Data-Driven Testing

Run the same API scenario with different input data. Proofarc supports data sets that feed variables into your test steps.

Creating a Data Set

POST /api/datasets
{
  "name": "User Registration Data",
  "projectId": 1,
  "description": "Test data for user creation scenarios",
  "entries": [
    {"username": "john_doe", "email": "john@example.com", "role": "USER"},
    {"username": "jane_admin", "email": "jane@example.com", "role": "ADMIN"},
    {"username": "test_viewer", "email": "viewer@example.com", "role": "VIEWER"},
    {"username": "", "email": "invalid", "role": "UNKNOWN"}
  ]
}

Linking Data Set to Scenario

Configure the scenario to use a data set:

"dataSourceConfig": {
  "dataSetId": 1,
  "failFast": true,
  "parallelism": 1
}

Field	Description
dataSetId	ID of the data set to use
failFast	Stop on first failure (true) or run all (false)
parallelism	Number of entries to execute in parallel (1 = sequential)

Using Data Set Variables

Reference data set fields in your steps with {{fieldName}}:

{
  "stepOrder": 1,
  "name": "Create user from data set",
  "httpMethod": "POST",
  "endpointPath": "/api/users",
  "requestBody": "{\"username\":\"{{username}}\",\"email\":\"{{email}}\",\"role\":\"{{role}}\"}",
  "expectedStatusCodes": [201]
}

Execution Flow

When you execute a data-driven scenario:

1. The scenario runs once per data set entry
2. Each run substitutes the entry's values into {{variables}}
3. Results tracked per entry — see which data inputs pass or fail
4. The overall scenario status reflects all entries

Results

Each data set entry produces its own execution result:

Entry 1: john_doe / john@example.com / USER → PASSED (7/7 steps)
Entry 2: jane_admin / jane@example.com / ADMIN → PASSED (7/7 steps)
Entry 3: test_viewer / viewer@example.com / VIEWER → PASSED (7/7 steps)
Entry 4: (empty) / invalid / UNKNOWN → FAILED (step 1: validation error)

Use Cases

• Boundary testing — empty strings, long strings, special characters
• Role-based testing — same flow with different user roles
• Multi-tenant testing — same API, different tenant credentials
• Negative testing — invalid inputs that should fail validation