Xceptance, XLT

XLT 4.9 has been released

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Xceptance released version 4.9 of its load testing and test automation product Xceptance LoadTest. This is primarily a 3rd party update release, but also delivers some improvements.

Here is a selection of the most important changes:

  • Script Developer supports Firefox 53
  • Selenium updated to version 3.4.0
  • Better reporting of JavaScript errors in script test cases
  • Master controller displays the configured load profile
  • Load test reports can be created for a subset of agents
  • Load test reports shows the number of entries in data tables and shows summary values when filtering the table
  • Demo app server ports can be reconfigured easily

Script Developer

Script Developer has been made compatible with the latest available Firefox version, while outdated versions are not supported any longer. Script Developer runs on Firefox 45/ESR up to 53 now.

Update Instructions: Firefox will not auto-update older versions of Script Developer to 4.9.0. You will need to do this manually. Please remove the currently installed version first and afterwards install the new version by simply dragging and dropping the file xlt-scriptdeveloper-4.9.0.xpi onto Firefox. Auto-updating within the 4.9.x product line will then work as usual again.

Alternatively you can visit the Mozilla Add-On marketplace and install Script Developer from there (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/xceptance-script-developer/). Please make sure you uninstall your locally installed version first.

Framework

XLT now ships with Selenium 3.4.0. Make sure you update your locally installed driver binaries to the latest available version. This is especially true for geckodriver. In case you experience issues with geckodriver / Firefox, you might be better off running FirefoxDriver in legacy mode. The legacy mode is more mature.

All other core libraries have been updated as well. This also includes HtmlUnit for an improved browser emulation.

The XLT framework also comes with some functional improvements. In case a JavaScript expression in your script test case could not be evaluated successfully for any reason, the root cause will now be listed as part of the exception message. Libraries that make use of Java’s built-in logging framework do no longer log to the console, but to XLT’s log file.

Load and Performance Testing

The Mastercontroller now prints the configured load profile to the console when starting a load test and also when displaying the current status. This helps to spot test configuration mistakes earlier. Intermediate results downloaded, while a load test is still running, will now be flagged to distinguish them from final results.

The load test report shows the number of entries in a data table, and when filtering a data table, the footer row is updated accordingly. Load test reports may also be created for only a subset of the agents. You might remember that version 4.8 already delivered the ability to render reports for specific test cases only.

Last but not least, ec2_admin prints more details about running AWS machine instances and lets you review your choice before actually terminating running instances.

Demo App Server / Posters Store

The app server that hosts our demo applications uses ports 8080 and 8443 by default. Since these ports are often already used by other applications, you can now reconfigure them easily.

Our demo application Posters Store now runs with HTTPS only. Any HTTP request will be redirected to use HTTPS.

Sounds interesting? More details can be found in the release notes of XLT 4.9.

Software, Xceptance, XLT

Release of XLT 4.8

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XLT 4.8 is primarily a technology update release, but also comes with some new features.

First and foremost, XLT now ships with Selenium 3, the new version of the WebDriver library. All other core libraries have been updated as well. This also includes HtmlUnit for an improved browser emulation. Beginning with this release, XLT requires Java 8 to run.

The XLT framework also comes with some functional improvements. XLT now supports OperaDriver out of the box and can run FirefoxDriver in either the new Marionette mode using geckodriver or in the “old” legacy mode. When you drive Firefox via XltFirefoxDriver, you will get a much more detailed result browser now, with almost the same request and response details that you already know from XltDriver. Any values that you programmatically add to the newly introduced value log of a session are shown in the result browser as well. Furthermore, most of the XLT framework properties can now be configured not only globally, but also specifically for a certain test scenario.

For load testers, there is something in the box as well. If you use the AWS EC2 cloud a lot, you will be glad to hear that the new AWS data center in Ohio is now fully supported. The load test report has been tuned to become usable much faster, even with lengthy pages such as the Requests page.

Last but not least, the Poster Store demo application and the XLT Jenkins Plug-In have both been updated. If you ever wanted to load-test your WebDAV server, there is now a new demo test suite for that.

Sounds interesting? More details can be found in the release notes of XLT 4.8.

XLT

Release of XLT 4.7

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Summary

Xceptance released version 4.7 of its load testing and test automation product Xceptance LoadTest. It features a wide range of improvements and new functionalities.

Here is a selection of the most important changes.

  • Script Developer fully supports test data sets now
  • Script Developer learned “post steps” for easy cleanup or tear down of test cases
  • Script Developer and the framework support the new echo command for enhanced debugging
  • Load testing supports a variable load factor function to easily and globally vary load quickly
  • Load test reports display DNS resolution time
  • Load test reports display error charts per error type and response code
  • Data tables and charts for custom values display more details
  • Data tables have sticky headers for easier data evaluation
  • Load test reports can be created for specific test scenarios by filtering to include or exclude specific scenarios during report creation
  • XLT can log method and POST data to its timer files
  • All core libraries have been updated for improved browser support and improved performance
  • The new Amazon data center in Mumbai, India (ap-south-1) has been added

See below for more details of the highlights. Make sure to read the full online release notes.

As always, this upgrade is free for everyone.

Continue reading Release of XLT 4.7 →

Automation, Java, Software, XLT

Localisation Verifier – A Custom Java Module for Script Developer

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Introduction

When employing XLT Script Developer you usually resort to automated or manual scripting to drive your testing. Sometimes though you will face a very specific or complex task that can not be expressed that easy with the standard scripting capabilities of Script Developer. For these types of scenarios Script Developer provides the option to integrate a custom Java module. With custom modules you have the full power of your Java runtime and are able to achieve virtually any testing objective.

The following blog post will describe a small custom Java module we created and used recently. By this example we will explain when to choose this route and demonstrate the creation and execution of Java modules. Ultimately you will be able to add Script Developer’s custom module option to your testing arsenal.
Continue reading Localisation Verifier – A Custom Java Module for Script Developer →

Automation, Testing, XLT

Special Characters in Script Developer

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Recently we received a support request regarding special characters in Script Developer. Perhaps other XLT users stumble across a similar requirement, so it’s a good idea to make the discussion available to the public.

First of all, some bad news: Up to now, Script Developer does not have explicit support for special characters, such as Line Feed (\n), Horizontal Tab (\t), Backspace (\b) or similar. For example, typing multiple lines of text – each line delimited by a newline character – into an element on your page is not possible just like that. Upon loading your script, XLT Script Developer normalizes all white-space characters contained in the target or value field of any command.

Of course, we don’t want to leave you out in the rain but provide a feasible solution.
Continue reading Special Characters in Script Developer →

Automation, XLT

Conditional Expressions in XLT

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Motivation

Did you ever have to create multiple versions of your test cases to accommodate small differences of your test objects? Looking for a trade-off between good testing practice and minimizing project complexity. The following blog post reflects on this challenge and introduces you to a potential solution: Conditional Expressions.

Introduction

Xceptance introduced its test automation and load testing tool XLT 4.6 in February 2016 and with it we brought you conditionals. Today we want to shed some light on this new feature, the discussion that came along with it and why we finally decided to introduce it. This blog post will equip you with everything required to employ conditional expressions in your test scripts.

In computer programming, a condition or conditional expression performs an action depending on whether a given statement (the condition) evaluates to true or false. The programmer has the possibility to execute a part of the program only if certain circumstances are met. Now don’t worry, you do not need to become a full-fledged programmer to create your test cases with XLT Script Developer. But you should not skip on the possibilities this new feature is offering.

The Challenge

In testing typically you want your flow of execution to be linear, deterministic and transparent. The individual execution steps of your test case should be well-defined and yield the same results in a constant environment. If one execution step fails – e.g. an assertion does not check out – the whole test case always breaks and evaluates to failed. Run, rinse and repeat.

On the contrary often enough your real world test cases need to cater various scenarios. Think multi-region support of your page for example. Area specific content and functionality can quickly bring you into a catch-22 situation. Follow good practice in test case design, but deal with complexity and organizational nightmares in your test suite. Tiny differences in your test objects force you to keep multiple versions of your (already lengthy) test cases. Farewell maintainability!
Continue reading Conditional Expressions in XLT →

Xceptance

Xceptance at 11th Charity Relay in Jena

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Yes, we did it again. We’re athletic and we care for our community, so we took on another sports challenge and had three of us participate in the 11th Relay Race in Jena, a charity run covering a 3x2km distance.

We had a lot of fun and did pretty well but most importantly we’re happy that this year’s funds will be donated to the Kindersprachbrücke Jena e.V., a local organization devoted to helping refugees and migrants, especially children and their families, learn German and find a new home in Jena.

Bugs in the Wild, Testing

Tracking and Ad-Blocker Software

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Summary in 64 words

Ad blockers are widely used tools these days. Users install this software to improve loading times of websites or to simply remove intrusive advertisement. But what does this mean for us as a testing company? We saw some sites break and are now including tests with enabled ad blockers. This helps our customers to see where problems might occur and to improve user experience.

Introduction

The amount of advertising increases and more and more users take this matter in their own hands and install ad blockers. Users also become privacy-conscious and do not want to expose their browsing behavior to an ever increasing number of companies. Facebook’s, Twitter’s, and Google’s ad or content pixels are on nearly every page nowadays. Adobe collects data as well with font services, Scene7, and Omniture. There are lots of big and small third parties that live on pages and are included as a service. We have seen websites with over 50 third party services on a single page of their web shop.

Continue reading Tracking and Ad-Blocker Software →

Xceptance

Open-Air in Jena – kulturarena 2015

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Logo KulturarenaWe are again supporting Jena’s widely acclaimed KulturArena Open-Air to contribute to local arts and culture. The international festival, which is held right in downtown Jena, is famous for hosting musical acts from all over the world.

This year’s performers include well-known artists such as Tanita Tikaram, Roachford, and Element of Crime. As always, visitors can also go to movie nights and theater performances. We’re excited to be a part of the biggest open-air event in Thuringia.

So come on out and enjoy exciting summer nights in Jena!

Xceptance

Xceptance at 5th Jena City Corporate Running Challenge

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On May 20, 2015, we again joined Jena’s greatest sports and charity event, the Jena Corporate Running Challenge. Every year local companies and organizations go on a 5 kilometers run in downtown Jena to promote sporting activities and, more importantly, raise money for local programs and institutions devoted to help others in need.

We had a lot of fun and all of us tackled the whole distance. This year’s funds will be donated to various charity projects in Jena: the Paten für Demenz project for people with dementia, the mental health charity Aktion Wandlungswelten, and the Stiftung Hodenkrebs dedicated to research on testicular cancer.