This tutorial shows how to use Spring unit testing API and mock objects to test controllers which handle PUT requests.
Example
The controller
package com.logicbig.example;
import org.springframework.http.MediaType;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller;
import org.springframework.util.MultiValueMap;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.PutMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestBody;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.ResponseBody;
@Controller
@RequestMapping("/articles")
public class ArticleController {
//for xml & json
@PutMapping(value = "/{id}")
@ResponseBody
public String createNewArticle(@RequestBody Article article) {
return "Article created: " + article;
}
//for x-www-form-urlencoded
@PutMapping(value = "/{id}", consumes = MediaType.APPLICATION_FORM_URLENCODED_VALUE)
@ResponseBody
public String createNewArticleWithFormParams(
@RequestBody MultiValueMap<String, String> formParams) {
return "Article created: " + formParams;
}
}
package com.logicbig.example;
import tools.jackson.dataformat.xml.annotation.JacksonXmlRootElement;
@JacksonXmlRootElement
public class Article {
private long id;
private String content;
.............
}
Java Config
package com.logicbig.example;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.ComponentScan;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
import org.springframework.web.servlet.config.annotation.EnableWebMvc;
import org.springframework.web.servlet.config.annotation.WebMvcConfigurer;
import org.springframework.web.servlet.config.annotation.ViewResolverRegistry;
@EnableWebMvc
@Configuration
@ComponentScan
public class MyWebConfig implements WebMvcConfigurer {
}
Unit Tests
Let's create and run our tests for XML, JSON and x-www-form-urlencoded requests one by one.
Testing XML PUT request
Running test ControllerPutTests.testXmlController() :
package com.logicbig.example;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.http.MediaType;
import org.springframework.test.context.junit.jupiter.web.SpringJUnitWebConfig;
import org.springframework.test.web.servlet.assertj.MockMvcTester;
import org.springframework.web.context.WebApplicationContext;
import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
@SpringJUnitWebConfig(MyWebConfig.class)
public class ControllerPutTests {
@Autowired
private WebApplicationContext wac;
private MockMvcTester mockMvcTester;
@BeforeEach
public void setup() {
this.mockMvcTester = MockMvcTester.from(this.wac);
}
@Test
public void testXmlController() {
assertThat(this.mockMvcTester.put().uri("/articles/1")
.contentType(MediaType.APPLICATION_XML)
.accept(MediaType.APPLICATION_XML)
.characterEncoding("UTF-8")
.content(getArticleInXml(1))
.exchange())
.hasStatusOk()
.bodyText().isEqualTo("Article created: "
+ "Article{id=1, "
+ "content='test data'}");
}
.............
private String getArticleInXml(long id) {
return "<article><id>" + id + "</id><content>test data</content></article>";
}
}
mvn clean test -Dtest="ControllerPutTests#testXmlController" Output$ mvn clean test -Dtest="ControllerPutTests#testXmlController"
[INFO] Scanning for projects...
[INFO]
[INFO] --------< com.logicbig.example:spring-put-unit-testing-example >--------
[INFO] Building spring-put-unit-testing-example 1.0-SNAPSHOT
[INFO] from pom.xml
[INFO] --------------------------------[ war ]---------------------------------
[INFO]
[INFO] --- clean:3.2.0:clean (default-clean) @ spring-put-unit-testing-example ---
[INFO] Deleting D:\example-projects\spring-mvc\http-request-methods\spring-put-unit-testing-example\target
[INFO]
[INFO] --- resources:3.3.1:resources (default-resources) @ spring-put-unit-testing-example ---
[WARNING] Using platform encoding (UTF-8 actually) to copy filtered resources, i.e. build is platform dependent!
[INFO] skip non existing resourceDirectory D:\example-projects\spring-mvc\http-request-methods\spring-put-unit-testing-example\src\main\resources
[INFO]
[INFO] --- compiler:3.15.0:compile (default-compile) @ spring-put-unit-testing-example ---
[INFO] Recompiling the module because of changed source code.
[INFO] Compiling 3 source files with javac [debug target 25] to target\classes
[INFO] /D:/LogicBig/example-projects/spring-mvc/http-request-methods/spring-put-unit-testing-example/src/main/java/com/logicbig/example/Article.java: D:\example-projects\spring-mvc\http-request-methods\spring-put-unit-testing-example\src\main\java\com\logicbig\example\Article.java uses or overrides a deprecated API.
[INFO] /D:/LogicBig/example-projects/spring-mvc/http-request-methods/spring-put-unit-testing-example/src/main/java/com/logicbig/example/Article.java: Recompile with -Xlint:deprecation for details.
[INFO]
[INFO] --- resources:3.3.1:testResources (default-testResources) @ spring-put-unit-testing-example ---
[WARNING] Using platform encoding (UTF-8 actually) to copy filtered resources, i.e. build is platform dependent!
[INFO] skip non existing resourceDirectory D:\example-projects\spring-mvc\http-request-methods\spring-put-unit-testing-example\src\test\resources
[INFO]
[INFO] --- compiler:3.15.0:testCompile (default-testCompile) @ spring-put-unit-testing-example ---
[INFO] Recompiling the module because of changed dependency.
[INFO] Compiling 2 source files with javac [debug target 25] to target\test-classes
[INFO]
[INFO] --- surefire:3.2.5:test (default-test) @ spring-put-unit-testing-example ---
[INFO] Using auto detected provider org.apache.maven.surefire.junitplatform.JUnitPlatformProvider
[WARNING] file.encoding cannot be set as system property, use <argLine>-Dfile.encoding=...</argLine> instead
[INFO]
[INFO] -------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] T E S T S
[INFO] -------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] Running com.logicbig.example.ControllerPutTests
[INFO] Tests run: 1, Failures: 0, Errors: 0, Skipped: 0, Time elapsed: 2.354 s -- in com.logicbig.example.ControllerPutTests
[INFO]
[INFO] Results:
[INFO]
[INFO] Tests run: 1, Failures: 0, Errors: 0, Skipped: 0
[INFO]
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] BUILD SUCCESS
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] Total time: 12.123 s
[INFO] Finished at: 2026-08-11T17:46:43+08:00
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
INFO: Completed initialization in 6 ms
Testing JSON PUT request
package com.logicbig.example;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.http.MediaType;
import org.springframework.test.context.junit.jupiter.web.SpringJUnitWebConfig;
import org.springframework.test.web.servlet.assertj.MockMvcTester;
import org.springframework.web.context.WebApplicationContext;
import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
@SpringJUnitWebConfig(MyWebConfig.class)
public class ControllerPutTests {
@Autowired
private WebApplicationContext wac;
private MockMvcTester mockMvcTester;
@BeforeEach
public void setup() {
this.mockMvcTester = MockMvcTester.from(this.wac);
}
.............
@Test
public void testJsonController() {
assertThat(this.mockMvcTester.put().uri("/articles/2")
.contentType(MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON)
.accept(MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON)
.characterEncoding("UTF-8")
.content(getArticleInJson(2))
.exchange())
.hasStatusOk()
.bodyText().isEqualTo("Article created: "
+ "Article{id=2, "
+ "content='test data'}");
}
.............
private String getArticleInJson(long id) {
return "{\"id\":\"" + id + "\", \"content\":\"test data\"}";
}
.............
}
mvn clean test -Dtest="ControllerPutTests#testJsonController" Output$ mvn clean test -Dtest="ControllerPutTests#testJsonController"
[INFO] Scanning for projects...
[INFO]
[INFO] --------< com.logicbig.example:spring-put-unit-testing-example >--------
[INFO] Building spring-put-unit-testing-example 1.0-SNAPSHOT
[INFO] from pom.xml
[INFO] --------------------------------[ war ]---------------------------------
[INFO]
[INFO] --- clean:3.2.0:clean (default-clean) @ spring-put-unit-testing-example ---
[INFO] Deleting D:\example-projects\spring-mvc\http-request-methods\spring-put-unit-testing-example\target
[INFO]
[INFO] --- resources:3.3.1:resources (default-resources) @ spring-put-unit-testing-example ---
[WARNING] Using platform encoding (UTF-8 actually) to copy filtered resources, i.e. build is platform dependent!
[INFO] skip non existing resourceDirectory D:\example-projects\spring-mvc\http-request-methods\spring-put-unit-testing-example\src\main\resources
[INFO]
[INFO] --- compiler:3.15.0:compile (default-compile) @ spring-put-unit-testing-example ---
[INFO] Recompiling the module because of changed source code.
[INFO] Compiling 3 source files with javac [debug target 25] to target\classes
[INFO] /D:/LogicBig/example-projects/spring-mvc/http-request-methods/spring-put-unit-testing-example/src/main/java/com/logicbig/example/Article.java: D:\example-projects\spring-mvc\http-request-methods\spring-put-unit-testing-example\src\main\java\com\logicbig\example\Article.java uses or overrides a deprecated API.
[INFO] /D:/LogicBig/example-projects/spring-mvc/http-request-methods/spring-put-unit-testing-example/src/main/java/com/logicbig/example/Article.java: Recompile with -Xlint:deprecation for details.
[INFO]
[INFO] --- resources:3.3.1:testResources (default-testResources) @ spring-put-unit-testing-example ---
[WARNING] Using platform encoding (UTF-8 actually) to copy filtered resources, i.e. build is platform dependent!
[INFO] skip non existing resourceDirectory D:\example-projects\spring-mvc\http-request-methods\spring-put-unit-testing-example\src\test\resources
[INFO]
[INFO] --- compiler:3.15.0:testCompile (default-testCompile) @ spring-put-unit-testing-example ---
[INFO] Recompiling the module because of changed dependency.
[INFO] Compiling 2 source files with javac [debug target 25] to target\test-classes
[INFO]
[INFO] --- surefire:3.2.5:test (default-test) @ spring-put-unit-testing-example ---
[INFO] Using auto detected provider org.apache.maven.surefire.junitplatform.JUnitPlatformProvider
[WARNING] file.encoding cannot be set as system property, use <argLine>-Dfile.encoding=...</argLine> instead
[INFO]
[INFO] -------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] T E S T S
[INFO] -------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] Running com.logicbig.example.ControllerPutTests
[INFO] Tests run: 1, Failures: 0, Errors: 0, Skipped: 0, Time elapsed: 2.670 s -- in com.logicbig.example.ControllerPutTests
[INFO]
[INFO] Results:
[INFO]
[INFO] Tests run: 1, Failures: 0, Errors: 0, Skipped: 0
[INFO]
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] BUILD SUCCESS
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] Total time: 6.931 s
[INFO] Finished at: 2026-08-11T18:03:06+08:00
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
INFO: Completed initialization in 2 ms
Testing x-www-form-urlencoded PUT request
package com.logicbig.example;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.http.MediaType;
import org.springframework.test.context.junit.jupiter.web.SpringJUnitWebConfig;
import org.springframework.test.web.servlet.assertj.MockMvcTester;
import org.springframework.web.context.WebApplicationContext;
import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
@SpringJUnitWebConfig(MyWebConfig.class)
public class ControllerPutTests {
@Autowired
private WebApplicationContext wac;
private MockMvcTester mockMvcTester;
@BeforeEach
public void setup() {
this.mockMvcTester = MockMvcTester.from(this.wac);
}
.............
@Test
public void testJsonController() {
assertThat(this.mockMvcTester.put().uri("/articles/2")
.contentType(MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON)
.accept(MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON)
.characterEncoding("UTF-8")
.content(getArticleInJson(2))
.exchange())
.hasStatusOk()
.bodyText().isEqualTo("Article created: "
+ "Article{id=2, "
+ "content='test data'}");
}
@Test
public void testFormParamController() {
assertThat(this.mockMvcTester.put().uri("/articles/3")
.contentType(MediaType.APPLICATION_FORM_URLENCODED)
.accept(MediaType.APPLICATION_FORM_URLENCODED)
.characterEncoding("UTF-8")
.content("id=3&content=test data")
.exchange())
.hasStatusOk()
.bodyText().isEqualTo("Article created: "
+ "{id=[3], "
+ "content=[test data]}");
}
private String getArticleInJson(long id) {
return "{\"id\":\"" + id + "\", \"content\":\"test data\"}";
}
.............
private String getArticleInXml(long id) {
return "<article><id>" + id + "</id><content>test data</content></article>";
}
}
Example ProjectDependencies and Technologies Used: - spring-webmvc 7.0.6 (Spring Web MVC)
Version Compatibility: 3.2.9.RELEASE - 7.0.6 Version compatibilities of spring-webmvc with this example: Versions in green have been tested.
- jackson-databind 3.1.0 (General data-binding functionality for Jackson: works on core streaming API)
- jackson-dataformat-xml 3.1.0 (Data format extension for Jackson to offer
alternative support for serializing POJOs as XML and deserializing XML as POJOs)
- spring-test 7.0.6 (Spring TestContext Framework)
- junit-jupiter-engine 6.0.3 (Module "junit-jupiter-engine" of JUnit)
- jakarta.servlet-api 6.1.0 (Jakarta Servlet API documentation)
- hamcrest 3.0 (Core API and libraries of hamcrest matcher framework)
- assertj-core 3.26.3 (Rich and fluent assertions for testing in Java)
- JDK 25
- Maven 3.9.11
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