How can I test a bot detection script? - php

Question

I have written a bot detection script using PHP. I want to test that script by sending bots to click on links so I can know if the script works. How can I do that?
Here is the PHP code:
function bot_detected($USER_AGENT){
$crawlers = array(
'Googlebot',
'msnbot',
'Yahoo',
'Lycos',
'facebookexternalhit'
);
$crawlers_agents = implode('|', $crawlers);
if(strpos($crawlers_agents, $USER_AGENT) === false){
return false;
} else {
return TRUE;
}
}

Answer 1

You could use a chrome plugin to set a custom user agent so you can test it, for example this one

Answer 2

The heart of testing is simulating the environment.
First, download a testing suite. I recommend and use PHPUnit. This will allow you to write tests that can survive code alterations that exist in separate files. Without a testing suite, you will inevitably write a program called a driver and do the same thing, but driver files often get lost or are forgotten about, because each one is coded on an as-needed basis, and their is usually no system put in place as to storing drivers together or using a consistent and predictable naming schema. For these reasons, I recommend learning a testing suite, like PHPUnit, which will force you to think about test longevity and file name conventions.
Once you have a testing suite selected, start by designing your test suite. Your short program is really just a function call, so you need the test to pass multiple values to your function, and then test the response to ensure that you get the predicted result.
In a hybrid PHP-pseudocode, this might look like the following:
require 'myfile.php'
class MyTest extends TestClass{
/**
* Provides parameters and expected results to the test method.
*/
public function providerOfTestCases(){
return [
'Googlebot Test Case' => [ 'Googlebot', true ],
'msnbot Test Case' => [ 'mstbot' , true ],
.
.
'nonbot test case' => [ 'randomStringData', false ]
];
}
/**
* #dataProvider providerOfTestCases
*/
public function testBotDetector( $userString, $expectedResult ){
$functionResult = bot_detected( $userString );
$message_on_failure = "When testing $userString, we expect "
. ( $expectedResult ? "TRUE" : "FALSE" )
. " but instead the function outputs "
. ( $functionResult ? "TRUE" : "FALSE" );
$this->assertEquals( $expectedResult, $functionResult, $message_on_failure );
}
}
This test, for such a simple function, will tell you mostly what you already know, that for each string in your list of bot-names that you get a TRUE result.
In addition to this, I would add a logging function to your production system to keep track of all the $USER values that are tested. The biggest problem with a function like the one you have written is that it relies on your preset data list to be accurate. There is no way to test, in advance, that the values you have listed are actually the values that are delivered to your system. By logging all the values that are tested, you can regularly inspect the log for new values that should be considered and possible mistakes.
This second process relies on the comment made by #RiggsFolly to your original post. Your log files will only be filled by actual bot visits, so you must be patient as you wait for the logs to fill. Check the logs regularly, and make sure that you are seeing the values that you expect to see.
Remember to include in your log the result of your function output so that you can tripple-check the performance of your function.
I hope all of this has been helpful. Happy coding!