posted 01-14-2002 09:26 AM         

I was thinking of testing how long the application takes to load, how long each page takes to load in all the data and enable all the buttons, how long each batch job takes to run etc.

My first question is, if anyone out there has been through this type of performance testing before, are there any other areas I should be thinking of or any tips you think may help?

Secondly, does anyone know of any freeware out there that can help record the response times more accuratley then just using a watch, the system clock or my fingers and toes? :-)

posted 01-14-2002 10:20 AM         

quote:

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Originally posted by Bug Buster:
...on a client/server application...how long each page takes to load...

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Are you loading pages in a client/server application?

quote:

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Originally posted by Bug Buster:
I was thinking of testing how long the application takes to load, how long each page takes to load in all the data and enable all the buttons, how long each batch job takes to run etc.

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You may also want to look at several requests from a single user, concurrent requests from several users, and several concurrent requests from a set of users.

posted 01-15-2002 02:41 AM         

You didnt say what your architecture is? i.e what has your client/server software been developed in? what platform are they running on? what communication protocol do they use?

These will help in suggesting a tool.

On your recording side, I often think that a good method to adopt is to record what I call 'business transactions' or 'user profiles'. Basically get people from each dept who uses or will use the system and get them to map out what are their common operations. Genereally each one of these can be scripted into a user profile and can cover one or more business transaction.

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Hope this helps.

posted 01-15-2002 07:44 AM         

quote:

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Originally posted by coling:
Hi Bug Buster,

You didnt say what your architecture is? i.e what has your client/server software been developed in? what platform are they running on? what communication protocol do they use?

These will help in suggesting a tool.

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Thanks for the reply.

The bulk of the system processing is carried out on the server, while the client components contain mainly display logic.

The GUI is written in DHTML and Microsoft Jscript, and requires Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 or above. Several In-House-developed ActiveX controls are used along with the NetCharts charting component (Visual Mining, Inc).

The system is strongly component based (written in mainly C++ with some Visual basic components) and uses COM as its core interoperation technology. The GUI is loosely coupled to the business logic by XML protocols, through a request/response service architecture implemented in DCOM.

The data persistence mechanism relies on Microsoft Active Data Objects, targeted at a Microsoft SQL Server 7 database.

Access to the system is based on Windows NT authentication.

posted 01-16-2002 02:14 AM         

If your budget can eventually stretch to commercially avaialbe tool then all the big players such as Mercury, Compuware, Rational will likely suit your environment.

For example LoadRunner allows recordings in the following environments/protocols:

E-business: For Web (HTTP, HTML), LDAP, POP3, Multi Protocol Web/WS,
RealPlayer and FTP protocols.

Wireless: For i-Mode and WAP protocols.

Enterprise Java Beans: For EJB Testing and Rmi-Java protocols.

Distributed Components: For COM/DCOM, Corba-Java, and Rmi-Java
protocols.

Middleware: For Jolt, and Tuxedo (6, 7) protocols.

ERP: For SAP, Baan, Oracle NCA, Peoplesoft (Tuxedo or Web), and Siebel
protocols.

Client/Server: For Informix, MSSQLServer, ODBC, Oracle (2-tier), DB2 CLI,
Sybase Ctlib, Sybase Dblib, and Windows Sockets protocols.

Legacy: For Terminal Emulation (RTE).

Custom: For C, VB & Java template type scripts.

Of course the other possiblity would be the creation of an in-house test tool.

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Hope this helps.

posted 01-16-2002 02:15 AM         

The current version, although it uses IE 5.5 to display the client pages, does not run on the internet or intranet and therefore does not require an URL to run it, it runs from a .exe process, so the Web Application Stress tool does not pick it up, unless anyone knows of a way of configuring it to do so?
I've checked the online help but it doesn't have any suggestions.