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Test Author Guide
This guide describes how to create test scripts in Rational® Performance Tester and enhances tests by applying different test elements such as dataset, variables, and verification points. This guide is intended for testers.
Creating tests
To create a test, you record representative interactions with an application.
Recording socket and TN3270 tests
When you record a test, the test creation wizard records your interactions with the application under test, generates a test from the recording, and opens the test for editing.
TN3270 performance testing guidelines
Before you can test the performance of TN3270 terminal applications, set up your test environment and incorporate these guidelines to produce reliable performance tests.

Test Author Guide
This guide describes how to create test scripts in Rational® Performance Tester and enhances tests by applying different test elements such as dataset, variables, and verification points. This guide is intended for testers.
- Creating tests
  To create a test, you record representative interactions with an application.
  - Performance testing tips
    Use these tips to make IBM® Rational® Performance Tester run faster and more efficiently. These tips do not apply to IBM Rational Service Tester for SOA Quality.
  - Creating a project
    The tests that you create, and the assets associated with the tests, reside in a project on your desktop. You can create the project separately, or you can simply record a test, which automatically creates a project named testproj.
  - Recording HTTP tests
    When you record a test, the test creation wizard records your interactions with a web-based application, generates a test from the recording, and opens the test for editing. You can record tests from Internet Explorer (which is the default on Windows™) or from another browser.
  - Recording SAP tests
    When you record a test, the test creation wizard records your interactions with the SAP server, generates a test from the recording, and opens the test for editing. You can record tests from the SAP GUI. You can also record SAP batch input tests that can be used to produce a heavy load on the server while minimizing the processing requirements for virtual testers.
  - Recording Citrix tests
    When you record a test, the test creation wizard records your interactions with the Citrix server, generates a test from the recording, and opens the test for editing. You can record a test session in the Citrix XenApp client.
  - Recording service tests
    When you record a test, the test creation wizard records your interactions with the service, generates a test from the recording, and opens the test for editing. You can record a test session by invoking service calls with the generic service client or by using an existing client. You can also create a service test manually or from a Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) model.
  - Recording socket and TN3270 tests
    When you record a test, the test creation wizard records your interactions with the application under test, generates a test from the recording, and opens the test for editing.
    - Socket performance testing guidelines
      Before you can test the performance of TCP/IP socket-based applications, set up your test environment and incorporate these guidelines to produce reliable performance tests.
    - TN3270 performance testing guidelines
      Before you can test the performance of TN3270 terminal applications, set up your test environment and incorporate these guidelines to produce reliable performance tests.
    - Recording a socket API performance test
      You can record a socket API test from any client program on your computer. When you record, the recording wizard automatically starts the client program and records all the data that transits through the socket API.
    - Recording a TN3270 performance test
      You can record a TN3270 test from a terminal emulation client. When you record, the recording wizard automatically starts the terminal emulation client and records all the screen and input activity that transits the socket connection.
    - Changing test generation preferences
      You can change the way that the test recorder organizes multiple send and receive elements in a new socket test by changing test generation preferences. To improve the readability of your test, you can merge consecutive send or receive elements that use the same connection.
  - Digital certificates overview
    The digital certificates feature enables you to run tests against servers that use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) for applications that require client-side digital certificates to authenticate users.
  - Kerberos overview
    You can run HTTP tests against servers that use the Kerberos protocol for authentication.
  - Annotating a test during recording
    You can add comments, add transactions, or change a page name while you record a test. The advantage of adding these elements during (rather than after) recording is that you can place the annotations in the test exactly where you want. In addition, because annotations are part of the recorded test, they are regenerated when you regenerate the test. You can also insert split points into a test during record.
  - Recording sensitive session data
    You can keep recording session (.recsession) files to view the contents of a recording or to regenerate tests. However, if a recorded test contains sensitive information, you can choose to obfuscate, or encrypt, text strings in the recsession file.
  - Splitting a test during recording
    You can insert split points when you record a test. Split points allow you to generate multiple tests from a single recording that you can replay in a different order with a schedule.
  - Generating a new test from a recorded session
    You can generate a new test from a recorded session. For example, if you accidentally damage a test during editing, or if you want to change a test preference, you can regenerate the test instead of re-recording it. If split points were inserted in the recording, you can choose to generate a single test without split points.
  - Organizing test assets by type
    By clicking an icon, you can view your test assets in a logical order, in separate folders for tests, schedules, results, locations, and datasets.
- Editing tests
  After you record a test, you can edit it to include datasets (to provide variable data rather than the data that you recorded), verification points (to confirm that the test runs as expected), and data correlation (to ensure that returned data is appropriate for the corresponding request). You can also add protocol-specific elements to a test. When you edit a test, the modified items appear in italic type. The italic type changes to regular type after you save the test.
- Compound tests
  You can create compound tests to help you organize smaller tests into scenarios that can then be run end-to-end. You can combine tests from different extensions to achieve end-to-end flow.
- Simulating services with stubs
  Service stubs enable you to simulate the behavior of an actual service for a wide variety testing or integration purposes.
- Sending service requests with the generic service client
  The generic service client enables you to send requests to services for which you do not have a convenient client and to view the responses returned by the service.
- Emulating workloads
  You emulate a workload by creating a schedule and adding user groups/rate runner groups, tests, and other elements to it.

TN3270 performance testing guidelines

Before you can test the performance of TN3270 terminal applications, set up your test environment and incorporate these guidelines to produce reliable performance tests.

Limitations

You can use this extension to test applications that run on a TN3270 terminal emulation client, where the test simulates multiple terminals that connect to one or several servers.

These TN3270 terminal emulation packages are supported:

IBM® Personal Communications
Attachmate EXTRA! X-treme
Managed Application

When you record a TN3270 session or a Managed Application session by using the default options of the Socket I/O Recorder, the corresponding network traffic may not be captured. Therefore, an empty test is generated after the recording of the test is complete.

You should then select the Use MS-Detour for launching processes option on the Socket I/O Recorder Secure Settings page. The Socket I/O Recorder then uses the Microsoft Detour library when attempting to capture the application’s network traffic when you record a test.

Performance

When deploying your performance tests, use a relevant number of virtual users on a given computer. For example, if you deploy too many virtual users on a single computer, the results reflect more the load of the test computer than the load of the server.

For best results with performance tests on an average test computer with a 1 GHz processor and 1 GB of RAM, do not exceed 1000 concurrent virtual users.

If you exceed the number of virtual users that a single test computer can run, the measured performance of the server is affected by the performance of the test computer, which invalidates the final results.

When editing a schedule for long performance tests, use these recommendations:

In the schedule editor, reduce the Test log level setting to None.
In the schedule editor, set the Statistics sample interval value to approximately 1/60 of the run time, for example 12 minutes for an estimated 12-hour session.
When possible, use loops inside test suites rather than loops in the schedule. Using loops inside test suites avoids connection problems that might occur over long-duration tests and emphasizes measurement of the send and receive activity rather than connection and close activity.