Home
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.
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.
Playing back a test with a digital certificate
After you create a digital certificate store and record a test using a digital certificate, you must associate the digital certificate with the test for playback.

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.
  - 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.
    - Digital certificate creation overview
      If you want to use digital certificates to run tests against applications that require client-side digital certificates to authenticate users, work with the appropriate server administrators to determine the types of certificates that you need to create.
    - Creating a digital certificate with OpenSSL
      You can use the OpenSSL program to create digital certificates for use with tests.
    - Creating a digital certificate store
      The KeyTool command-line program enables you to create a Rational® Certificate Store (RCS) file that contains digital certificates for use with tests. A Rational Certificate Store (RCS) file is a compressed archive file that contains one or more PKCS#12 certificates. You can also use the KeyTool program to remove certificates from a certificate store.
    - Playing back a test with a digital certificate
      After you create a digital certificate store and record a test using a digital certificate, you must associate the digital certificate with the test for playback.
    - Entrust TruePass authentication overview
      Entrust provides digital identity and encryption technologies to governments and private industry. With Entrust TruePass software users can authenticate with secure web applications without installing a digital certificate in their browsers. This makes it convenient for use in kiosks and other public user environments.
  - 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.

Playing back a test with a digital certificate

After you create a digital certificate store and record a test using a digital certificate, you must associate the digital certificate with the test for playback.

Before you begin

You need to record a test using a digital certificate, and you need a digital certificate store file containing one or more PKCS#12 certificates.

If your certificate extension is not .rcs, then you need to zip the certificate, rename the extension to .rcs, and copy it to the root directory of the project.

Procedure

To associate a digital certificate with a test for playback:

Open the test for editing.
On the Security tab, under Digital Certificates, click Add.
Select or type the name of the certificate store file that you created previously.
You must type or select the file name. You cannot browse to locate the file. The certificate store must be a Rational® Certificate Store (RCS) file. A Rational® Certificate Store file is a compressed archive file that contains one or more PKCS#12 certificates.
Select the digital certificate that you want to use, and then click Select.
When prompted to place the digital certificate in a dataset, click No. To learn more about substituting digital certificates, see Using a digital certificate store with a dataset.

Note: If you add multiple certificates to the Digital Certificates list on the Common Options page, the first certificate that satisfies the request from the server (in the order by which the certificates were entered) is used during playback.
Save the test.

Results

When you run this test, the digital certificate from the certificate store is submitted to the server.