Load Testing Blog
How to Change Recorded Hostnames/Edit Recorded URLs
Web Performance Tester offers several tools for changing recorded hostnames. Below, I describe common situations users may experience, and the appropriate method of changing datasources for each.
OSX Load Tester 6 Beta Known Bugs and Workarounds
As a long time Apple/Mac user I’m gratified to see our OSX download numbers creep up to 20%! Unfortunately with fewer people using the OSX version the first couple of releases had less outside bug reports than the Windows version, so thanks to all of the OSX users who’ve taken the time to send in bug reports so I can fix the issues.
Better customer service with a better ticket system
As part of our continuous efforts to improve our technical support and services, we are moving to a new system for technical support. Our new tech support system is easier for you to use and easier for us to achieve the excellence we strive for. Starting immediately, new support requests submitted via our Load Tester software will be directed into the new system.
The new system features:
Better support through email: if you prefer email correspondence, you can reply to tickets via email and include attachments
Better teamwork: you can CC a coworker to give them access to the ticket so they … Continue reading »
Web Performance Tester 6.5 release
If you’ve been following the quick pace of development of our real-browser features, we know you’ll be excited about these new features:
Extract values
Data in the browser can now be extracted into a user state variable for use later in the testcase. Read more…
Organize testcase steps
The steps in real-browser testcases can now be organized into hierarchical groups for better readability and easier maintenance. Read more…
Improved selection from choice boxes
Drop-down choices now support selection by position in the list (i.e. index) and by the option value (a hidden attribute in the HTML). Continue reading »
Selecting a choice by index or value from a drop-down list in the browser
The first release of Web Performance Tester (WPT) with real browser support allow users to select items from a drop-down list (an HTML Select element) based on the text visible to a human user – just like a real user would do. There are times, however, when choosing based on the position in the list (index) or the hidden value of the selection makes a testcase more robust. This is especially true when the text descriptions of the choices may change due to variations in language, software changes, etc.
Starting with version 6.5, real-browser testcases can be configured to select by … Continue reading »
Extracting Values from the Browser
Occasionally, a testcase requires a bit of information from one page in the testcase to be used on another page, later in the testcase. In some cases, this is exactly what a real user would do (e.g. click on a link chosen based on text that appeared earlier). Other times, it is a hidden identifier that is used to choose the right element from a list later. Either way, an Extract a value step can be used to get data from the browser.
In the above example, an attribute value is extracted and stored in a user state variable named … Continue reading »
Cookie Debugging From the Testcase Editor in Web Performance Tester 6.5
Load Tester 6.5 adds a quick and easy option for inspecting cookies in your testcase, and reviewing how they are used in a replay. Starting with Load Tester 6.5, the testcase editor adds two new columns: Cookies Sent (by the browser, to the server), and Cookies Received (by the browser, from the server). To enable these columns, simply select Options -> Columns.
The columns will display the number of cookies present in a transaction. In the case of a web page, it will identify the number of unique cookies sent or received. Simply hover over for a tool-tip, which will … Continue reading »
Organize Steps into Logical Groups in Real Browser testcases
With Web Performance Tester 6.5 (WPT), you can easily organize the steps in your testcases into groups to make them easier to read and maintain. You can create groups within groups with no limit on the depth. This example shows three groups – the 3rd (Type the post) is contained in the 2nd (Create post and submit). The fourth group, not shown here, includes all the steps in the testcase (i.e. the entire testcase is a group).
Increased productivity and editing on-the-fly
Create groups just like any other step – add a step and change the type to Group. Quickly create your … Continue reading »
Accessing downloaded files in real-browser testcases
Dealing with file downloads is considered by many to be problematic when developing testcases with Selenium/WebDriver. Web Performance Tester (WPT) makes this task relatively effortless when working with Chrome – when the virtual user will initiates a download (by clicking something), the file will be downloaded into a directory that exists only for the duration of that testcase. This solves one problem – running out of disk space due to files downloaded during test iterations – because when the testcase ends, the temporary folder is removed along with the downloaded files.
Some tests require validating the content of the file, so … Continue reading »
Google Chrome 38 Recording Workaround
The latest version of 38 Google Chrome changed the security rules so that the recording feature of Load Tester 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, and 6.4 doesn’t work right out of the box. We’re working on a fix, but in the meantime when you start recording on Chrome you’ll see this shield icon in the top right-hand corner.