Tool Mentor: Creating Performance
Test Suites with Rational TestManager
Purpose
This tool mentor describes how to use Rational TestManager to create a
performance test suite.
This section provides links to additional information related to this tool mentor.
Overview
A suite shows a hierarchical representation of the user population and
workload that you emulate in a performance test. It shows items such as the user
groups, the scripts executed by each group, and the number or percentage of
virtual testers assigned to each group.
This tool mentor applies to Microsoft® Windows 98/2000/NT 4.0 platforms.
Tool Steps
To design automated performance test suites using TestManager,
perform the following steps:
- Create
a suite
- Insert
user groups into a suite
- Insert
test scripts into a suite
A suite enables you to run test scripts and, more importantly, to emulate
the actions of real users accessing a multi-user application. A suite can be
as simple as one virtual tester executing one test script or as complex as
thousands of virtual testers executing a variety of test scripts.
You can create a performance suite in one of these ways:
- Using
the performance testing suite wizard
- Based
on an existing Robot session
- Using
a blank performance testing suite
This mentor describes using a blank performance test suite.
To create this suite:
- Click
File > New Suite.
- Click
Blank Performance Testing Suite.
Refer to the topic
titled Creating a New Suite in TestManager online Help.
User groups are the basic building block for all performance testing
suites. A user group is a collection of virtual testers who perform the same
set of activities. All performance testing suites must contain one or more
user groups-either fixed or scalable.
In general, scalable user groups allow more flexibility than fixed user
groups. With scalable user groups, a single performance test suite can emulate
a different number of users in each test run. If your suite contains fixed
user groups and you want to runs tests with different numbers of virtual
testers, you must modify the number of virtual testers in each user group in
the suite at test run-time.
To insert a user group into an open suite:
- Click
Suite > Insert > User Group.
- Choose
between Fixed or Scalable user groups.
- Set
the Number of users (for a fixed user group) or Percentage (for a
scalable user group). If the percentage for a scalable user group is
less than 100%, another user group must be added (sum total percentage
of all user groups must be 100).
From an opened suite, perform the following steps:
- Select the user groups that are to run the test script.
- Click Suite > Insert > Test Script.
- When the Run Properties of Test Script dialog appears, the following
properties can be set:
-
Test script source - Choose the type
of script (GUI, VU, VB, Java) you want to insert.
-
Query - Specify the characteristics
of scripts you would like to insert into the suite. If a large number of
test scripts resides in your test datastore, build a query to show only
those scripts that meet certain criteria (created by a certain person,
modified since a certain date, and so on).
-
Precondition - Select this to
specify that successful completion of the test script is a precondition
for the remainder of that suite sequence. This means that the test script
must complete successfully for subordinate items in the suite sequence to
run.
-
Iterations - Specify how often to
repeat the selected script or scripts.
-
Scheduling method - Specify the
delay, if any, before the start of the script, or specify other events
that trigger the execution of the script.
- After you have set the properties you want, select the name of the
test to insert and click OK.
Note: You cannot mix GUI and VU test scripts in a user group. You can,
however, mix other test script types.
Refer to the
following topics in the TestManager online Help:
- Defining Test Scripts
- Running Properties of the Test Script
|