get delivered and we are running out of time for the initial phase, building a mock server is essential to continue the frontend development. The requirement is to build a mock API server that is smart enough to simulate the real API. I thought of initializing this task, I’ll update my work with this thread. ---
**Author:** ![jaye](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/sef.discourse.group/jaye/32/810_2.png) [@jaye](https://sef.discourse.group/u/jaye)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 5:34pm UTC](https://sef.discourse.group/t/building-a-mock-api-server-for-the-scholarx-api/186/2 "2020-10-16T17:34:58Z")
Hi all, I went through major mock server applications including [Postman](https://www.postman.com/) and [Insomnia](https://insomnia.rest/). The problem is, those platforms have their own limitations. ex: a limited number of requests. In my humble opinion, one of the ideal solutions would be invoking the API service directly for the developments. (Thanks @Gravewalker for the silly idea! 🤗 😁) There are some unimplemented APIs, shall we implement only the controllers for those APIs until they get completed? However, I used Postman to test the available APIs. While testing them I created a collection too… Click this handy button to add it to your postman, [![Run in Postman](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/sef/original/1X/62001d431221743f8671b6517c58dda2fdd82996.svg)](https://app.getpostman.com/run-collection/65abcbf35132f80a5218) Thanks, @piumal1999 and @YohanAvishke you have done a great job with the backend! I’ve found the following bugs, **POST admin/programs** - The state should not send as a parameter - because it’s always should be in the `CREATED` state - The request body isn’t validated. ex: throws 500 when a not null field is not available in the body - If the landing page URL or image URL is not in the body, it adds a null value for them. It should return a bad request. **PUT admin/programs/{id}/state** - Throws 400. ```auto Resolved [org.springframework.http.converter.HttpMessageNotReadableException: JSON parse error: Cannot deserialize instance of `org.sefglobal.scholarx.util.ProgramState` out of START_OBJECT token; nested exception is com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.exc.MismatchedInputException: Cannot deserialize instance of `org.sefglobal.scholarx.util.ProgramState` out of START_OBJECT token ``` But I’m not sure if I sent the correct payload. This is what I sent: `{"state": "CREATED"}` **DELETE /admin/programs/{id}/state** - Works fine, but send an empty payload as the response. It should have a body. **Other:** - No endpoint to edit a program (I didn’t check other admin APIs because apply as a mentee and mentor APIS aren’t available) ---
**Author:** ![piumal1999](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/sef.discourse.group/piumal1999/32/274_2.png) [@piumal1999](https://sef.discourse.group/u/piumal1999)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 10:36am UTC](https://sef.discourse.group/t/building-a-mock-api-server-for-the-scholarx-api/186/3 "2020-10-17T10:36:30Z")
> [@jaye](#): > > But I’m not sure if I sent the correct payload. This is what I sent: `{"state": "CREATED"}` Only the state is needed to be sent. Like this: `"CREATED"` > [@jaye](#): > > **DELETE /admin/programs/{id}/state** > > - Works fine, but send an empty payload as the response. It should have a body Like a boolean response? (Return true if it is deleted properly) or a String saying the object is deleted > [@jaye](#): > > **POST admin/programs** > > - The state should not send as a parameter - because it’s always should be in the `CREATED` state > - The request body isn’t validated. ex: throws 500 when a not null field is not available in the body > - If the landing page URL or image URL is not in the body, it adds a null value for them. It should return a bad request I’ll fix this. ---
**Author:** ![jaye](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/sef.discourse.group/jaye/32/810_2.png) [@jaye](https://sef.discourse.group/u/jaye)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 10:42am UTC](https://sef.discourse.group/t/building-a-mock-api-server-for-the-scholarx-api/186/4 "2020-10-17T10:42:41Z")
> [@piumal1999](#): > > Only the state is needed to be sent. Like this: > `"CREATED"` Better if we could convert it to a JSON object > [@piumal1999](#): > > Like a boolean response? (Return true if it is deleted properly) or a String saying the object is deleted Send a JSON payload ---
**Author:** ![piumal1999](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/sef.discourse.group/piumal1999/32/274_2.png) [@piumal1999](https://sef.discourse.group/u/piumal1999)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2020, 5:20pm UTC](https://sef.discourse.group/t/building-a-mock-api-server-for-the-scholarx-api/186/5 "2020-10-18T17:20:40Z")
> [@jaye](#): > > **PUT admin/programs/{id}/state** > > - Throws 400. > > ```auto > Resolved [org.springframework.http.converter.HttpMessageNotReadableException: JSON parse error: > Cannot deserialize instance of `org.sefglobal.scholarx.util.ProgramState` out of START_OBJECT token; > nested exception is com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.exc.MismatchedInputException: > Cannot deserialize instance of `org.sefglobal.scholarx.util.ProgramState` out of START_OBJECT token > > ``` > > But I’m not sure if I sent the correct payload. This is what I sent: `{"state": "CREATED"}` In the current version, the ‘update state endpoint’ only switches the state to the next stage. So a payload will not be sent and only the id will be sent(as a path parameter). ---
**Author:** ![jaye](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/sef.discourse.group/jaye/32/810_2.png) [@jaye](https://sef.discourse.group/u/jaye)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2020, 6:29pm UTC](https://sef.discourse.group/t/building-a-mock-api-server-for-the-scholarx-api/186/6 "2020-10-18T18:29:31Z")
That’s great! 😇 ---
**Author:** ![piumal1999](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/sef.discourse.group/piumal1999/32/274_2.png) [@piumal1999](https://sef.discourse.group/u/piumal1999)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 7:27pm UTC](https://sef.discourse.group/t/building-a-mock-api-server-for-the-scholarx-api/186/7 "2020-11-14T19:27:53Z")
> [@jaye](#): > > **PUT admin/programs/{id}/state** > > - Throws 400. > > ```auto > Resolved [org.springframework.http.converter.HttpMessageNotReadableException: JSON parse error: > Cannot deserialize instance of `org.sefglobal.scholarx.util.ProgramState` out of START_OBJECT token; > nested exception is com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.exc.MismatchedInputException: > Cannot deserialize instance of `org.sefglobal.scholarx.util.ProgramState` out of START_OBJECT token > > ``` > > But I’m not sure if I sent the correct payload. This is what I sent: `{"state": "CREATED"}` The same problem is in the Approve/reject mentor endpoint In the “approve/reject mentor endpoint” we have, the RequestBody is only an Enrollment state(not a JSON payload). But, it have to be a json payload. The solution i found to fix this is creating a custom Dto class for the payload. Is there a better solution for this? @jaye @YohanAvishke ---
**Author:** ![YohanAvishke](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/sef.discourse.group/yohanavishke/32/106_2.png) [@YohanAvishke](https://sef.discourse.group/u/YohanAvishke)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 7:36pm UTC](https://sef.discourse.group/t/building-a-mock-api-server-for-the-scholarx-api/186/8 "2020-11-14T19:36:41Z")
We can solve this easily by adding `@JsonValue` annotation to `getState()` method in `Mentor` class. There are other possible ways as well please refer to below link and choose the most suitable option > **[How To Serialize and Deserialize Enums with Jackson | Baeldung](https://www.baeldung.com/jackson-serialize-enums)** > > How to serialize and deserialize an Enum as a JSON Object using Jackson 2. ---
**Author:** ![piumal1999](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/sef.discourse.group/piumal1999/32/274_2.png) [@piumal1999](https://sef.discourse.group/u/piumal1999)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 8:10pm UTC](https://sef.discourse.group/t/building-a-mock-api-server-for-the-scholarx-api/186/9 "2020-11-18T20:10:13Z")
I tried doing this, but after using `@JsonValue` annotation with the `getState` method in `enrolledUser`, some tests are not working (update mentor data, apply as a mentor) However it changes nothing. What if we do something like this for now: We get a `mentor` object as the request payload. And we can get the state from it. For that, i think this kind of json payload will be enough: ```auto { "state" : "APPROVED" } ``` ---
**Author:** ![jaye](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/sef.discourse.group/jaye/32/810_2.png) [@jaye](https://sef.discourse.group/u/jaye)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2020, 6:57am UTC](https://sef.discourse.group/t/building-a-mock-api-server-for-the-scholarx-api/186/10 "2020-11-19T06:57:00Z")
> [@piumal1999](#): > > We get a `mentor` object as the request payload. And we can get the state from it. For that, i think this kind of json payload will be enough: This seems like a hack right? How about using like this `@RequestBody Map payload` ? or `@RequestBody Map payload` ---
**Author:** ![piumal1999](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/sef.discourse.group/piumal1999/32/274_2.png) [@piumal1999](https://sef.discourse.group/u/piumal1999)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2020, 7:44am UTC](https://sef.discourse.group/t/building-a-mock-api-server-for-the-scholarx-api/186/11 "2020-11-19T07:44:48Z")
> [@jaye](#): > > How about using like this `@RequestBody Map payload` ? > > or `@RequestBody Map payload` This one is fine. I think we can use this for that boolean payload also