Web Load Testing Tuto-

SilkPerformer 2010 R2
®

Web Load Testing Tutorial

Borland Software Corporation
4 Hutton Centre Dr., Suite 900
Santa Ana, CA 92707

Copyright 2010 Micro Focus (IP) Limited. All Rights Reserved. SilkPerformer contains derivative works of
Borland Software Corporation, Copyright 1992-2010 Borland Software Corporation (a Micro Focus com-
pany).

MICRO FOCUS and the Micro Focus logo, among others, are trademarks or registered trademarks of
Micro Focus (IP) Limited or its subsidiaries or affiliated companies in the United States, United Kingdom
and other countries.

BORLAND, the Borland logo and SilkPerformer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Borland
Software Corporation or its subsidiaries or affiliated companies in the United States, United Kingdom
and other countries.

All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

November 2010
 Contents
Introduction 1 Chapter 6
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Identifying Baseline
SilkPerformer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Sample Web Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Performance 59
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Chapter 1 Finding a Baseline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Confirming a Baseline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Defining Load Test Projects 5
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Chapter 7
Defining a Load Test Project . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Setting Up Monitoring
Chapter 2 Templates 69
Creating Test Scripts 9 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Setting Up a Monitoring Template . . . . . . . . 70
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Creating a Load Test Script . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Trying Out a Generated Script . . . . . . . . . 14
Chapter 8
Defining Workload 77
Chapter 3 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Analyzing Test Scripts 17 Defining Workload . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Visual Analysis with TrueLog Explorer . . . . . 18
Chapter 9
Viewing a Summary Report . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Running & Monitoring Tests 85
Finding Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Viewing Page Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Running a Load Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Comparing Record and Replay TrueLogs. . . . 28 Monitoring a Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Monitoring a Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Chapter 4
Customizing Test Scripts 33 Chapter 10
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Exploring Test Results 95
Customizing Session Handling . . . . . . . . . 34 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Customizing User Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Working with TrueLog On Error . . . . . . . . . 96
Adding Verifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Viewing an Overview Report . . . . . . . . . 100
Viewing a Graph. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112
Chapter 5
Defining User Profiles 53 Index 117
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Defining a custom user profile . . . . . . . . . 54

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iv SilkPerformer Web Load Testing Tutorial
 Introduction

About these tutorials The Web Load Testing Tutorial offers an overview of using SilkPerformer to set
up and run Web load tests.
This Introduction contains the following sections:

Section Page
Overview 1
SilkPerformer 2
Sample Web Application 3

Overview
The Web Load Testing Tutorial is designed to ease you into the process of load
testing with SilkPerformer, and to get you up and running as quickly as possible.
It will help you take full advantage of SilkPerformer’s ease of use and to exploit
the leading-edge functionality that’s embodied in e-business’s load-testing tool
of choice.
Note This tutorial describes load-testing of Web applications on the
protocol level (HTTP/HTML).
If you want to load-test applications that heavily rely on AJAX
technologies we recommend using browser-driven Web load testing.
Browser-driven Web load testing is a solution that uses real Web
browsers (Internet Explorer) to generate load, thus leveraging the AJAX
logic built into Web browsers to precisely simulate complex AJAX
behavior during testing.
Refer to the Browser-Driven Web Load Testing Tutorial for more
information.

SilkPerformer Web Load Testing Tutorial 1

INTRODUCTION
SilkPerformer

SilkPerformer
SilkPerformer is the industry’s most powerful—yet easiest to use—enterprise-
class load and stress testing tool. Visual script generation techniques and the
ability to test multiple application environments with thousands of concurrent
users allow you to thoroughly test your enterprise applications’ reliability,
performance, and scalability before they’re deployed—regardless of their size
and complexity. Powerful root cause analysis tools and management reports
help you isolate problems and make quick decisions—thereby minimizing test
cycles and accelerating your time to market.

Benefits Ensure the scalability, performance, and reliability of your enterprise

applications
SilkPerformer ensures the quality of your enterprise applications by measuring
their performance from the end-user perspective, as well as internally, in a
variety of workload scenarios and dynamic load conditions.

Test remote components early in the development cycle

Dramatically reduce the cost of bugs in your multi-tier enterprise application by
testing the functionality, interoperability, and performance of remote
components early in the development cycle—even before client applications
have been built. You can rapidly generate test drivers for Web services, .NET
remoting objects, EJB’s and Java RMI objects by exploring them via a point &
click interface. Alternately, you can reuse unit test drivers written by developers
for concurrency tests or you can build new test cases directly in Java and other
.NET languages, such as C# and VB.NET, using SilkPerformer’s Visual Studio
.NET Add-In.

Pinpoint problems easily for quick resolution

SilkPerformer’s unrivaled TrueLogTM technology for HTML, XML, SQL, TCP/
IP, and UDP based protocol data provides full visual root-cause analysis from
the end-user perspective. TrueLogs visually recreate the data that users provide
and receive during load tests—for HTML pages this includes all embedded
objects—enabling you to visually analyze the behavior of your application as
errors occur during load tests. In addition detailed response timer statistics help
you uncover the root causes of missed Service Level Agreements before your
application goes live.
Reusing projects SilkPerformer’s extended workflow simplifies and deepens its integration with
SilkCentral Test Manager.

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 INTRODUCTION
Sample Web Application

By clicking SilkPerformer’s new Reuse Project button, test projects can be

uploaded to and reused by Test Manager (for test automation). See SilkCentral
Test Manager documentation for details.

Sample Web Application

SilkPerformer’s sample Web application is called ShopIt. ShopIt simulates a
simple Web e-commerce site with a catalog of camping merchandise that is
available for simulated online purchase. Use this application to experiment with
SilkPerformer’s Web application capabilities.
ShopIt V 6.0 setup is available from
• SilkPerformer installation CD (\Extras\ShopItV60.exe)
• SilkPerformer’s download area (http://www.borland.com/downloads/
download_silk.html). To access the download link for ShopIt, you must
first sign up for the product trial.
See the SilkPerformer Installation Guide for detailed information on the
installation process.
ShopIt V is designed to generate errors, including missing Web links (due to
merchandise being out of stock) and session errors. The scripts must be
customized before the application can run error-free. See “Customizing Session
Handling” for details.

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INTRODUCTION
Sample Web Application

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h Defining Load Test Projects

Introduction This tutorial explains how to define a load testing project in SilkPerformer.
What you will learn This chapter contains the following sections:

Section Page
Overview 5
Defining a Load Test Project 6

Overview
The first step in conducting a SilkPerformer load test is to define the basic
settings for the load-testing project. The project is given a name, and optionally
a brief description can be added. The type of application to be tested is specified
from a range of choices that includes all the major traffic that is encountered in
e-business today on the Internet and on the Web, including the most important
database and distributed applications.
The settings that are specified are associated with a particular load-testing
project. It’s easy to switch between different projects, to edit projects, and to
save projects so that they can later be modified and reused.
A project contains all the resources needed to complete a load test. These
include a workload, one or more profiles and test scripts, all the data files that
are accessed from the script, and a specific number of agent computers and
information for server side monitoring. Options for all of these resources are
available directly from the project icon in the corresponding tree list.

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1 DEFINING LOAD TEST PROJECTS
Defining a Load Test Project

Defining a Load Test Project

The first step in creating the sample load test project is to define the project—
giving the project a name and specifying the application type under test.
Procedure To define a load test project:
1 Click the Start here button on the SilkPerformer Workflow bar.

2 The Workflow - Outline Project dialog opens.

Enter a project name (e.g., Shopit) in the Project name field.
3 Enter a description for the project in the Project description field (e.g.,
Web tutorial with sample application “shopit”).

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Defining a Load Test Project

4 Select Web business transaction (HTML/HTTP) in the Application type

field.

Note If you want to load test a Flash Remoting application, please

refer to the Advanced Concepts book, chapter Load Testing Flash
Remoting Applications for detailed information.
Note If you want to load test a WebDAV application (Microsoft
Outlook Web Access), simply select WebDAV (MS Outlook Web
Access) in the Application type field. The procedure is identical to
load testing any other Web business transaction (HTTP).
5 Click OK to create the project based on your settings.

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Defining a Load Test Project

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h Creating Test Scripts

Introduction This tutorial explains how to model load test scripts and try out tests scripts via
TryScript runs.
What you will learn This chapter contains the following sections:

Section Page
Overview 9
Creating a Load Test Script 10
Trying Out a Generated Script 14

Overview
The easiest method of creating a load test script is to use the SilkPerformer
Recorder, SilkPerformer’s engine for capturing and recording traffic and
generating test scripts.
First the SilkPerformer Recorder captures and records the traffic between a
client application and the server under test. When recording is complete, the
SilkPerformer Recorder automatically generates a test script based on the
recorded traffic. Scripts are written in SilkPerformer’s scripting language,
Benchmark Description Language (BDL).
During the recording phase, you define transactions. A transaction is a discrete
piece of work that can be assigned to a virtual user in a load test and for which
separate time measurements can be made. You should create new transactions
only for pieces of work that don’t have dependencies on other pieces of work.
Individual time measurements can be made for any action or series of actions
that occur during recording.

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2 CREATING TEST SCRIPTS
Creating a Load Test Script

Creating a Load Test Script

Procedure To model a load test script:
1 Click the Model Script button on the SilkPerformer Workflow bar.

2 The Workflow - Model Script dialog appears.

Select Record in the Script area of the dialog.
3 From the Select application profile drop-down list, select a profile for the
client application you wish to use in your load test (e.g., Internet
Explorer).
4 If a profile has not yet been set up for the application you wish to use,
click the button to the right of the drop-down list to set one up now.
5 In the URL field, enter a URL to be recorded (e.g., http://lab3/shopit).

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Creating a Load Test Script

Note Ensure that you delete your browser’s cookies if you wish to
record a script that emulates the actions of a first-time user.

6 Click OK. The SilkPerformer Recorder then opens in minimized form

and a browser is launched, loaded with the URL that you specified for
recording.

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Creating a Load Test Script

Note To see a report of the actions that occur during recording,

maximize the Recorder dialog by clicking the Change GUI size
button.

7 Using the browser, interact with the target server in the way that you
wish virtual users to interact during the load test (i.e., click links and
explore products). Your actions will be captured and recorded by the
Recorder. When you’re finished, close the browser window and click the
Stop Recording button on the Recorder.

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Creating a Load Test Script

8 The Save As dialog appears. Save the script with a meaningful name that
reflects the behavior of the virtual user who’s actions you defined.

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Trying Out a Generated Script

9 The new generated load test script, that’s based on the recorded traffic,
then appears in the SilkPerformer script editor window.

Trying Out a Generated Script

Once you’ve generated a test script you should determine if the script runs
without error via a TryScript run. A TryScript run will determine if a script
accurately recreates the interaction that was recorded previously in this tutorial.
The default option settings for TryScript runs include live display of data
downloaded during testing and the writing of log and report files.
With TryScript runs only a single virtual user is run and the stress test option is
enabled so that there is no think time or delay between transactions.
TryScript runs are viewed in TrueLog Explorer, which helps you find replay
errors quickly.

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Trying Out a Generated Script

Procedure To try out a load test script:

1 Click the Try Script button on the SilkPerformer Workflow bar.

The Workflow – Try Script dialog appears. The active profile is already selected
in the Profile drop-down list. The script you created is selected in the Script
drop-down list. The VUser virtual user group is selected in the Usergroup area.
2 To view the data that is actually downloaded from the Web server during
the TryScript run, select the Animated checkbox
Note To test an application other than a Web application, disable
the Animated option.

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Trying Out a Generated Script

3 Click Run.

Note You are not running an actual load test here, only a test run to
see if your script requires debugging.
4 The TryScript run begins. The Monitor window opens, giving you
detailed information about the run’s progress.
5 TrueLog Explorer opens, showing you the data that is actually
downloaded during the TryScript run.
6 If any errors occur during the TryScript run, TrueLog Explorer will assist
you in locating them and customizing any session relevant information.
See “Customizing Session Handling” for details.

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h Analyzing Test Scripts

Introduction This tutorial explains how to analyze recorded load test scripts based on the
results of TryScript runs.
What you will learn This chapter contains the following sections:

Section Page
Overview 17
Visual Analysis with TrueLog Explorer 18
Viewing a Summary Report 20
Finding Errors 23
Viewing Page Statistics 25
Comparing Record and Replay TrueLogs 28

Overview
Once you’ve initiated a TryScript run for a recorded test script you’ll need to
analyze the results of the TryScript run using TrueLog Explorer. Test script
analysis with TrueLog Explorer involves the following three tasks:
- Viewing Virtual User Summary Reports
- Finding errors
- Comparing replay test runs with record test runs

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Visual Analysis with TrueLog Explorer

Visual Analysis with TrueLog Explorer

One of TrueLog Explorer’s most powerful features is its ability to visually
render Web content that’s displayed by applications under test. In effect, it
shows you what virtual users “see” when they interact with an application.
TrueLog Explorer’s interface is comprised of the following sections:
• The Workflow bar acts as your primary interface as you work with
TrueLog Explorer. The Workflow Bar reflects TrueLog Explorer’s built-
in load testing methodology by supporting its five primary tasks.
• Tree List view on the left of the interface allows you to expand and
collapse TrueLog data downloaded during load tests. Each loaded
TrueLog file is displayed here—with links to all relevant API nodes.
You can click a node to display its contents in Source view and history
details in Information view.
• The Source window offers views of both raw HTML source code and
rendered HTML content. Rendered view displays “rendered” responses
from the server for selected API nodes in Tree List view. Source view
displays the HTML code that’s used to generate Web content.

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Visual Analysis with TrueLog Explorer

• Information view displays data regarding load testing scripts and test
runs, including general information about the loaded TrueLog file, the
selected API node, BDL script, HTML references, and HTTP header
data.

Workflow bar

Rendered
Tree View of HTML view
accessed API
nodes

HTML Source
view tab

Information Window
with multiple views

Analyzing a test run Procedure To analyze the results of a test run:

1 Load a TrueLog of interest into TrueLog Explorer.
2 With the TrueLog of the TryScript run you executed in the previous
tutorial loaded into TrueLog Explorer, click the Analyze Test button on
the Workflow bar.
The Analyze Test dialog appears, offering you three options:
• View a virtual user summary report
• Look for errors in the TrueLog

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Viewing a Summary Report

• Compare the replay test run to the record test run

Viewing a Summary Report

Virtual user summary reports are summary reports of individual TryScript runs
that offer basic descriptions and timing averages. Each report tracks a separate
virtual user and presents data in tabular format.
Virtual user summary reports include details regarding:
- Virtual users
- Uncovered errors
- Response time information tracked for each transaction defined in a
load test script
- Page timer measurements for each downloaded Web page
- Measurements related to each Web form declared in a load-testing
script, including response time measurements and throughput rates
for form submissions using POST, GET, and HEAD methods.
- Individual timers and counters used in scripts (Measure functions)

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Viewing a Summary Report

See SilkPerformer’s online documentation for details regarding the statistics that
are included in virtual user summary reports.

Procedure To display a virtual user summary report for a test run:

1 With the TrueLog you generated in the preceding tutorial loaded into
TrueLog Explorer, click the Analyze Test button.

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Viewing a Summary Report

2 Select the Show the virtual user summary report link.

Enabling summary Because virtual user summary reports require significant processing, they are
reports not generated by default. To enable the automatic display of virtual user reports
at the end of animated TryScript runs, or when clicking the root node of a
TrueLog file in Tree List view, select the Display virtual user report checkbox

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Finding Errors

on the TrueLog Explorer Settings menu (Settings/Options/[Tab]Workspace/

Reports).

Note Virtual user reports can also be viewed within SilkPerformer

Workbench by right-clicking the virtual user in the User view and
selecting Show Virtual User Report File from the context menu.

Finding Errors
TrueLog Explorer helps you find errors quickly after TryScript runs. Erroneous
requests can then be examined and necessary customizations can be made via
TrueLog Explorer.
Note When viewed in Tree List view, API nodes that contain replay
errors are tagged with red “X” marks.

Procedure To find replay errors in a TrueLog:

1 With the TrueLog you generated in the preceding tutorial loaded into
TrueLog Explorer, click the Analyze Test button.

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Finding Errors

2 Click the Find errors link on the dialog.

3 The Step through TrueLog dialog appears with the Errors option
selected.

4 Click the Find Next button to step through TrueLog result files one error
at a time.

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Viewing Page Statistics

Viewing Page Statistics

After verifying the accuracy of a test run, you can analyze the performance of
your application under “no-load” conditions via page statistics. Overview pages
detail total page response times, document download times (including server
busy times), and time elapsed for receipt of embedded objects.
Detailed Web page statistics show exact response times for individual Web page
components—allowing you to easily pinpoint root causes of errors and slow
page downloads.
Note Because TryScript runs don’t include think times, the
measurements they produce cannot be used to predict real-world
performance.
Detailed Web page drill-down results include the following data for each page
component:
• DNS lookup time
• Connection time
• SSL handshake time
• Send request time
• Server busy time
• Response receive time
• Cache statistics

Procedure To view an Overview page:

1 Select an API node in Tree List view for which you would like to view
statistics.
2 Select the Whole pages option on the Step through TrueLog dialog.

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Viewing Page Statistics

3 Click the Statistics tab to open Statistics view.

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Viewing Page Statistics

4 Select specific components listed in the URL column for detailed

analysis and page drill-down.

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Comparing Record and Replay TrueLogs

Comparing Record and Replay TrueLogs

With Web application testing, TrueLog Explorer shows the actual Web pages
that are received during tests. Live monitoring of downloaded data is available
with TrueLog Explorer's animated mode—data is displayed as it is received
during testing.
By comparing replay TrueLogs generated during the script development process
alongside TrueLogs originally generated during application recording, you can
verify that test scripts run accurately. Differences between record and replay
TrueLogs are typically caused by session relevant data, such as session ID’s.
See “Customizing Session Handling” for details.
Procedure To compare a replay TrueLog with its corresponding record
TrueLog:
1 Click the Analyze Test button on the Workflow Bar. The Workflow -
Analyze Test dialog appears.

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Comparing Record and Replay TrueLogs

2 Click the Compare your test run button.

3 The corresponding record TrueLog opens in Compare view and the Step
through TrueLog dialog appears with the Whole pages option selected—
allowing you to run a node-by-node comparison of the TrueLogs.
4 Click the Find Next button to step through TrueLog result files one page
at a time.

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Comparing Record and Replay TrueLogs

Note Windows displaying content presented during replay have

green triangles in their upper left corners. Windows displaying
content originally displayed during application recording have red
triangles in their upper left corners.

Windows displaying
the recorded session
have red triangles

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Comparing Record and Replay TrueLogs

Explore
differences
visually

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Comparing Record and Replay TrueLogs

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h Customizing Test Scripts

Introduction This tutorial explains how to analyze a recorded load test script based on the
results of a TryScript run.
What you will learn This chapter contains the following sections:

Section Page
Overview 33
Customizing Session Handling 34
Customizing User Data 40
Adding Verifications 47

Overview
Once you’ve generated a load test script with SilkPerformer and executed a
TryScript run, TrueLog Explorer can help you customize the script in the
following ways:
• Customize session handling - TrueLog Explorer’s parsing
functions allow you to replace static session ID’s in scripts with
dynamic session ID’s—and thereby maintain state information for
successful load test runs.
• Parameterize input data - With user data customization you can
make your test scripts more realistic by replacing static recorded
user input data with dynamic, parameterized user data that changes
with each transaction. Manual scripting isn’t required to run such
“data-driven” tests.

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Customizing Session Handling

• Add verifications to test scripts - Using the Add Verifications tool,

you can gain tremendous insight into data that’s downloaded during
load tests—enabling you to verify that the content that is to be sent
by the server is correct. Verifications remain useful after system
deployment for ongoing performance management.

Customizing Session Handling

Because SilkPerformer’s recording techniques generate context-full scripts that
don’t contain static session information, session handling customization is
generally not required for most applications. So if you don’t detect any problems
when you analyze your test you can skip session handling customization and
proceed with user data customization.
In their responses to clients, servers often generate information at runtime that's
used to identify future client requests as coming from the same computer during
the same user session. If not updated, such session information can create
problems in subsequent test runs.
When replayed test runs are compared to originally recorded test runs and
outdated session information is identified, that information must be replaced
with dynamic variables in future test runs—otherwise load test scripts will make
requests with invalid session ID’s or other session information.
TrueLog Explorer’s uniquely powerful heuristics do most of this work for you,
identifying differences that are relevant for customization in orange and non-
relevant differences that don’t require customization in blue.

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Customizing Session Handling

Procedure To customize session handling:

1 With the record and replay TrueLogs from the previous tutorial loaded
into TrueLog Explorer, click the Customize Session Handling button on
the Workflow Bar. The Workflow - Customize Session Handling dialog
opens.

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Customizing Session Handling

2 Click Find differences to view a differences table (Source Differences

view), which reveals instances in which the server responded with
different (or dynamic) information during the replay session than it did
during the record session. Such static information may need to be
replaced with a variable.

3 Use the Step Through TrueLog dialog to step through HTML server
responses—with the recorded responses displayed alongside the
corresponding replayed responses. Only those differences that indicate
that static information is included in the test script and being sent back to
the server need to be parsed (e.g., a difference between replay and record

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Customizing Session Handling

sessions could be caused by an e-commerce site running out of stocked

merchandise. Such a difference wouldn’t be appropriate for script
customization because it isn’t session related).

The status line tells you if identified

differences seem to be sesssion
information Differences are
shown here in a
difference table

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Customizing Session Handling

This indicator tells you

that a difference may be
session information

The number of
occurences in HTML
code is listed here

Double click a A difference can only be

listed difference to customized if it occurs in
customize it BDL code

4 Double-click an error listed in Source Differences view. The Insert

Parsing Functions dialog appears with the boundary values and variable
name already inserted—there’s no need to locate and enter boundary
values manually.

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Customizing Session Handling

5 Click OK on the Insert Parsing Function dialog to insert the required

parsing function into the BDL script.

6 Once the script has been modified successfully, click the Customize
Session Handling button to initiate a new TryScript run.
7 Click TryScript Run to see if the script runs correctly now that session
handling has been modified.

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Customizing User Data

8 Analyze the results of the subsequent test run to determine whether or

not session handling customization has been successful.
9 Repeat this procedure as many times as required until all session-relevant
information in your load test script has been customized.

Customizing User Data

Under real world conditions, Web application users submit unpredictable
combinations of data into HTML forms. One goal of effective Web application
testing is to emulate such irregular and diverse user behavior using test scripts.
You can customize the user input data that’s entered into forms during testing
using TrueLog Explorer's Parameter Wizard. The Parameter Wizard lets you
specify values to be entered into form fields—enabling your test scripts to be
more realistic by replacing recorded user input data with randomized,
parameterized user data.
This tutorial covers the process of creating a variable that’s based on an existing
parameter. See SilkPerformer documentation for complete details regarding the
functionality of the Parameter Wizard.

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Customizing User Data

Procedure To customize user input data for an HTML form field:

1 With replay TrueLog loaded into TrueLog Explorer, click the Customize
User Data button on the Workflow bar. The Customize User Data dialog
appears.

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Customizing User Data

2 Click Customize.

3 Use the Find Next and Find Previous buttons on the Step through
TrueLog dialog to browse through all WebPageSubmit calls in the
TrueLog (these are the calls that are candidates for user data
customization).

Post Data view shows the page that contains the HTML form that was
submitted by the selected WebPageSubmit call. When your cursor passes
over a form control, a tool tip shows the control’s name in addition to its
initial and submitted values.

Highlighted HTML controls in Post Data view identify form fields that
can be customized. You can replace the recorded values with various

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Customizing User Data

types of input data (including predefined values from files and generic
random values) and generate code into your test script that substitutes
recorded input data with your customizations.

4 Right-click into a form control that you wish to customize and select
Customize Value to open the Parameter Wizard.

5 With the Parameter Wizard you can modify script values in one of two
ways. You can either use an existing parameter that’s defined in the
dclparam or dclrand section of your script, or you can create a new
parameter (based on either a new constant value, a random variable, or
values in a multi-column data file). Once you create a new parameter,
that parameter is added to the existing parameters and becomes available
for further customizations.

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Note This tutorial explains only the process of creating a parameter

based on a random variable. See SilkPerformer documentation for
complete details regarding the functionality of the Parameter
Wizard.
6 Select the Create new parameter radio button and click Next to create a
new parameter.

7 The Create New Parameter dialog appears. Select the Parameter from
Random Variable radio button and click Next.

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8 The Random Variable Wizard appears. From the drop-down list, select
the type of random variable you wish to insert into your test script. A
brief description of the highlighted variable type appears in the lower
window.
9 Click Next.

10 The Name the variable and specify its attributes screen appears. The
Strings from file random variable type generates data strings that can
either be selected randomly or sequentially from a specified file.

Enter a name for the variable in the Name field. Specify whether the
values should be called in Random or Sequential order. Then select a
preconfigured datasource from the File/Name drop-down list.

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Alternative New random variable files can be created by clicking

the New button.

11 Click Next, the Choose the kind of usage dialog appears. Specify if the
new random value should be used Per usage, Per transaction, or Per
test.
12 Click Finish to modify the BDL form declaration of your test script so
that it uses the random variable for the given form field in place of the
recorded value. The new random variable function appears below in
BDL view.
13 Initiate a TryScript run with the random variable function in your test
script to confirm that the script runs without error.
14 With the Form Submissions radio button selected on the Step through
TrueLog dialog, search for the next form for which you wish to
customize input parameters.
Multi-column data files Parameterization from multi-column data files is a powerful means of
parameterizing data because it defines files in which specific combinations of
string values are stored (e.g., usernames/passwords, first names/last names, etc).
Each column in a data file corresponds to a specific parameter. Multi-column
data files enable a data driven test model and allow you to cover all user data
input with a single data file.

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Adding Verifications

Note See SilkPerformer documentation for details regarding multi-

column data files.

Adding Verifications
TrueLog Explorer allows you to easily add content checks to your test scripts to
verify whether content that is to be sent by servers is in fact received by clients
under real-world conditions.
By comparing replay test runs with record test runs—a uniquely powerful
approach to the challenge of testing end-user experience in client/server
environments—TrueLog Explorer allows you to confirm visually whether or
not embedded objects, text, graphics, table data, SQL responses and more are
actually downloaded and displayed by clients while systems are under heavy
load. This allows you to detect a class of errors that other Web traffic simulation
tools aren’t able to detect: errors that occur only under load that aren't detected
with standard load test scripts.
Content verifications remain useful after system deployment as they can be
employed in ongoing performance management.
By simply identifying the objects that you wish to have verified—by right-
clicking them in rendered HTML, HTML source code, or elsewhere—all
required verification functions can be generated and inserted into BDL scripts.
TrueLog Explorer even offers pre-enabled verification functions for Web,
XML, and database applications. For Web applications this includes checks of
HTML page titles, page digests (entire content checks), tables, and source code.

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Adding Verifications

Procedure To define content verifications for a Web page:

1 With a TrueLog loaded into TrueLog Explorer, navigate to a page of
interest.
2 Select text to be verified (this step is not required for page title and page
digest verifications).
3 Click Add Verifications.
Alternative You may also right-click content and select verification
functions from a context menu.

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4 Select a pre-enabled verification from the Workflow - Add Verifications

screen (for this tutorial, select Verify the selected text):
- Verify the page title
- Verify the selected text
- Verify the selected text in an HTML table
- Verify the digest

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5 Complete the Insert Content Verification Function dialog to specify how

verification functions should be inserted into the BDL script. Left and
right boundaries are automatically identified for you.

6 Click OK to accept the verification settings.

7 Once the BDL script has been successfully modified, repeat this process
for each verification you wish to add to the BDL script.

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8 Once you have finished adding verifications, click Yes on the Workflow -
Add Verifications dialog to initiate a TryScript run.

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Adding Verifications

9 Confirm that verifications have been passed successfully (API nodes that
include verifications are indicated by blue “V” symbols).

Completing your Once you’ve customized how your application handles session information and
customizations user-input data, you have added all necessary verification functions, and have
completed any required manual BDL script editing via SilkPerformer, your load
testing script should run without error.

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h Defining User Profiles

Introduction This tutorial explains how to configure a custom user profile.

What you will learn This chapter contains the following sections:

Section Page
Overview 53
Defining a custom user profile 54

Overview
Load test scripts that offer a range of user behavior can be created based on user
types, which are unique combinations of user groups and load test profiles. New
user types can be created by defining new user groups and test profiles.
User groups are sets of users that share common transactions and transaction
frequency settings. User groups are defined in the dcluser sections of BDL
scripts.
By adding profiles to your load test project you can endow a single user type
with a range of traits (e.g., varying connection speeds, protocols, browsers, etc).
SilkPerformer has a default profile that you can use. In some instances you may
require multiple profiles. For example, if you wanted to emulate three different
modem speeds during your load test, you could create three profiles that define
three different modem speeds.
Project profiles contain important project-specific settings. A project may
contain as many profiles as is required, each with unique settings. New profiles
can easily be added to projects, and existing profiles can be copied, renamed,
and deleted.
Within profiles options can be set for how the SilkPerformer Recorder generates
test scripts from recorded traffic and how protocols are used during recording.
Simulation settings can be defined for script replay. Options for result files

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Defining a custom user profile

generated during tests are defined. Options are also set for the different kinds of
network traffic that are to be simulated—Internet, Web, CORBA/IIOP, COM,
TUXEDO, Jolt, and database.

Defining a custom user profile

Procedure To define a custom user profile:
1 Click the Customize Test button on the SilkPerformer workflow bar.

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2 The Workflow - Customize Test dialog appears. In the Profile drop-down

list, the currently active profile is selected. This is the default profile. To
add a new profile to your workload, click the New Profile button.

3 The New Profile dialog appears. Enter a name (e.g., IE6_DSL) for the
new profile and click OK.

4 In the Project tab of the tree-view area of the main SilkPerformer

window, expand the Profiles folder.

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5 Right click the newly created profile name in the Project window and
select Edit Profile from the context menu to display the Edit Profile
dialog.

6 From the Profile - [Profile] - Internet dialog you can configure

numerous settings related to your project’s user profile. Select icons in
the shortcut list on the left to access specific settings.

Virtual users can be customized to use any of a wide selection of Web

browsers, and the functionality they embody. The most popular browsers
in use today can be emulated. Lesser-known browsers are also available,
as are browsers serving mobile phone users. Custom browsers can also
be defined using different versions of HTTP.

See SilkPerformer online help for full details regarding available profile
settings.

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7 Click OK to accept the profile settings.

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h Identifying Baseline
Performance

Introduction This tutorial explains how to identify and confirm the baseline performance of a
Web application.
Note The workflow bar displays the simplified workflow by
default. If you want to create a baseline to set response time
thresholds, enable the normal workflow by selecting Settings ->
System -> Workspace and un-check the Show simple workflow check
box.
What you will learn This chapter contains the following sections:

Section Page
Overview 59
Finding a Baseline 60
Confirming a Baseline 63

Overview
The next step in conducting a SilkPerformer load test is to ascertain baseline
performance (i.e., the ideal performance of the application under test). Baseline
tests are run using only one user per user type, and performance measurements
of unstressed applications form the basis for calculating appropriate numbers of
concurrent users per user type and appropriate boundaries for HTML page
response timers and transaction response timers. The bandwidth required to run
load tests is also calculated from baseline results. Baseline tests utilize the
identical measurement types that are used for actual load tests. As with actual
load tests, baseline tests also output reports and other standard files.

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Finding a Baseline

Finding a Baseline
By assigning different profiles to a user group and script you define new user
types that represent unique combinations of script, user group, and profile.
Baseline tests establish baseline performance for load tests using specific user
types. For baseline tests, only one virtual user per user type is executed.
The Find Baseline dialog allows you to define multiple user types (unique
combinations of script, user group, and profile).

The following option settings are automatically set for baseline tests:
• Baseline report files are automatically created
• The Stop virtual users after simulation time (Queuing Workload) option
is activated
• The Random think time option is deactivated
• The Load test description field is set to "BaseLine Test".
• The Display All Errors Of All Users option in the Monitor window is
activated
• The Virtual user output files (.wrt) option is activated
• The Virtual user report files (.rpt) option is activated

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Finding a Baseline

Procedure To identify a test baseline:

1 Click the Find Baseline button on the SilkPerformer Workflow bar.

2 The Workflow - Find Baseline dialog appears. Select the user types you
wish to have run in the baseline test. One virtual user from each user type
will be executed.

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3 If you want to add new user types to your load test, press the Add button
and select a unique combination of script, profile, and user group from
the Add User Type dialog. Each profile defined in a project can be
selected with a user group from any script in that project.

4 If you wish to configure simulation settings for the selected profile, click
the browse button (‘...’) to the right of the drop-down list.

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5 Click Run to run the baseline test.

6 The baseline test is run. The Monitor window opens, giving you detailed
information about the progress of the test.

Confirming a Baseline
The next step in conducting a SilkPerformer load test is to confirm that the test
baseline established by the test actually reflects the desired performance of the
application under test. Resulting measurements are used to calculate the
appropriate number of concurrent virtual users, required bandwidth, and
acceptable thresholds for load tests.
This is done by inspecting the results of a test in a baseline report. If results are
satisfactory, they can be stored for further processing.
Once a baseline test is complete, a baseline report is displayed. Baseline reports
are based on XML/XSL and include important test results in tabular form.
Note Baseline reports can be displayed for any load test you wish to
use as a baseline (i.e., you can use the results of any past load test to
generate a baseline report).

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Procedure To view a baseline report:

1 Click the Confirm Baseline button on the SilkPerformer Workflow bar.

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2 The Workflow - Confirm Baseline dialog opens. Click Baseline Report to

display the baseline report for the current test.

Baseline reports are comprised of the following elements:

• General Information
• User Types
• Summary tables
• Transaction response times
• HTML page timers
• Web form measurements
• Accept Results button
The General Information section of baseline reports includes administrative
information in tabular format, including SilkPerformer version information,
project name, description of the project, date and time of the baseline test,
workload definition, workload model, and number of errors.
In summary lines in the User Types section offer details on measured response
times for each user type. Summary lines include number of virtual users (‘1’ for
baseline tests), duration of the test, session time, session busy time, average page
time, and number of transactions executed (OK, cancelled, and failed) and
number of errors.
Session Time is the time a virtual user required to step through the application.
Session Busy Time is the time the virtual user required to step through the
application without thinktime.
Select a user type to see baseline test results for that specific user type.

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3 Assuming you are satisfied with the test results and wish to save them for
further processing (e.g., calculation of the number of concurrent virtual
users and network bandwidth required for the load test), click the Accept
Baseline button.

4 Click Yes.
5 Now that you have an accepted baseline you can set response time
thresholds for the selected timers. MeasureSetBound functions will be
generated into the script to set these thresholds.
Click the set response time thresholds button to display the Automatic
Threshold Generation dialog.

6 Specify the timers for which you want to generate automatic threshold
values based on baseline results in the Timers section of the dialog.

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7 Specify multipliers that are to be used for the calculation of the time
bound values in the Multiplier section of the dialog. The average
response times in the baseline test will be multiplied by this factor to
generate time bound values for the specified timers (e.g., a multiplier of
three means that you accept response times three times higher than the
average response time of the timer in the baseline test).
8 Specify whether errors or warning messages should be raised when a
timer value exceeds the specified threshold in the Raise message when
exceeding thresholds section of the dialog. You can also specify the
severity of raised messages.
9 Click OK to have MeasureSetBound functions added to the test script for
each selected timer and accepted user type.

Select the timers which

you want to generate
thresholds

Specify multipliers for lower

and upper bounds

The lower bound represents

good response times. The
upper bound separates bad
response times from
acceptable ones
MeasureSetBound Specify minimum Specify if a message
functions are added to the threshold values should be raised and
script for all selected timers the type of severity
and accepted user types

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h Setting Up Monitoring
Templates

Introduction This tutorial explains how to set up monitoring templates to generate server-side
results information during load tests.
What you will learn This chapter contains the following sections:

Section Page
Overview 69
Setting Up a Monitoring Template 70

Overview
SilkPerformer offers server and client-side monitoring during load tests—
enabling you to view live graphical display of server performance while tests
run. Monitoring servers during tests is important because it enables server-side
results information to be generated. This information can then be viewed and
correlated with other test measurements during results analysis.
Among other uses, monitoring servers helps you determine if bottlenecks are
present and, if so, where they are located. Allowing you to examine the
performance of both operating systems and server applications.
Custom server monitoring templates can be set up or you can use pre-installed
templates (available for virtually all application types).

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Setting Up a Monitoring Template

Setting Up a Monitoring Template

Procedure To set up a template for server monitoring:
1 Click the Confirm Baseline button on the SilkPerformer Workflow bar.
2 The Workflow - Confirm Baseline dialog opens. Click Monitoring
template.

3 The Profile - [Profile] - Results dialog box opens, showing the

Monitoring tab of the Results category.
4 In the Monitoring options area, select the Automatically start monitoring
option to automatically launch Performance Explorer monitoring each
time a load test begins. Performance Explorer displays server
performance data that is relevant to the server type under test.
5 Select the Use custom monitoring template radio button to create a
custom monitor template.

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6 Enter a name for the custom template file and click the Create Custom
Monitor Template button.

7 To edit the newly created template, click the browse button (‘...’) next to
the edit field. Browse for and select the file.
8 With the new template file loaded in the edit field, click Edit Custom
Monitor Template.

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9 Performance Explorer appears. Close any monitor windows that are not
relevant to the template.
10 Click the Monitor Server button on the Performance Explorer Workflow
bar.

11 The Data Source Wizard appears.

12 Click the Select from predefined Data Sources radio button to select a
specific data source provided by the server.
Note Performance Explorer can also scan servers for available data
sources.

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13 Click Next.

14 In the tree view on the System selection screen, expand the folder that
corresponds to the operating system on which the server and the
application under test run.
15 From the list, select the server application you wish to monitor. To
monitor the operating system, select System.
16 Select the operating system on which the server and application under
test run.
17 Click Next.

18 The Connection Parameters screen appears.

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19 In the Hostname edit field, enter connection parameters such as the host
name or IP address of the computer that hosts the application, connection
port, user name, and password. The data required here varies based on
the operating system run by the monitored computer.
20 Click Next.

21 The Select displayed measures screen appears. Expand the tree view and
select the measurements you wish to have monitored.
22 Click Finish.

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23 A monitor window appears, with the elements you specified shown in a

live, color-coded server performance graph. Beneath the graph is a list of
included elements, along with a color-coding key, and performance
information for each element.
24 Select Clone Monitor Report from the Performance Explorer Monitor
menu to write monitor results to a time series data (.tsd) file.

25 A monitor report appears containing the same performance

measurements that were selected for the graph. Monitoring information
appears in the report in tabular format.

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26 To save the monitoring report so that it can later be compared with load
test results for results exploration, select Write Monitor Data from the
Performance Explorer Monitor menu. The file name appears in the File
section of the Monitor information area of the report dialog.

27 Save the Performance Explorer workspace.

Note If you attempt to close Performance Explorer before saving,
you will be prompted to save.

The next time you begin a load test, server monitoring will begin and stop
automatically.

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h Defining Workload

Introduction This tutorial explains how to define workload settings for load tests.
What you will learn This chapter contains the following sections:

Section Page
Overview 77
Defining Workload 80

Overview
The next step in conducting a SilkPerformer load test is to configure workload.
SilkPerformer offers different workload models that can be used as the basis for
load tests. You must select the workload model that best meets your needs prior
to the execution of a load test.
The number of concurrent virtual users per user type, the duration, and the
involved agents must also be configured when defining workload.
The following workload models are available:

Increasing workload
With this workload model, at the beginning of a load test, SilkPerformer
simulates not the total number of defined users, but only a specified number.
Gradually workload is increased until all the users in the user list are running.
This workload model is useful when you want to determine at which load level
your system crashes or does not respond within acceptable response times or
error thresholds.

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Steady state workload

In this model, the same number of virtual users is employed throughout the test.
Each virtual user executes the transactions defined in the load testing script.
When work is completed, the virtual users begin executing the transactions
again. There is no delay between transactions. The test is complete when the
specified simulation time is reached.
This workload model is useful when you want to find out about the behavior of
the system under test at a specific load level.

Dynamic workload
With this model you can manually change the number of virtual users in a test
while the test runs. The maximum number of virtual users to be run is set; within
this limit, the number can be increased and decreased at any time during the test.
No simulation time is specified, and you must end the test manually.
This workload model is useful when you want to experiment with different load
levels and have control over load levels during tests.

All day workload

This workload model allows you to define the distribution of your load in the
most flexible way. You can assign different numbers of virtual users to any
interval of the load test. Each user type can use a different load distribution.
With this model you can design complex workload scenarios such as workday
workloads and weekly workloads. During load tests you can adjust load levels
for intervals that have not yet been executed.
This workload model is especially useful when you wish to model complex,
extended workload scenarios as realistically as possible.

Queuing workload
In this model, transactions are scheduled following a prescribed arrival rate.
This rate is a random value based on an average interval calculated from the
simulation time and the number of transactions specified in the script (dcluser
section: number of transactions per user). Load tests are complete when all
virtual users have completed their prescribed tasks.
Note Tests may take longer than the specified simulation time due
to the randomized arrival rates. For example, if you specify a
simulation time of 3,000 seconds and want to execute 100
transactions, then you will receive an average transaction arrival rate
of 30 seconds.
This workload model is especially useful when you want to simulate workloads
that use queuing mechanisms to handle multiple concurrent requests. Typically,
application servers such as servlet engines and transaction servers—which
receive their requests from Web servers rather than end users—can be

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accurately tested with the queuing model.

Verification workload
Verification test runs are especially useful when combined with SilkPerformer’s
extended verification functionality. This combination can be used for regression
testing of Web-based applications. A verification test run runs a single user of a
specific user type on a specified agent computer.
This workload model is especially useful when you wish to automate the
verification of Web applications and want to begin verification tests from a
command-line interface.
Adjusting workload The Adjust Workload button on the workflow bar launches the workload wizard,
which helps you define all necessary parameters for your workload.
After specifying the simulation time for a load test, the wizard helps you
calculate the number of concurrent virtual users per user type associated with
your load test. This task is important for emulating real user behavior. If you
know the number of expected real user sessions per hour for the application
under test, the number of concurrent virtual users will be calculated based on the
results of accepted baseline tests.
Additionally, required network bandwidth per user type is displayed. This helps
you to check the network infrastructure for bottlenecks. Required bandwidth is
calculated based on accepted baseline results.
You can define multiple workload models in your load test project and save
them for later use, but only one workload model can be active at a time.
Accepted baseline results are associated with workload models—if you copy or
rename a workload model, the accepted baseline results will be copied and
renamed accordingly.

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Defining Workload

Defining Workload
Procedure To specify the workload of a load test:
1 Click the Adjust Workload button on the SilkPerformer Workflow bar.

2 Select the workload model that most closely meets your needs (the All
Day workload model is illustrated in this tutorial)

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3 Click Workload Wizard.

4 Specify simulation times for the load test. Depending on the workload
model you selected, you can adjust the duration of each phase of your
load test. During the Increasing phase workload increases gradually to
the specified maximum number of virtual users. In the Steady State
phase all virtual users run. In the Decreasing phase workload decreases
gradually. The Warm-up phase specifies the time at the beginning of a
load test during which measurements are not factored into results
calculations. The Measurement phase restricts time measurements that
are taken for results calculation.
5 Click Next.

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6 On the Calculate the Virtual Users screen, calculate the number of

concurrent virtual users by specifying the number of user sessions you
expect per hour. Enter the number of virtual users you wish to run or
calculate the number by using session time data from the baseline test
and providing the number of sessions you expect per peak hour. In this
manner the number of virtual users is calculated using the following
formula: Vusers = Session Time[s] * Sessions Per Peak Hour / 3600.

7 After completing your specifications, the All Day Workload

Configuration dialog appears, allowing you to change any of the
parameters of the load test. With the All Day workload model, intervals
are suggested by SilkPerformer. You can change intervals by editing the
table, adding or deleting rows, changing the number of virtual users or
adjusting the duration of intervals.

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Note Once a load test begins, you can change the number of virtual
users for intervals that have not yet begun. Though you cannot
exceed the maximum number of virtual users specified for the load
test.

8 Click OK
9 The Workload Configuration dialog appears, where you can check the
previously entered values. The diagram at the top of the dialog depicts a
graphical representation of the specified workload model. The diagram
uses the data of the user group selected in the workload list.
10 Use the workload list to configure the user groups that will be run in your
test scripts. In the User Type area, select the user types that you wish to
run in your test. All of the user types selected prior to the baseline test are
listed here.
11 In the Max Vusers column, specify the number of virtual users to be run
for each user type.
12 Check the TrueLog On Error option, when you want SilkPerformer to
generate TrueLog files for transactions that contain errors.
13 In the Load Test Description area, enter a description for the load test
(this is optional). This feature is provided only for your project
management needs.

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14 Click the User Distribution Overview button to view the assignment of

virtual users to the agent computers that are currently available.
15 Click OK to save your changes.
Note If you wish to define multiple workloads for your load test and
save them for future use, expand the Workloads section of the tree
view, right-click on one of the workload options to edit, copy,
rename, delete, set the workload as active, or create a new workload.
If you create a new workload model, the baseline must be accepted
again for this model. You can copy previously accepted baseline
results from an existing workload model by copying and renaming a
workload.
16 Click Run to execute the test or click Connect to initialize the agent
connection and start the test manually from the monitor view by clicking
the Start all button.

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h Running & Monitoring Tests

Introduction This tutorial explains how to run and monitor load tests using SilkPerformer.
What you will learn This chapter contains the following sections:

Section Page
Overview 85
Running a Load Test 86
Monitoring a Test 88
Monitoring a Server 93

Overview
Running tests The next step in conducting a SilkPerformer load test is to run a full load test.
Multiple virtual users are run by means of the test script(s) to test the target
server. A large load test requires an appropriate testing environment set up on
the local area network, including a full complement of agent computers to host
the virtual users.
It is essential to carefully set options for the appropriate test type, to accurately
define workloads, and to enable generation of the test results that will be needed
to assess the performance of the server. The logging option however should be
disabled to prevent interference with load test results.
Comprehensive information is provided to testers while load tests run. This
includes real-time information about agent computers, virtual users, and
transactions as they are conducted. In addition, real-time monitoring of the
target server is available in graphical form.
Monitoring tests Graphical displays and full textual reporting of activity on both the client side
and the server side offer easily understandable monitoring of test progress.
Comprehensive overview information about agent computers and virtual users

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is available directly from the workbench where tests are conducted. There is full
control over the level of information detail offered—from a global view of the
progress of all agent computers in a test down to exhaustive detail regarding the
transactions conducted by infidel virtual users. Progress information for each
agent and user is available in many categories. Run-time details for each user
include customizable, color-coded readouts on transactions, timers, functions,
and errors as they happen.
Monitoring servers In addition, real-time monitoring of the performance of the target server is
available in graphical form. Charts can display the most relevant performance
information from a comprehensive collection of the most commonly used Web
servers, application servers, database servers, and operating systems in use
today. Multiple charts can be open at the same time, and these can be juxtaposed
to provide the most relevant comparisons and contrasts. A tree-view editor
allows elements from any data source to be combined in the charts. Performance
information from the client application—for example, response times—can
easily be placed in the same chart as performance data from the server. This
enables a direct visual comparison to be made, so that you can see directly how
shortcomings on the server influence client behavior.

Running a Load Test

Procedure To start a load test:
1 Activate the workload model you wish to use for the test. To activate a
workload, right-click it and select Activate from the context menu.

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2 Click the Run Test button on the SilkPerformer Workflow bar.

3 The Workload Configuration dialog appears. Confirm all workload

settings that you wish to use for the load test.
4 Click Run to start the load test.

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Note Clicking the Connect button allows you to initialize the agent
connection and then start the test manually from the monitor view by
clicking the Start all button.

Monitoring a Test
Procedure To monitor all agent computers:
1 While your load test runs, view progress in the Monitor window.

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2 View information about the progress of agent computers and user groups
in the top view window. Among the comprehensive statistics that are
available are status of particular agents, percentages of tests completed
on those agents, and number of executed transactions.

Procedure To monitor a specific agent computer:

1 In the top view of the Monitor window, select the specific agent you
wish to monitor.
2 Information on all of the virtual users running on that agent appear in the
bottom monitor view.
3 Among the available statistics presented for each user are user status, the
name of the current transaction, the percentage of completed work, and
the number of executed transactions.

Procedure To monitor a specific virtual user:

1 In the bottom view of the monitor window, right-click the virtual user
you wish to monitor.

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2 Select Show Output of Vuser from the context menu.

3 SilkPerformer displays detailed run-time information about the selected
user in the Virtual User window (e.g., the transactions and functions the
user executes, and the data the user sends to and receives from the
server).

4 To customize the columns that are displayed, right-click a window

header and select Columns from the context menu.
5 On the Select Monitor Columns window, select the columns you wish to
have display.

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Procedure To change the settings of an active load test:

1 Select the All Day Workload Configuration button.

2 Change virtual user and time values directly in the table.

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Note That values for intervals that are currently running

cannot be edited.

3 Click Update to have your changes reflected in the current load test.

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Monitoring a Server
Performance Explorer is the primary tool for viewing load test results. A vast
array of graphic facilities allows both real-time monitoring of the target server
while tests run and exhaustive analysis of results once tests are complete.
Exploring test results is made easy by a workflow bar with a click-through user
interface that offers enhanced drag-and-drop functionality.
In real-time monitoring, live charts provide a customizable display of the most
relevant performance information from the target server. Monitoring is available
for a comprehensive collection of the most widely used Web servers,
application servers, and database servers—across most all operating systems.
Multiple charts can be open at the same time, so that, for example, a tester can
watch a graphic display of Web server performance and operating system
performance simultaneously. A tree-view editor with drag-and-drop
functionality allows elements from any data source to be combined in charts.
After a test, the performance of the target server can be charted from both the
client side and the server side. Response time measurements display the client
perspective, while throughput data offers server-side perspective. Charts and
graphs are fully customizable, and they can contain as many or as few of the
measurements taken during tests as are required. Multiple charts, using
information from one or different tests, can be opened at once to facilitate
contrast/compare operations. Templates for the most typical test scenarios
(Web, Database, IIOP) are provided, and these default charts can be populated
easily and quickly with data the tester requires. Here also, drag-and-drop
functionality enables chart elements to be combined from any data source.
Information on client response times and server performance can be placed in a
single chart, so that you can see directly how server performance affects client
behavior.
Because you specified that monitoring start automatically in the “Setting Up a
Monitoring Template” tutorial, Performance Explorer launches and displays the
template you customized in the “Confirming a Baseline” tutorial. Monitoring
begins and ends automatically along with the load test.

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Monitor reports automatically begin writing .tsd files when load tests begin and
automatically stop writing when load tests end.

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h Exploring Test Results

Introduction This tutorial explains how to analyze load test results using SilkPerformer.
What you will learn This chapter contains the following sections:

Section Page
Overview 95
Working with TrueLog On Error 96
Viewing an Overview Report 100
Viewing a Graph 112

Overview
TrueLog On Error TrueLog On Error files provide complete histories of erroneous transactions
uncovered during load tests—enabling you to drill down through real content to
analyze error conditions. TrueLog On Error files maintain histories of all client
requests and server responses. Because they present errors in the context of the
sessions within which they occur and are closely integrated with test scripts,
TrueLog On Error files are uniquely suited for root-cause analysis of system and
application faults.
Overview Reports Once a load test is complete, Performance Explorer provides an overview report
for the load test. These reports include the most important test results in tabular
and graphical form.
Graphs Performance Explorer offers a comprehensive array of graphic features for
displaying test results, primarily in user-defined graphs, with as many elements
as required. The results of different tests can be compared, and there are
extensive features for server monitoring.

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Working with TrueLog On Error

It’s typical after running load tests to have multiple TrueLog On Error files
loaded into TrueLog Explorer (one TrueLog for each virtual user who returns an
error). With TrueLog Explorer’s Find Errors feature, you can jump from one
error to the next sequentially as they occurred in time, regardless of which
TrueLogs the errors were recorded in. This simplifies the process of analyzing
errors—there’s no need for you to manually review all open TrueLogs to find
the next error in a sequence.
Procedure To analyze erroneous transactions uncovered during a load test:
1 After the completion of a load test, click SilkPerformer Workbench’s
Explore Results button.
Note TrueLog On Error files are generated when SilkPerformer’s
Generate TrueLog On Error option is enabled.

2 The Explore Results dialog appears. Click TrueLog Explorer.

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Note The TrueLog Explorer Button is disabled when either no

errors are detected during a test or when Truelog On error is not
enabled. In such instances, proceed directly with Performance
Explorer.

3 TrueLog Explorer launches, loaded with all of the TrueLog On Error

files that were generated for the current load test, and the Find Error
dialog is presented.
4 On the Find Error dialog, select All Open TrueLogs (the default) from
the Search in drop-down list to search sequentially for errors in all open
TrueLogs. Select a TrueLog in Tree List view and select selected
TrueLog only from the Search in drop-down list to search sequentially
for errors in only a selected TrueLog.
Note TrueLog On Error files are searched sequentially, as they were
recorded in time.
5 Specify the type of error you’re looking for (error, warning or
informational) in the Find what portion of the dialog.
6 Specify a search strategy (Start from selected node or Start with first
error) in the Search strategy portion of the dialog.

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7 Click the Find Next button to advance to the first error. Error messages
are displayed on the Info tab in the lower-right window. API nodes that
contain replay errors are tagged with red “X” marks in the tree view.

8 When testing Web applications, errors often occur one or two steps
before they manifest themselves in page content as non-loading images,
error messages, etc. Navigate between pages by selecting them in the tree
view, or navigate between errors by clicking Find Next and Find
Previous.

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Note Test scripts can be customized to handle session relevant data

so that session errors aren’t raised repeatedly. See “Customizing
Session Handling” for details.

Detailed Web page statistics show exact response times for each individual Web
page component—allowing you to easily pinpoint the root causes of errors and
slow page downloads.
Detailed Web page drill down results include the following data for each page
component:
• DNS lookup time
• Connection time
• SSL handshake time
• Send request time
• Server busy time
• Response receive time
• Cache statistics

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Viewing an Overview Report

Procedure To view an Overview page:

1 Select an API node for which you would like to view statistics.
2 Click the Statistics tab to open Statistics view.
3 Click URL links to analyze component-level statistics and investigate the
root causes of errors.

Viewing an Overview Report

Overview reports include the most important load test results in tabular and
graphical form.
Overview reports are comprised of the following sections:
• General information
• Summary tables
• User types

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• Custom charts
• Custom tables
• Detailed charts
• General information

Procedure To view an overview summary report:

1 Click the Explore Results button in the SilkPerformer Workflow bar.

2 The Workflow - Explore Results dialog appears.

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3 Click the Performance Explorer button.

4 The Performance Explorer opens and displays an overview summary

report for the most recent load test.
Note The Generate overview report automatically option must be
set on the Settings/Options/Reporting dialog for overview reports to
be displayed. Additionally, you can specify a previously stored
template for the generation of an overview report using this dialog.

If the overview report doesn’t appear automatically, click the

Overview Report button on the workflow bar. Then browse to and
select the test’s .tsd file.

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Overview reports include many text areas that are predefined. You can edit
these text areas based on your needs. Use the click here to edit text links to
change text and save results with templates to be used later.

A report’s general information section includes administrative information in

tabular form as well as important load test results in graphical form.
Administrative information includes project name, a description of the project,
the load test number, a description of the load test, the date of the load test, the
duration of the load test, the number of used agent computers, and the number of
virtual users that were run.
Charts display the number of active virtual users, response time measurements
for transactions, and the number of errors that occur over time. Transaction
response times are provided for successfully executed transactions, for failed
transactions, and for cancelled transactions. Additional charts display summary
measurements related to the load-test project type. For example, in the case of
Web application testing, response time measurements for Web pages are
presented in a graph.

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5 Click the summary tables tab to advance to the summary tables section of
the report. Summary tables contain summary measurements in tabular
form (i.e., aggregate measurements for all virtual users). The first table
provides general information, such as the number of transactions that
were executed and the number of errors that occurred. All the following
tables provide summary information relevant to the application type
under test.

The Summary measurement group contains summarized measurements

on a global level. It contains measurement types that aggregate
individual measurements from other measurement groups as well as
measurement types that represent information on a global level that is not
included in other measurement groups. The summary measurement
group contains only counters; it does not contain timers.

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6 Click the ranking tab to advance to the ranking section of the report. The
ranking section ranks pages in order of slowest page download time (i.e.,
those pages with the longest page time are listed first).

7 Click the user types tab to advance to the user types section of the report.
This section provides detailed measurements for each user type in tabular
form. The measurements include transaction response times, individual
timers, counters, and response time and throughput measurements
related to the application type under test. In addition, errors and warnings
for user groups are listed.

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8 Click a user type link to advance further down the report, to user type
profile settings and transaction response time measurements for
individual user types and individual pages.

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Custom charts Custom charts can be edited and added to overview reports. You can save your
changes as templates to be displayed for each summary report.
Procedure To add a new custom chart to the overview report:
1 From the custom charts section of the overview report, click the Click
here to customize this section link.

2 The Custom Overview Report Wizard dialog opens.

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3 Select Add new view and click Next.

4 Select Empty Graph as the view type and click Finish.

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Performance Explorer then inserts the chart you have selected into the custom
charts section of the overview report.

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5 To customized the graph, on the Performance Explorer Graph tab, drag

timers you are interested in from the tree view and drop them into the
chart. When you add new measurements to the view that contains the
graph, or when you remove measurements from the view, the
corresponding graph in the overview report is automatically updated.

Note To change the name and description of a chart, right-click in

the view below the graph and select properties. There you can
specify a name and a description that will appear in the overview
report.
Detailed charts The detailed charts section of the overview report provides enlarged versions of
the charts included in the report. Click on a reduced version of a chart to jump to
the enlarged version, and vice versa.
Creating templates Procedure To save the layout of a report as a template:
1 Once you’ve customized the overview report to your needs, select File/
Save as template... from the menu bar and provide a name for the new
template.

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2 The template will be stored in the \working\include folder, to be used for

all projects.
Specifying default Procedure To set a template as the default template:
templates
1 From the menu bar select Settings/Options... and then the Reporting tab.
2 Check Use template when generating a new overview report and select a
stored template.

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3 The selected template will then be used for creating new overview
reports for all other projects.

Viewing a Graph
Procedure To view results in a graph:
1 Click the Explore Results button in the SilkPerformer Workflow bar.
2 The Workflow - Explore Results dialog appears.
3 Click the Performance Explorer button.
4 Performance Explorer opens.
5 In the Performance Explorer Workflow bar, click the Select Graph
button.
The Result Source dialog box appears.

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6 In the File field, specify the .tsd file in which you saved the recorded
monitoring data that you wish to view. You may also click the button to
the right of the field to browse to the Result File.
7 Click Next.
The Template dialog box appears.
8 Select the measures you wish to view and click Finish.
A graph appears that displays the measures you selected.

9 Drag any other relevant timers from the tree view into the graph. Server
side monitoring results can even be selected for display alongside load
test results.

Procedure To edit the appearance of a time series element in a graph:

1 Select the element in the lower graph view.
2 Use the Series Color, Line Width, and Line Style drop-down lists on the
Performance Explorer toolbar to change the element’s appearance.

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Procedure To delete a time series element from your graph:

1 Select the element in the lower graph view.
2 Click your keyboard’s Delete button.
To expand a time interval in your graph, click the left edge of the area you wish
to expand and drag to the right edge of the area. The area highlights as you drag,
and is expanded when you release the mouse button.

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 Index
A F
Accept Results button 65 Find differences 36
Agents 89 Finding errors 19
Animation 28 Form submissions 46
API nodes 18
G
B
Graphs 93, 95, 103, 110
Baseline performance Viewing 112
Confirming 63
Identifying 59 H
Baseline reports 63
BDL 9, 47, 50, 52 HTML
Browsers, defining in profiles 56 Page timers 65
User data customization 40-47
C
I
Cache statistics 25, 99
Charts 93, 103, 110 IIOP 54
Client-side monitoring 69 Input data, customization 40-47
COM 54 Invalid session ID’s 34
Compare mode, TrueLogs 28
Connection parameters 73
Connection time 25, 99 J
Content verifications 34, 47
CORBA 54 Jolt 54
Custom charts 107
Customizing user input data 40 L
D Load test scripts
Context-full 34
Data files, multi-column 46 Creating 9
Data Source Wizard 72 Customizing 33, 40
Data, monitoring downloads 28 Trying out 14
dclparam 43 Load tests, running 85
dclrand 43
Detailed charts 110 M
DNS lookup time 25, 99
MeasureSetBound functions 67
E Monitor Reports 75
Monitoring
Embedded objects 25 Custom templates 70
Errors 52 Starting automatically 70
Finding 23, 97 Monitoring tests 88
Root causes of 25, 99 Multi-column data files 46

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O Summary reports 20
Enabling 22
Summary tables 65, 100, 104
Overview pages 25, 100
Overview Report Wizard 107
T
P Templates 93
Creating 110
Page statistics 25 Default 111
Parameter Wizard 40 Monitoring 69
Parameterize input data 33 Test automation 3
Parameters Test scripts 40
Creating new for HTML 44 Customizing 33
From random variables 44 Think time 60
Parsing functions Time series data (.tsd) files 75
Inserting 38 Timers 66
Performance Explorer 93, 95, 109 Transaction response times 65
Post Data view 42 Tree view 18
Profiles, User 56 TrueLog Explorer 14, 18, 23, 28, 35, 96
Projects Parameter Wizard 40
Defining new 5 TrueLog On Error 95
Reusing 3 TrueLogs 35
Comparing 28
R TryScript runs 14, 20, 25, 33, 39
TUXEDO 54
Random Variable Wizard 45
Ranking 105 U
Record sessions 34
Recorder, SilkPerformer’s 9, 53 User data
Rendered HTML 47 Customization 33, 40, 41
Replay errors, finding 23 Parameterized 33
Replay TrueLogs 28 User profiles
Response receive time 25 Defining 54
Response times 25, 99 User types 65, 100, 105

S V
sample web application 3 Variables, random 44
Send request time 25, 99 Verifications
Server busy time 25, 99 Adding 34, 48
Server monitoring 69, 93 Content 47
Session busy time 65 Virtual user summary reports 19, 21
Session handling Virtual Users
Customization 33, 34 Calculating 82
Session information, Invalid 34
Session time 65
SilkCentral
W
Test Manager 2
SilkPerformer 2 web application, sample 3
Source Differences view 36 Web form measurements 65
SSL handshake time 25, 99 Workflow bar 18, 35
Statistics 25, 26, 99 Workload
Step through TrueLog 24, 29 Adjusting 78

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 All day 78
Configuration 82
Defining 77
Dynamic 78
Increasing 77
Queuing 78
Steady state 78
Verification 78

X
XML/XSL 63

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