Synchronizing AJAX Playbacks

We have had a lot of interest lately in eValid's ability to synchronize complex AJAX application playback in an efficient and yet 100% realistic way. There is no universal, fixed method for implementing AJAX pages, and therefore there is no 100% perfect algorithm to assuring wait-time-independent fully automatic playback.

However, there are certain aspects to synchronization that are partially generalizable. Here is how the script development process can work as eValid browser-based tests interact with the web server in a typical AJAX application:

1. Confirm Page Is Present -- Make sure that you are starting in a known place, because loss of synchronization will ruin the test.
2. Find The Pivot Object -- Choose some place on the page that you know will be present and preferably unique on the page.
3. Move Up/Down To Action Element -- Move structurally to the desired action point.
4. Take Acton -- Apply the action (click, text input value, etc.)
5. Synchronize Completion Of Response -- Make sure you KEEP synchronized.
6. Repeat (Go Back to Step 1)

There are a lot more details about how this can be done -- using eValid's scripting resources -- at this page: AJAX Synchronization Loop General Description.

eValid Confirmed Operational With IE9

There has been a lot of interest lately in the new IE9 browser from Microsoft -- which is out for evaluation in a kind of pre-pre-beta release. The question arises: Does eValid work OK with IE9?

We downloaded the IE9 distribution from Microsoft and installed it on a machine running Windows 7 and then launched eValid. As you may know, eValid relies in part on Windows DLLs that are also part of Windows support for the IE browser.

We're happy to report that eValid worked just fine!

The only anomaly we saw was that when you ask eValid to identify the version of IE it is running on, eValid reports that it is IE8, rather than IE9. We're betting that is a simple documentation oversight.

As IE9 comes closer and closer to general release we'll keep on confirming full compatibility. We'll keep users posted of any glitches that occur.

Recording Guide Updated

In 99% of the cases, when you are using eValid to record a web application test, the recording process is accurate and complete: "What you see and what you do is what eValid records and plays back." But that other 1% is often where web application testers run into difficulty -- when you think you've recorded an action correctly but it doesn't play back correctly.

The key to success is to know what you are trying to do, on what kind of object, and what kind of action you expect. Naturally, this requires that you know the application you are testing fairly well, but even if you do there are those "unusual cases".

So we have put together a complete eValid Recording Guide that shows the full range of objects you might see in a web application page, and how to respond to each one. You might note that use of the eValid PageMap will be a big help in seeing what's really behind what you see on the page.

eValid and Agile Methods

We have been asked recently by a number of eValid users and potential users to comment about how eValid fits into a "Agile Method" development environment?

Here are the the Wikipedia descriptions for Agile Software Development and the closely related description of Internet-Speed Development.

Obviously this is a very complex topic, but the way these methods differ from the traditional (and more formal) Waterfall Model of software development is that "Agile" methods allow the software development to "break the process loop" and focus on results, rather than holding up progress pending completion of various process steps and creation of required documentation.

In other words, that results count as much or more than plans or hopes or dreams. That having something actually WORKING could be a very good thing to have happen!

In that context, then, we think eValid as a test engine fits very well into the notion of an Agile Method because it allows all of these:

1. Easy and quick creation of functional test that can be used to demonstrate and validation OK operation. This is the eValid record/playback paradigm.
2. Easy and quick "lifting" of these tests into realistic server loading experiments that can validate capacity on 100's of simulated users. This is eValid's LoadTest mode.
3. Sideways conversion of functional tests into RIA Monitoring. Here you would be provisioning scripts for regularly scheduled, batch mode data collection.
4. Selective drop of functional tests into your regression test suite. eValid's eV.Manager does this pretty much automatically.

That's pretty agile, isn't it?

Webinar: Testing AJAX Applications 101

Test Complex AJAX Applications Quickly and Reliably
Functional/Regression Tests, RIA Monitoring, Loading
All From The Same Tests, The Same Test Engine

Wednesday, 24 March 2010
2:00 PM Eastern Time / 11:00 AM Pacific Time

QA departments face the daunting tasks of Testing Web Applications using complex AJAX elements and interactive components, within the constraints of limited development time and testing schedules. Not to mention the mandatory "budget friendly" requirement. Would you like to see your work and limited resources multiplied, without breaking a sweat (and without breaking the Bank for that matter)?

Discover how to find a real force amplifier in your company's web application testing: eValid is there to help. Testing AJAX Web Applications can be simple and fast, realistic yet precise, accurate and reliable. More important even is that you will learn how to analyze your web applications from the real End-User Perspective, with reports delivered automatically, all in real time.

Find all the bottlenecks and problem areas in your AJAX web applications and web sites before your potential customers do. They will never tell you, they'll simply click away.

This Webinar Will Discuss:

• eValid Architecture and Structure: How eValid makes testing web apps easy.
• Functional Testing: How you can record your AJAX testing so that eValid can reproduce it.
• Regression Testing: How to validate outputs to confirm operation.
• AJAX Application Testing: How to fully-synchronize AJAX apps to play safely and reliably.
• Monitoring: How to schedule test runs to feed data for Network Status Reporting.
• Server Loading: How to amplify functional tests by a factor of 100+ to let multiple AJAX scripts impose realistic server load.

You are cordially invited to attend this free Webinar.
REGISTER NOW!

User Forum Posts

Here are some eValid User Forum posts of interest to the greater eValid community:

• How Do You Find Where Something Is On A Page -- How to use the PageMap to locate items in the DOM.
• Grabbing A Dynamic Variable -- How to synchronize an AJAX application on a DOM property.
• Synchronization Rate -- How you can control the AJAX synchronization rate.
• Recording Log In -- Hints on how to record web applications that require a login.
• My Windows Change Size -- Explanations about how "themes" affect regression testing.

Please Contact Us for additional information about any of these topics.

Recent and Upcoming Conferences & Technical Community Events

Here are links to some technical meetings that could be of interest to WQN readers:

• 5th International Workshop on Mutation Analysis, 6 April 2010, Paris, France, EU.

• 5th International Workshop on Automation of Software Test, 3-4 May 2010, Cape Town, South Africa.
• 1st Workshop on Web 2.0 for Software Engineering (at ICSE 2010), (Twitter Site) 4 May 2010, Cape Town, South Africa.

• 6th TAROT Summer School on Software Testing (TAROT 2010), 21-25 June 2010, Castel Laubegg, Graz, Austria, EU.
• 1st ECOOP Workshop on Testing Object-Oriented Systems, 21-22 June 2010, Maribor, Slovenia.

These events all deserve careful consideration, so please take a look at them!

Selected User Forum Posts

Recent Forum posts that'll surely be of interest to eValid users include:

• Synchronization Rate
• JavaScript
• Scaling in Load Tests...
• Monitoring Mode Capacity
• Criteria for LoadTest Safe

Please Contact Us for additional information about any of these topics.