Load Runner - Interview Questions

MONDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2007

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Q1. What is load testing?

Ans. Load testing is to test that if the application works fine with the loads that result from large
number of simultaneous users, transactions and to determine weather it can handle peak usage
periods.

Q2. What is Performance testing?

Ans. Timing for both read and update transactions should be gathered to determine whether system
functions are being performed in an acceptable timeframe. This should be done standalone and then
in a multi user environment to determine the effect of multiple transactions on the timing of a single
transaction.

Q3. What is LoadRunner?

Ans. LoadRunner works by creating virtual users who take the place of real users operating client
software, such as sending requests using the HTTP protocol to IIS or Apache web servers. Requests
from many virtual user clients are generated by Load Generators in order to create a load on various
servers under test these load generator agents are started and stopped by Mercury's Controller
program. The Controller controls load test runs based on Scenarios invoking compiled Scripts and
associated Run-time Settings. Scripts are crafted using Mercury's "Virtual user script Generator"
(named "V U Gen"), It generates C-language script code to be executed by virtual users by capturing
network traffic between Internet application clients and servers. With Java clients, VuGen captures
calls by hooking within the client JVM. During runs, the status of each machine is monitored by the
Controller. At the end of each run, the Controller combines its monitoring logs with logs obtained
from load generators, and makes them available to the "Analysis" program, which can then create
run result reports and graphs for Microsoft Word, Crystal Reports, or an HTML webpage browser.

Each HTML report page generated by Analysis includes a link to results in a text file which Microsoft
Excel can open to perform additional analysis. Errors during each run are stored in a database file
which can be read by Microsoft Access.

Q4. What is Virtual Users?

Ans. Unlike a WinRunner workstation which emulates a single user's use of a client, LoadRunner
can emulate thousands of Virtual Users.Load generators are controlled by VuGen scripts which issue
non-GUI API calls using the same protocols as the client under test. But WinRunner GUI Vusers
emulate keystrokes, mouse clicks, and other User Interface actions on the client being tested. Only
one GUI user can run from a machine unless LoadRunner Terminal Services Manager manages
remote machines with Terminal Server Agent enabled and logged into a Terminal Services Client
session.

During run-time, threaded users share a common memory pool. So threading supports more Vusers
per load generator.

The Status of Vusers on all load generators start from "Running", then go to "Ready" after going
through the init section of the script. Vusers are "Finished" in passed or failed end status. Vusers are
automatically "Stopped" when the Load Generator is overloaded.

To use Web Services Monitors for SOAP and XML, a separate license is needed, and vUsers require
the Web Services add-in installed with Feature Pack (FP1). No additional license is needed for
standard web (HTTP) server monitors Apache, IIS, and Netscape.

Q5. Explain the Load testing process?

Ans. Step 1: Planning the test. Here, we develop a clearly defined test plan to ensure the test
scenarios we develop will accomplish load-testing objectives.

Step 2: Creating Vusers. Here, we create Vuser scripts that contain tasks performed by each Vuser,
tasks performed by Vusers as a whole, and tasks measured as transactions.

Step 3: Creating the scenario. A scenario describes the events that occur during a testing session. It
includes a list of machines, scripts, and Vusers that run during the scenario. We create scenarios
using LoadRunner Controller. We can create manual scenarios as well as goal-oriented scenarios. In
manual scenarios, we define the number of Vusers, the load generator machines, and percentage of
Vusers to be assigned to each script. For web tests, we may create a goal-oriented scenario where we
define the goal that our test has to achieve. LoadRunner automatically builds a scenario for us.

Step 4: Running the scenario. We emulate load on the server by instructing multiple Vusers to
perform tasks simultaneously. Before the testing, we set the scenario configuration and scheduling.
We can run the entire scenario, Vuser groups, or individual Vusers.

Step 5: Monitoring the scenario. We monitor scenario execution using the LoadRunner online
runtime, transaction, system resource, Web resource, Web server resource, Web application server
resource, database server resource, network delay, streaming media resource, firewall server
resource, ERP server resource, and Java performance monitors.

Step 6: Analyzing test results. During scenario execution, LoadRunner records the performance of
the application under different loads. We use LoadRunners graphs and reports to analyze the
applications performance.

Q6. When do you do load and performance Testing?

Ans. We perform load testing once we are done with interface (GUI) testing. Modern system
architectures are large and complex. Whereas single user testing primarily on functionality and user
interface of a system component, application testing focuses on performance and reliability of an
entire system. For example, a typical application-testing scenario might depict 1000 users logging in
simultaneously to a system. This gives rise to issues such as what is the response time of the system,
does it crash, will it go with different software applications and platforms, can it hold so many
hundreds and thousands of users, etc. This is when we set do load and performance testing.

Q7. What are the components of LoadRunner?

Ans. The components of LoadRunner are The Virtual User Generator, Controller, and the Agent
process, LoadRunner Analysis and Monitoring, LoadRunner Books Online.

Q8. What Component of LoadRunner would you use to record a Script?

Ans. The Virtual User Generator (VuGen) component is used to record a script. It enables you to
develop Vuser scripts for a variety of application types and communication protocols.

Q9. When do you do load and performance Testing?

Ans. We perform load testing once we are done with interface (GUI) testing. Modern system
architectures are large and complex. Whereas single user testing primarily on functionality and user
interface of a system component, application testing focuses on performance and reliability of an
entire system. For example, a typical application-testing scenario might depict 1000 users logging in
simultaneously to a system. This gives rise to issues such as what is the response time of the system,
does it crash, will it go with different software applications and platforms, can it hold so many
hundreds and thousands of users, etc. This is when we set do load and performance testing.

Q10. What are the components of LoadRunner?

Ans. The components of LoadRunner are The Virtual User Generator, Controller, and the Agent
process, LoadRunner Analysis and Monitoring, LoadRunner Books Online. What Component of
LoadRunner would you use to record a Script? - The Virtual User Generator (VuGen) component is
used to record a script. It enables you to develop Vuser scripts for a variety of application types and
communication protocols.

Q11. What Component of LoadRunner would you use to play Back the script in multi
user mode?
Ans. The Controller component is used to playback the script in multi-user mode. This is done
during a scenario run where a vuser script is executed by a number of vusers in a group.

Q12. What is a rendezvous point?

Ans. You insert rendezvous points into Vuser scripts to emulate heavy user load on the server.
Rendezvous points instruct Vusers to wait during test execution for multiple Vusers to arrive at a
certain point, in order that they may simultaneously perform a task. For example, to emulate peak
load on the bank server, you can insert a rendezvous point instructing 100 Vusers to deposit cash
into their accounts at the same time.

Q13. What is a scenario?

Ans. A scenario defines the events that occur during each testing session. For example, a scenario
defines and controls the number of users to emulate, the actions to be performed, and the machines
on which the virtual users run their emulations.

Q14. Explain the recording mode for web Vuser script?

Ans. We use VuGen to develop a Vuser script by recording a user performing typical business
processes on a client application. VuGen creates the script by recording the activity between the
client and the server. For example, in web based applications, VuGen monitors the client end of the
database and traces all the requests sent to, and received from, the database server. We use VuGen
to: Monitor the communication between the application and the server; Generate the required
function calls; and Insert the generated function calls into a Vuser script.

Q15. Why do you create parameters?

Ans. Parameters are like script variables. They are used to vary input to the server and to emulate
real users. Different sets of data are sent to the server each time the script is run. Better simulate the
usage model for more accurate testing from the Controller; one script can emulate many different
users on the system.

Q16. What is correlation?

Ans. Correlation is used to obtain data which are unique for each run of the script and which are
generated by nested queries. Correlation provides the value to avoid errors arising out of duplicate
values and also optimizing the code (to avoid nested queries). Automatic correlation is where we set
some rules for correlation. It can be application server specific. Here values are replaced by data
which are created by these rules. In manual correlation, the value we want to correlate is scanned
and create correlation is used to correlate.

Q17. How do you find out where correlation is required?

Ans. Two ways: First we can scan for correlations, and see the list of values which can be correlated.
From this we can pick a value to be correlated. Secondly, we can record two scripts and compare
them. We can look up the difference file to see for the values which needed to be correlated.

Q18. Where do you set automatic correlation options?

Ans. Automatic correlation from web point of view can be set in recording options and correlation
tab. Here we can enable correlation for the entire script and choose either issue online messages or
offline actions, where we can define rules for that correlation. Automatic correlation for database can
be done using show output window and scan for correlation and picking the correlate query tab and
choose which query value we want to correlate. If we know the specific value to be correlated, we just
do create correlation for the value and specify how the value to be created.

Q19. What is a function to capture dynamic values in the web Vuser script?
Ans. Web_reg_save_param function saves dynamic data information to a parameter.

Q20. Which is VuGen Recording and Scripting language?

Ans. LoadRunner script code obtained from recording in the ANSI C language syntax, represented
by icons in icon view until you click Script View.

Q21. What is Scenarios?

Ans. Scenarios encapsulate the Vuser Groups and scripts to be executed on load generators at run-
time.

Manual scenarios can distribute the total number of Vusers among scripts based on the analyst-
specified percentage (evenly among load generators). Goal Oriented scenarios are automatically
created based on a specified transaction response time or number of hits/transactions-per-second
(TPS). Test analysts specify the % of Target among scripts.

Q22. When do you disable log in Virtual User Generator, When do you choose
standard and extended logs?
Ans. Once we debug our script and verify that it is functional, we can enable logging for errors only.
When we add a script to a scenario, logging is automatically disabled. Standard Log Option: When
you select Standard log, it creates a standard log of functions and messages sent during script
execution to use for debugging. Disable this option for large load testing scenarios. When you copy a
script to a scenario, logging is automatically disabled Extended Log Option: Select extended log to
create an extended log, including warnings and other messages. Disable this option for large load
testing scenarios. When you copy a script to a scenario, logging is automatically disabled. We can
specify which additional information should be added to the extended log using the Extended log
options.

Q23. How do you debug a LoadRunner script?

Ans. VuGen contains two options to help debug Vuser scripts-the Run Step by Step command and
breakpoints. The Debug settings in the Options dialog box allow us to determine the extent of the
trace to be performed during scenario execution. The debug information is written to the Output
window. We can manually set the message class within your script using the lr_set_debug_message
function. This is useful if we want to receive debug information about a small section of the script
only.

Q24. How do you write user defined functions in LR?

Ans. Before we create the User Defined functions we need to create the external library (DLL) with
the function. We add this library to VuGen bin directory. Once the library is added then we assign
user defined function as a parameter. The function should have the following format: __declspec
(dllexport) char* (char*, char*)

Q25. What are the changes you can make in run-time settings?
Ans. The Run Time Settings that we make are:
Pacing - It has iteration count.
Log - Under this we have Disable Logging Standard Log and
Extended Think Time - In think time we have two options like Ignore think time and Replay think
time.
General - Under general tab we can set the vusers as process or as multithreading and whether each
step as a transaction.

Q26. Where do you set Iteration for Vuser testing?

Ans. We set Iterations in the Run Time Settings of the VuGen. The navigation for this is Run time
settings, Pacing tab, set number of iterations.

Q27. How do you perform functional testing under load?

Ans. Functionality under load can be tested by running several Vusers concurrently. By increasing
the amount of Vusers, we can determine how much load the server can sustain.

Q28. How to use network drive mappings?

Ans. If several load generators need to access the same physical files, rather than having to
remember to copy the files each time they change, each load generator can reference a common
folder using a mapped drive. But since drive mappings are associated with a specific user:

Logon the load generator as the user the load generator will use

Open Windows Explorer and under Tools select Map a Network Drive and create a drive. It saves
time and hassle to have consistent drive letters across load generators, so some organizations
reserver certain drive letters for specific locations.
Open the LoadRunner service within Services (accessed from Control Panel, Administrative Tasks),

Click the "Login" tab.

Specify the username and password the load generator service will use. (A dot appears in front of the
username if the userid is for the local domain).
Stop and start the service again.

Q29. What is Ramp up? How do you set this?

Ans. This option is used to gradually increase the amount of Vusers/load on the server. An initial
value is set and a value to wait between intervals can be specified. To set Ramp Up, go to Scenario
Scheduling Options.

Q30. What is the advantage of running the Vuser as thread?

Ans. VuGen provides the facility to use multithreading. This enables more Vusers to be run
pergenerator. If the Vuser is run as a process, the same driver program is loaded into memory for
each Vuser, thus taking up a large amount of memory. This limits the number of Vusers that can be
run on a single generator. If the Vuser is run as a thread, only one instance of the driver program is
loaded into memory for the given number of Vusers (say 100). Each thread shares the memory of the
parent driver program, thus enabling more Vusers to be run per generator.
Q31. If you want to stop the execution of your script on error, how do you do that?
Ans. The lr_abort function aborts the execution of a Vuser script. It instructs the Vuser to stop
executing the Actions section, execute the vuser_end section and end the execution. This function is
useful when you need to manually abort a script execution as a result of a specific error condition.
When you end a script using this function, the Vuser is assigned the status "Stopped". For this to take
effect, we have to first uncheck the Continue on error option in Run-Time Settings.

Q32. What is the relation between Response Time and Throughput?

Ans. The Throughput graph shows the amount of data in bytes that the Vusers received from the
server in a second. When we compare this with the transaction response time, we will notice that as
throughput decreased, the response time also decreased. Similarly, the peak throughput and highest
response time would occur approximately at the same time.

Q33. Explain the Configuration of your systems?

Ans. The configuration of our systems refers to that of the client machines on which we run the
Vusers. The configuration of any client machine includes its hardware settings, memory, operating
system, software applications, development tools, etc. This system component configuration should
match with the overall system configuration that would include the network infrastructure, the web
server, the database server, and any other components that go with this larger system so as to
achieve the load testing objectives.

Q34. How do you identify the performance bottlenecks?

Ans. Performance Bottlenecks can be detected by using monitors. These monitors might be
application server monitors, web server monitors, database server monitors and network monitors.
They help in finding out the troubled area in our scenario which causes increased response time. The
measurements made are usually performance response time, throughput, hits/sec, network delay
graphs, etc.

Q35. If web server, database and Network are all fine where could be the problem?
Ans. The problem could be in the system itself or in the application server or in the code written for
the application.

Q36. How did you find web server related issues?

Ans. Using Web resource monitors we can find the performance of web servers. Using these
monitors we can analyze throughput on the web server, number of hits per second that occurred
during scenario, the number of http responses per second, the number of downloaded pages per
second.

Q37. How did you find database related issues?

Ans. By running Database monitor and help of Data Resource Graph we can find database related
issues. E.g. you can specify the resource you want to measure on before running the controller and
than you can see database related issues.
Q38. What is the difference between Overlay graph and Correlate graph?
Ans. Overlay Graph: It overlay the content of two graphs that shares a common x-axis. Left Y-axis
on the merged graph shows the current graphs value & Right Y-axis show the value of Y-axis of the
graph that was merged. Correlate Graph: Plot the Y-axis of two graphs against each other. The active
graphs Y-axis becomes X-axis of merged graph. Y-axis of the graph that was merged becomes
merged graphs Y-axis.

Q39. How did you plan the Load?

Ans. Load test is planned to decide the number of users, what kind of machines we are going to use
and from where they are run. It is based on 2 important documents, Task Distribution Diagram and
Transaction profile. Task Distribution Diagram gives us the information on number of users for a
particular transaction and the time of the load. The peak usage and off-usage are decided from this
Diagram. Transaction profile gives us the information about the transactions name and their priority
levels with regard to the scenario we are deciding.

Q40. What does vuser_init action contain?

Ans. Vuser_init action contains procedures to login to a server.

Q41. What does vuser_end action contain?

Ans. Vuser_end section contains log off procedures.

Q42. What is think time?

Ans. Think time is the time that a real user waits between actions. Example: When a user receives
data from a server, the user may wait several seconds to review the data before responding. This
delay is known as the think time. Changing the Threshold: Threshold level is the level below which
the recorded think time will be ignored. The default value is five (5) seconds. We can change the
think time threshold in the Recording options of the Vugen.

Q43. What is the difference between standard log and extended log?
Ans. The standard log sends a subset of functions and messages sent during script execution to a
log. The subset depends on the Vuser type Extended log sends a detailed script execution messages
to the output log. This is mainly used during debugging when we want information about:

- Parameter substitution
- Data returned by the server
- Advanced trace

Q44. What is lr_debug_message?

Ans. The lr_debug_message function sends a debug message to the output log when the specified
message class is set.

Q45. What is lr_output_message?

Ans. The lr_output_message function sends notifications to the Controller Output window and the
Vuser log file.

Q46. What is lr_error_message?

Ans. The lr_error_message function sends an error message to the LoadRunner Output window.

Q47. What is lrd_stmt?

Ans. The lrd_stmt function associates a character string (usually a SQL statement) with a cursor.
This function sets a SQL statement to be processed.

Q48. What is lrd_fetch?

Ans. The lrd_fetch function fetches the next row from the result set.

Q49. What is Throughput?

Ans. If the throughput scales upward as time progresses and the number of Vusers increase, this
indicates that the bandwidth is sufficient. If the graph were to remain relatively flat as the number of
Vusers increased, it would be reasonable to conclude that the bandwidth is constraining the volume
of data delivered.

Q50. What are the various types of Goals in Goal-Oriented Scenario ?

Ans. Load Runner provides you with five different types of goals in a goal oriented scenario:

- The number of concurrent Vusers

- The number of hits per second
- The number of transactions per second
- The number of pages per minute

The transaction response time that you want your scenario Analysis Scenario (Bottlenecks): In
Running Vuser graph correlated with the response time graph you can see that as the number of
Vusers increases, the average response time of the check itinerary transaction very gradually
increases. In other words, the average response time steadily increases as the load increases. At 56
Vusers, there is a sudden, sharp increase in the average response time. We say that the test broke the
server. That is the mean time before failure (MTBF). The response time clearly began to degrade
when there were more than 56 Vusers running simultaneously.

Also See:

 QTP - Part 1
 QTP - Part 2
 Manual Testing Interview Questions - 1
 Manual Testing Interview Questions - 2
 Mercury Quality Center
LoadRunner interview questions
By admin | May 2, 2005

1. What is load testing? - Load testing is to test that if the application works fine with the loads that result
from large number of simultaneous users, transactions and to determine weather it can handle peak usage
periods.
2. What is Performance testing? - Timing for both read and update transactions should be gathered to
determine whether system functions are being performed in an acceptable timeframe. This should be done
standalone and then in a multi user environment to determine the effect of multiple transactions on the
timing of a single transaction.
3. Did u use LoadRunner? What version? - Yes. Version 7.2.
4. Explain the Load testing process? -
Step 1: Planning the test. Here, we develop a clearly defined test plan to ensure the test scenarios we
develop will accomplish load-testing objectives. Step 2: Creating Vusers. Here, we create Vuser scripts
that contain tasks performed by each Vuser, tasks performed by Vusers as a whole, and tasks measured as
transactions. Step 3: Creating the scenario. A scenario describes the events that occur during a testing
session. It includes a list of machines, scripts, and Vusers that run during the scenario. We create scenarios
using LoadRunner Controller. We can create manual scenarios as well as goal-oriented scenarios. In
manual scenarios, we define the number of Vusers, the load generator machines, and percentage of Vusers
to be assigned to each script. For web tests, we may create a goal-oriented scenario where we define the
goal that our test has to achieve. LoadRunner automatically builds a scenario for us. Step 4: Running
the scenario.
We emulate load on the server by instructing multiple Vusers to perform tasks simultaneously. Before the
testing, we set the scenario configuration and scheduling. We can run the entire scenario, Vuser groups, or
individual Vusers. Step 5: Monitoring the scenario.
We monitor scenario execution using the LoadRunner online runtime, transaction, system resource, Web
resource, Web server resource, Web application server resource, database server resource, network delay,
streaming media resource, firewall server resource, ERP server resource, and Java performance
monitors. Step 6: Analyzing test results. During scenario execution, LoadRunner records the
performance of the application under different loads. We use LoadRunner’s graphs and reports to
analyze the application’s performance.
5. When do you do load and performance Testing? - We perform load testing once we are done with
interface (GUI) testing. Modern system architectures are large and complex. Whereas single user testing
primarily on functionality and user interface of a system component, application testing focuses on
performance and reliability of an entire system. For example, a typical application-testing scenario might
depict 1000 users logging in simultaneously to a system. This gives rise to issues such as what is the
response time of the system, does it crash, will it go with different software applications and platforms, can
it hold so many hundreds and thousands of users, etc. This is when we set do load and performance
testing.
6. What are the components of LoadRunner? - The components of LoadRunner are The Virtual User
Generator, Controller, and the Agent process, LoadRunner Analysis and Monitoring, LoadRunner Books
Online.
7. What Component of LoadRunner would you use to record a Script? - The Virtual User Generator
(VuGen) component is used to record a script. It enables you to develop Vuser scripts for a variety of
application types and communication protocols.
8. What Component of LoadRunner would you use to play Back the script in multi user mode? -
The Controller component is used to playback the script in multi-user mode. This is done during a scenario
run where a vuser script is executed by a number of vusers in a group.
9. What is a rendezvous point? - You insert rendezvous points into Vuser scripts to emulate heavy user
load on the server. Rendezvous points instruct Vusers to wait during test execution for multiple Vusers to
arrive at a certain point, in order that they may simultaneously perform a task. For example, to emulate
peak load on the bank server, you can insert a rendezvous point instructing 100 Vusers to deposit cash into
their accounts at the same time.
10. What is a scenario? - A scenario defines the events that occur during each testing session. For example,
a scenario defines and controls the number of users to emulate, the actions to be performed, and the
machines on which the virtual users run their emulations.
11.Explain the recording mode for web Vuser script? - We use VuGen to develop a Vuser script by
recording a user performing typical business processes on a client application. VuGen creates the script by
recording the activity between the client and the server. For example, in web based applications, VuGen
monitors the client end of the database and traces all the requests sent to, and received from, the database
server. We use VuGen to: Monitor the communication between the application and the server; Generate
the required function calls; and Insert the generated function calls into a Vuser script.
12. Why do you create parameters? - Parameters are like script variables. They are used to vary input to
the server and to emulate real users. Different sets of data are sent to the server each time the script is run.
Better simulate the usage model for more accurate testing from the Controller; one script can emulate
many different users on the system.
13. What is correlation? Explain the difference between automatic correlation and manual
correlation? - Correlation is used to obtain data which are unique for each run of the script and which
are generated by nested queries. Correlation provides the value to avoid errors arising out of duplicate
values and also optimizing the code (to avoid nested queries). Automatic correlation is where we set some
rules for correlation. It can be application server specific. Here values are replaced by data which are
created by these rules. In manual correlation, the value we want to correlate is scanned and create
correlation is used to correlate.
14. How do you find out where correlation is required? Give few examples from your projects?
- Two ways: First we can scan for correlations, and see the list of values which can be correlated. From this
we can pick a value to be correlated. Secondly, we can record two scripts and compare them. We can look
up the difference file to see for the values which needed to be correlated.  In my project, there was a unique
id developed for each customer, it was nothing but Insurance Number, it was generated automatically and
it was sequential and this value was unique. I had to correlate this value, in order to avoid errors while
running my script. I did using scan for correlation.
15. Where do you set automatic correlation options? - Automatic correlation from web point of view
can be set in recording options and correlation tab. Here we can enable correlation for the entire script and
choose either issue online messages or offline actions, where we can define rules for that correlation.
Automatic correlation for database can be done using show output window and scan for correlation and
picking the correlate query tab and choose which query value we want to correlate. If we know the specific
value to be correlated, we just do create correlation for the value and specify how the value to be created.
16. What is a function to capture dynamic values in the web Vuser script? - Web_reg_save_param
function saves dynamic data information to a parameter.
17. When do you disable log in Virtual User Generator, When do you choose standard and
extended logs? - Once we debug our script and verify that it is functional, we can enable logging for
errors only. When we add a script to a scenario, logging is automatically disabled. Standard Log Option:
When you select
Standard log, it creates a standard log of functions and messages sent during script execution to use for
 debugging. Disable this option for large load testing scenarios. When you copy a script to a scenario,
logging is automatically disabled Extended Log Option: Select
extended log to create an extended log, including warnings and other messages. Disable this option for
large load testing scenarios. When you copy a script to a scenario, logging is automatically disabled. We
can specify which additional information should be added to the extended log using the Extended log
options.
18. How do you debug a LoadRunner script? - VuGen contains two options to help debug Vuser scripts-
the Run Step by Step command and breakpoints. The Debug settings in the Options dialog box allow us to
determine the extent of the trace to be performed during scenario execution. The debug information is
written to the Output window. We can manually set the message class within your script using the
lr_set_debug_message function. This is useful if we want to receive debug information about a small
section of the script only.
19. How do you write user defined functions in LR? Give me few functions you wrote in your
previous project? - Before we create the User Defined functions we need to create the external
library (DLL) with the function. We add this library to VuGen bin directory. Once the library is added then
we assign user defined function as a parameter. The function should have the following format: __declspec
(dllexport) char* <function name>(char*, char*)Examples of user defined functions are as
follows:GetVersion, GetCurrentTime, GetPltform are some of the user defined functions used in my earlier
project.
20. What are the changes you can make in run-time settings? - The Run Time Settings that we make
are: a) Pacing - It has iteration count. b) Log - Under this we have Disable Logging Standard Log and c)
Extended Think Time - In think time we have two options like Ignore think time and Replay think time.
d) General - Under general tab we can set the vusers as process or as multithreading and whether each
step as a transaction.
21. Where do you set Iteration for Vuser testing? - We set Iterations in the Run Time Settings of the
VuGen. The navigation for this is Run time settings, Pacing tab, set number of iterations.
22. How do you perform functional testing under load? - Functionality under load can be tested by
running several Vusers concurrently. By increasing the amount of Vusers, we can determine how much
load the server can sustain.
23. What is Ramp up? How do you set this? - This option is used to gradually increase the amount of
Vusers/load on the server. An initial value is set and a value to wait between intervals can be
specified. To set Ramp Up, go to ‘Scenario Scheduling Options’
24. What is the advantage of running the Vuser as thread? - VuGen provides the facility to use
multithreading. This enables more Vusers to be run per
generator. If the Vuser is run as a process, the same driver program is loaded into memory for each Vuser,
thus taking up a large amount of memory. This limits the number of Vusers that can be run on a single
generator. If the Vuser is run as a thread, only one instance of the driver program is loaded into memory
for the given number of
Vusers (say 100). Each thread shares the memory of the parent driver program, thus enabling more Vusers
to be run per generator.
25. If you want to stop the execution of your script on error, how do you do that? - The lr_abort
function aborts the execution of a Vuser script. It instructs the Vuser to stop executing the Actions section,
execute the vuser_end section and end the execution. This function is useful when you need to manually
abort a script execution as a result of a specific error condition. When you end a script using this function,
the Vuser is assigned the status "Stopped". For this to take effect, we have to first uncheck the Ã
¢â‚¬Å“Continue on error† option in Run-Time Settings.  
26. What is the relation between Response Time and Throughput? - The Throughput graph shows
the amount of data in bytes that the Vusers received from the server in a second. When we compare this
 with the transaction response time, we will notice that as throughput decreased, the response time also
decreased. Similarly, the peak throughput and highest response time would occur approximately at the
same time.
27. Explain the Configuration of your systems? - The configuration of our systems refers to that of the
client machines on which we run the Vusers. The configuration of any client machine includes its hardware
settings, memory, operating system, software applications, development tools, etc. This system component
configuration should match with the overall system configuration that would include the network
infrastructure, the web server, the database server, and any other components that go with this larger
system so as to achieve the load testing objectives.
28. How do you identify the performance bottlenecks? - Performance Bottlenecks can be detected by
using monitors. These monitors might be application server monitors, web server monitors, database
server monitors and network monitors. They help in finding out the troubled area in our scenario which
causes increased response time. The measurements made are usually performance response time,
throughput, hits/sec, network delay graphs, etc.
29. If web server, database and Network are all fine where could be the problem? - The problem
could be in the system itself or in the application server or in the code written for the application.
30. How did you find web server related issues? - Using Web resource monitors we can find the
performance of web servers. Using these monitors we can analyze throughput on the web server, number
of hits per second that
occurred during scenario, the number of http responses per second, the number of downloaded pages per
second.
31. How did you find database related issues? - By running “Database† monitor and help
of “Data Resource Graph” we can find database related issues. E.g. You can specify the
resource you want to measure on before running the controller and than you can see database related
issues
32. Explain all the web recording options?
33. What is the difference between Overlay graph and Correlate graph? - Overlay Graph: It
overlay the content of two graphs that shares a common x-axis. Left Y-axis on the merged graph showÃ
¢â‚¬â„¢s the current graph’s value & Right Y-axis show the value of Y-axis of the graph that was
merged. Correlate Graph: Plot the Y-axis of two graphs against each other. The active graph’s
Y-axis becomes X-axis of merged graph. Y-axis of the graph that was merged becomes merged graphÃ
¢â‚¬â„¢s Y-axis.
34. How did you plan the Load? What are the Criteria? - Load test is planned to decide the number of
users, what kind of machines we are going to use and from where they are run. It is based on 2 important
documents, Task Distribution Diagram and Transaction profile. Task Distribution Diagram gives us the
information on number of users for a particular transaction and the time of the load. The peak usage and
off-usage are decided from this Diagram. Transaction profile gives us the information about the
transactions name and their priority levels with regard to the scenario we are deciding.
35. What does vuser_init action contain? - Vuser_init action contains procedures to login to a server.
36. What does vuser_end action contain? - Vuser_end section contains log off procedures.  
37. What is think time? How do you change the threshold? -   Think time is the time that a real user
waits between actions. Example: When a user receives data from a server, the user may wait several
seconds to review the data before responding. This delay is known as the think time. Changing the
Threshold: Threshold level is the level below which the recorded think time will be ignored. The default
value is five (5) seconds. We can change the think time threshold in the Recording options of the Vugen.
38. What is the difference between standard log and extended log? - The standard log sends a subset
of functions and messages sent during script execution to a log. The subset depends on the Vuser
type Extended log sends a detailed script execution messages to the output log. This is mainly used during
 debugging when we want information about: Parameter substitution. Data returned by the server.
Advanced trace.
39. Explain the following functions: - lr_debug_message - The lr_debug_message function sends a
debug message to the output log when the specified message class is set. lr_output_message - The
lr_output_message function sends notifications to the Controller Output window and the Vuser log file.
lr_error_message - The lr_error_message function sends an error message to the LoadRunner Output
window. lrd_stmt - The lrd_stmt function associates a character string (usually a SQL statement) with a
cursor. This function sets a SQL statement to be processed. lrd_fetch - The lrd_fetch function fetches the
next row from the result set.
40. Throughput -  If the throughput scales upward as time progresses and the number of Vusers
increase, this indicates that the bandwidth is sufficient. If the graph were to remain relatively flat
as the number of Vusers increased, it would
be reasonable to conclude that the bandwidth is constraining the volume of
data delivered. 
41. Types of Goals in Goal-Oriented Scenario -  Load Runner provides you with five different types of
goals in a goal oriented scenario:
 The number of concurrent Vusers
 The number of hits per second
 The number of transactions per second
 The number of pages per minute
 The transaction response time that you want your scenario
42. Analysis Scenario (Bottlenecks): In Running Vuser graph correlated with the response time graph
you can see that as the number of Vusers increases, the average response time of the check itinerary
transaction very gradually increases. In other words, the average response time steadily increases as the
load
increases. At 56 Vusers, there is a sudden, sharp increase in the average response
time. We say that the test broke the server. That is the mean time before failure (MTBF). The
response time clearly began to degrade when there were more than 56 Vusers running simultaneously.
43. What is correlation? Explain the difference between automatic correlation and manual
correlation? - Correlation is used to obtain data which are unique for each run of the script and which
are generated by nested queries. Correlation provides the value to avoid errors arising out of duplicate
values and also optimizing the code (to avoid nested queries). Automatic correlation is where we set some
rules for correlation. It can be application server specific. Here values are replaced by data which are
created by these rules. In manual correlation, the value we want to correlate is scanned and create
correlation is used to correlate.
44. Where do you set automatic correlation options? - Automatic correlation from web point of view,
can be set in recording options and correlation tab. Here we can enable correlation for the entire script and
choose either issue online messages or offline actions, where we can define rules for that correlation.
Automatic correlation for database, can be done using show output window and scan for correlation and
picking the correlate query tab and choose which query value we want to correlate. If we know the specific
value to be correlated, we just do create correlation for the value and specify how the value to be created.
45. What is a function to capture dynamic values in the web vuser script? - Web_reg_save_param
function saves dynamic data information to a parameter.

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