[V3] body is modified to JSON object even for non-JSON data (regression in 10.0.0-beta.60)

[individual-it]

Software versions

Please provide at least OS and version of pact-js

• OS: Ubuntu 21.10
• Consumer Pact library: Pact JS v10.0.0-beta.60
• Provider Pact library: Pact JS v10.0.0-beta.60
• Node Version: 16.0.0

Issue Checklist

Please confirm the following:

• I have upgraded to the latest
• I have the read the FAQs in the Readme
• I have triple checked, that there are no unhandled promises in my code and have read the section on intermittent test failures
• I have set my log level to debug and attached a log file showing the complete request/response cycle
• For bonus points and virtual high fives, I have created a reproduceable git repository (see below) to illustrate the problem

Expected behaviour

when using Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded the data in the body would be send as it is

Actual behaviour

data is encoded into a JSON object
an interaction like

"description": "as 'admin', a POST request to create a user",
"request": {
  "body": "password=1234&userid=testUser1",
  "headers": {
    "Content-Type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded",
    "authorization": "Basic YWRtaW46YWRtaW4="
  },
.....

results in this request to the provider

Steps to reproduce

1. create an interaction with "Content-Type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"
2. set a body
3. run provider tests
4. observe what is send to the provider

reproducible example: https://github.com/pact-foundation/pact-js/pull/883/files
the test 'creates a new mate with application/x-www-form-urlencoded data' works with 10.0.0-beta.59 but fails with 10.0.0-beta.60 because the data is not urlencoded but wrapped into a JSON object

[mefellows]

It seems like this is working now @individual-it - are you able to confirm? The tests with that PR are definitely green, and it looks like the body is correct.

[YOU54F]

So it looks like the test was failing, but enablingPending:true is set, so the build doesn't fail, where there are provider verification failures.

This is a build from master showing the failing verification from a build log

https://github.com/pact-foundation/pact-js/runs/8017993797?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:6991

This is a comment and hack in to make the verification pass, and way to repro the issue

https://github.com/pact-foundation/pact-js/blob/e2e_example_matchers/examples/v3/e2e/provider.js#L100

here is the passing test, with the above code in

https://github.com/pact-foundation/pact-js/runs/8024802481?check_suite_focus=true#step:4:9656

[individual-it]

@mefellows sorry for the late reply I have been pretty busy last month
the issue seems to persist in 10.1.2
if it help you, here is the interaction that is created by the test I've posted in #883

    {
      "description": "a request to create a new mate with x-www-form-urlencoded data",
      "providerStates": [
        {
          "name": "is authenticated"
        }
      ],
      "request": {
        "body": "first_name=Nanny&last_name=Doe",
        "headers": {
          "Content-Type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"
        },
        "method": "POST",
        "path": "/animals"
      },
      "response": {
        "body": {
          "first_name": "Nanny",
          "id": 1,
          "last_name": "Doe"
        },
        "headers": {
          "Content-Type": "application/json; charset=utf-8"
        },
        "matchingRules": {
          "body": {
            "$": {
              "combine": "AND",
              "matchers": [
                {
                  "match": "type"
                }
              ]
            }
          },
          "header": {}
        },
        "status": 200
      }
    }

[jomarocas]

this bug is still persist in version of pack-js 10.4.0

[github-actions]

👋 Hi! The 'smartbear-supported' label has just been added to this issue, which will create an internal tracking ticket in PactFlow's Jira (PACT-786). We will use this to prioritise and assign a team member to this task. All activity will be public on this ticket. For now, sit tight and we'll update this ticket once we have more information on the next steps.

See our documentation for more information.

[diestrin]

I can confirm this is still happening on @pact-foundation/pact@12.1.0

[mefellows]

Thanks for confirming. We still need to investigate if the issue is in Pact JS or in the upstream FFI - any help on that would be welcome to help us progress this.