Testing Your Installation

Live and Test Accounts

Web-Merchant/WM provides special test accounts to enable you to test your site. These test accounts operate exactly as live accounts but no funds are actually transferred. Hence you will be able to see statements and test all other account administration without having to involve the bank. When you register with Web-Merchant/WM you will be given two separate accounts for each method of payment (card payment or WorldAccount) you will be using, one will be a test account and the other your live account. Initially the live account is not enabled for transactions so there is no risk of accidentally triggering a live transaction until you and Web-Merchant/WM have agreed that you are ready to "go live". If you try to submit a live payment you will receive an error message telling you that there are no appropriate accounts to process your payment.

When you are testing your site you should set the testMode parameter for your payment to one of the test mode values listed below. Even when your site has gone live you can still continue to submit test transactions by setting the testmode parameter for those transactions.

Statements and configuration options for all your accounts, both live and test can found in WAS. All your test transactions will appear on the statement for your test account and live transactions on the live account statement.

Testing WorldAccount

If you are using WorldAccount then you will need to open a customer WorldAccount in order to test your site. When you open a WorldAccount in response to a test transaction this account will automatically be a test account. The opening of this account requires a card payment to put funds into it and this card payment is carried out in the test mode specified for the purchase. This card doesn't have to be genuine.

Preferred Accounts

If you are using the facility to specify the preferred accounts for processing a payment you can include both live and test accounts in the list. The first account that matches the transaction for testMode and currency will be used for processing.

Test Modes

The test mode is set for each individual transaction and is controlled via the testMode parameter when a payment is submitted. Any non-zero mode indicates a test transaction. In addition, the specific value controls the response to the attempt to authorise the payment. Note that for WorldAccount payments these test modes only refer to card payments that would be processed via the bank i.e. opening or topping up the WorldAccount. The success or otherwise of the overall payment transaction will depend on the availability of funds in the WorldAccount.

Test Mode Description
101 Always No, equivalent to a declined authorisation at the bank but no funds transferred
100 Always Yes, equivalent to a successful authorisation at the bank but no funds transferred
0 Live, transaction is sent to bank for the standard authorisation process with resultant funds transfer if successful

Parallel Test and Live Installations

Once your site is live you might wish to continue development on a separate test site without affecting your live site. You can do this by asking Web-Merchant/WM to set up one or more additional installations.

Important: All installations share the same set of accounts so you must ensure that your test sites always submit transactions in test mode. If you accidentally omit the testMode or set it to 0 then you will trigger a live payment. If you are using a list of preferred accounts then ensure that this includes only test accounts as an additional safeguard.
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