Crate assert_json_diff

This crate includes macros for comparing two JSON values. It is designed to give much more helpful error messages than the standard assert_eq!. It basically does a diff of the two objects and tells you the exact differences. This is useful when asserting that two large JSON objects are the same.

It uses the serde_json::Value type to represent JSON.

Install

[dependencies]
assert-json-diff = "0.2.1"

Partial matching

If you want to assert that one JSON value is “included” in another use assert_json_include:

#[macro_use]
extern crate assert_json_diff;
#[macro_use]
extern crate serde_json;

fn main() {
    let a = json!({
        "data": {
            "users": [
                {
                    "id": 1,
                    "country": {
                        "name": "Denmark"
                    }
                },
                {
                    "id": 24,
                    "country": {
                        "name": "Denmark"
                    }
                }
            ]
        }
    });

    let b = json!({
        "data": {
            "users": [
                {
                    "id": 1,
                    "country": {
                        "name": "Sweden"
                    }
                },
                {
                    "id": 2,
                    "country": {
                        "name": "Denmark"
                    }
                }
            ]
        }
    });

    assert_json_include!(actual: a, expected: b)
}

This will panic with the error message:

json atoms at path ".data.users[0].country.name" are not equal:
    expected:
        "Sweden"
    actual:
        "Denmark"

json atoms at path ".data.users[1].id" are not equal:
    expected:
        2
    actual:
        24

assert_json_include allows extra data in actual but not in expected. That is so you can verify just a part of the JSON without having to specify the whole thing. For example this test passes:

#[macro_use]
extern crate assert_json_diff;
#[macro_use]
extern crate serde_json;

fn main() {
    assert_json_include!(
        actual: json!({
            "a": { "b": 1 },
        }),
        expected: json!({
            "a": {},
        })
    )
}

However expected cannot contain additional data so this test fails:

#[macro_use]
extern crate assert_json_diff;
#[macro_use]
extern crate serde_json;

fn main() {
    assert_json_include!(
        actual: json!({
            "a": {},
        }),
        expected: json!({
            "a": { "b": 1 },
        })
    )
}

That will print

json atom at path ".a.b" is missing from actual

Exact matching

If you want to ensure two JSON values are exactly the same, use assert_json_eq.

#[macro_use]
extern crate assert_json_diff;
#[macro_use]
extern crate serde_json;

fn main() {
    assert_json_eq!(
        json!({ "a": { "b": 1 } }),
        json!({ "a": {} })
    )
}

This will panic with the error message:

json atom at path ".a.b" is missing from lhs

Macros

assert_json_eq

The macro used to compare two JSON values for an exact match.

assert_json_include

The macro used to compare two JSON values for an inclusive match.