Friday, December 20, 2013

Selected Recent Forum Posts

Here is a selection of some of the posts that we think would be of general interest.

Friday, December 13, 2013

Selected Recent Forum Posts

Here is a selection of some of the posts that we think would be of general interest.

Friday, December 6, 2013

Selected Recent Forum Posts

Here is a selection of some of the posts that we think would be of general interest.

Friday, November 29, 2013

Selected Recent Forum Posts

Here is a selection of some of the posts that we think would be of general interest.

Friday, November 22, 2013

Selected Recent Forum Posts

Here is a selection of some of the posts that we think would be of general interest.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Selected Recent Forum Posts

Here is a selection of some of the posts that we think would be of general interest.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

eValid License Level Changes

To provide support for additional editions of eValid, we have made some changes to the required feature key for some commands. These changes become effective with and for all versions of eValid after build #9319 (24 October 2013). See the V9 Feature Key Definitions for a description of STAN, PROF and PAGEMAP functionality, the only license features afected..

If you are currently running eValid with a license pack that includes the PAGEMAP feature key you will not notice any changes in eValid behavior. If your eValid license pack does not include PAGEMAP there may be some impact; if you experience a problem please contact us for a no-cost upgrade.
The Feature Level Changes Summary explains the changes that have been made.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Selected Recent Forum Posts

Here is a selection of some of the posts that we think would be of general interest.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

eValid Patent Portfolio Summary

Several people have asked recently about the newly completed eValid patent portfolio and what it means. As of 21 October the portfolio consists of five issued and one allowed (but not yet issued) patents. While there are several other patent applications pending, these five + one cover the main eValid technologies. FYI, here are the five issued eValid Patents and their associated claims.

If you're working in the general area of automated testing of web browser enabled applications then you may want to consider arranging for use of these technologies in your own products or services. Here is a description of the eValid Technology & Opportunities that are based on eValid technology. For additional information please contact SR's CEO Edward Miller by email at miller@software-research.com.

Monday, October 14, 2013

Selected Recent Forum Posts

Here is a selection of some of the posts that we think would be of general interest.

Friday, September 13, 2013

Selected Recent Forum Posts

Here is a selection of some of the posts that we think would be of general interest.

Friday, September 6, 2013

Selected Recent Forum Posts

Here is a selection of some of the posts that we think would be of general interest.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Technology White Paper Available

We have recently updated our Business White Paper eValid Technology Summary: Automated Testing of Modern Web Applications. This paper outlines the origins, the internal architecture, and the general capabilities of eValid. It is now available for general use from our website.

This paper discusses the basics of testing AJAX and Web 2.0 applications, compares eValid with "traditional" testing tools, describes eValid's underlying technical base, and explains how that technology is applied to the work of testing complex web browser enabled applications.

A translation of a slightly earlier version of this white paper appeared in French as Le Test Automatise de Applications Web Modernes, published in Genie Logiciel: Le Magazine de L'Ingeniiere du Logiciel et Des Systems, Decembre 2011, ISSN 0295-6322.

Monday, August 26, 2013

Selected Recent Forum Posts

Here is a selection of some of the posts that we think would be of general interest.

Friday, August 16, 2013

Selected Recent Forum Posts

Here is a selection of some of the posts that we think would be of general interest. 

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Examples of Dynamic DOM Manipulation

As eValid users know, there is a unique capability available from within the eValid script language to manipulate the current contents of a page at the Document Object Model (DOM) level. This capability can often be important when adjusting test scripts to increase their resistance to failure due to non-critical changes in a page, or for performing complex validation steps.
To illustrate some of the kinds of things that can be done, we have put together these simple example scripts.
  • Dynamic Modifications
    In this example the goal is to change an element inside the DOM of a page locally, that is, with the HTML content that is currently in the browser. The technique used is to apply the ValueSet and ValuePutElement commands to a particular page element that affects, for illustration purposes, the background color of a table element. Just to be sure the script passage does this for two different colors. Here's the full explanation: Modify a DOM Element Dynamically.
  • Checking AJAX Operation
    A very common feature that is AJAX-supported is the autocomplete function. Users initial input keystrokes are feed to the server, which responds by adding HTML to the page that shows suggested possible endins for the string. In our example, we use a common search engine's autocomplete feature to illustrate how to verify that a particular partial string will always produce a specific suggestion. The verification is done with a MatchString command, which confirms that the target string is present in the newly-updated page HTML. Here's the full explanation: Checking AJAX Autocomplete Functionality.
  • In-Place Modifications
    The actual content of the current HTML can be adjusted, without getting fresh HTML from the server. To show this, the example script uses adds a ValueSet and ValuePutElement command to add a "NEW-WINDOW" requirement to an anchor tag. Then, just to make sure that the change has been made, the script clicks on the link, which dutifully replaces itself in a new window. Here's the full explanation: Change the Target of an Anchor Tag Link.

Monday, July 29, 2013

Selected Recent Forum Posts

Here is a selection of some of the posts that we think would be of general interest.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

eValid AJAX Patent Issued By USPTO

On 23 July 2013 the US Patent Office (USPTO) issued USPatent #8,495,585, the fifth patent in the eValid patent portfolio. This patent further beefs up the Intellectual Property (IP) surrounding the eValid product by addressing specific methods of analysis of AJAX applications as they interact with the DOM, and also deals in detail with synchronization of AJAX test playback processes.

In addition to the issued eValid Patents there are three other patents currently being considered by the USPTO that cover additional aspects of the eValid product and the technology used to implement it. An additional five patent applications are in the works.

If you're working in automated web testing you may wish to look into the Business Development (BizDev) Opportunities that are based on eValid technology and its associated IP.

Monday, July 22, 2013

Selected Recent Forum Posts

Here is a selection of some of the posts that we think would be of general interest.

Monday, July 15, 2013

Selected Recent Forum Posts

Here is a selection of some of the posts that we think would be of general interest.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

CyberSecurity Resources

A question we are getting recently is: How can eValid be used to support cybersecurity work? In other words, given the very specialized needs of searching for and pinpointing cybersecurity vulnerabilities, what resources can eValid bring to the table?

For one thing, cybersecurity is a big area, involving a wide range of techniques -- static analysis, dynamic analysis, inspection, and a variety of other options. Because eValid's view is 100% client-side, its technology is only able to provide insight on how things operate from the browser, that is, at the client-side.

But that is in some ways one of the most potentially fruitful areas for which cyber vulnerability analysis can be performed.

As OWASP's section on Testing for AJAX Vulnerabilities points out, the use of AJAX "... the advent of AJAX accounts for an "...Increased Attack Surface..." because AJAX "...throws in additional ways to potentially inject malicious content." In other words, AJAX is an untapped issue in the security world.
eValid can easily handle AJAX applications, and resources inside eValid can then be used to extract the information needed to expose problems due specifically to AJAX application's asynchronous, client-server cooperative nature. So eValid seems to be a good fit for this kind of work, in an area in which it is already strong. The capabilities eValid can supply to a cyberthreat analysis effort are summarized in this CyberSecurity Resource Summary.

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Selected Recent Forum Posts

Here is a selection of some of the posts that we think would be of general interest.

Monday, June 10, 2013

How to get a good playback on an AJAX site?

Question:
Do you have any special recommendations for me on how to get a good playback on an AJAX site?

Answer:
Fair question, but also a very broad question.

Web applications that employ AJAX can range from very simple (for example, a simple autocomplete activity), to the very, very complex (for example, the recently introduced http://www.outlook.com email system from Microsoft which they are pitching as better that Gmail).

At a very high level we have found this method of using eValid to test and measure AJAX applications to be the most effective:

(1) Make a recording from life first. "From life" means, using the out-of-the-box settings, make a recording from the starting URL to the point where you are going to be validating a result. The Wait times that eValid puts into your script will, at playback time, provide a crude level of synchronization.

(2) Play the recording back...it ought to work the first time assuming you have not edited the script and are not multiplying the Wait times by the Wait Time Multiplier to make things "go faster."

(3) Now, play back the script increasing the speed -- and increasing the changes for a script de-sync due to AJAX. When the script de-sync's, mark that spot in the playback, go back to that point, and record some kind of synchronization step. Repeat this until you can run your script with the Wait Time Multiplier = 0 -- that is, with NO wait times, but only synchronizations.

To a first level, this will get you a good script. Of course it can become more complex if you want to do structural testing on the page or if you want to replace some parts of your script with fancy DOM manipulations.

_________________
eValid Support

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

New eValid Videos Available


We've posted a number of new YouTube videos that relate key information about the eValid solution. The major subjects include:
Here is a complete YouTube Video Playbill for you to try out.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Selected Recent Forum Posts

Here is a selection of some of the posts that we think would be of general interest.

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Selected Recent Forum Posts

Here is a selection of some of the posts that we think would be of general interest.

Monday, April 29, 2013

Load Testing Mobile Web Applications


With all of the recent interest in mobile devices – including all kinds of smartphones and hand-held tablets – we decided to provide readers with a short description of eValid's capabilities in "mobile device testing".
  • Technology
    The basis for the eValid approach is to simulate ANY mobile device in a realistic way. Test runs done by eValid, when it is imitating or simulating a particular mobile device, appear to the supporting web application server as if the actual device is being used. Server response times to the device being exercised in a test session – mainly intra-browser timings – are very accurate (1 millisecond resolution). The big advantage is that you can test multiple devices from a single solution platform. This makes comparing different devices' performance very easy. All you do is change the simulation specification and re-run your functional test.
  • A Typical Mobile-Device Loading Experiment
    As a use-case example, we did an experiment simulating an iPhone navigating to a popular website that delivers transportation system departure times, based on the requester's location, and retrieved from a database that tracks all of the available vehicles.
    1. Using a short self-synchronizing test script that asked a very simple and standard question from the database: "When is the next vehicle departure?" The script recorded a single data point: the time the database takes to retrieve the data to the user. For this application this is a Key Performance Indicator (KPI).
    2. We ramped the load from 1 Browser-User (BU) to 1,000 BUs by adding BUs at 1-second intervals. It took about 16 minutes to reach the 1,000 level. Once there, we held the imposed load at 1,000 BUs, all repeating the same test script as rapidly as possible for another 15 minutes.
    3. We used an Amazon cloud-based "Quadruple Extra Large" machine as the test driver. During the experiment the driver machine had only about 15% CPU usage and < 5% network usage at the full 1,000 BUs level. Overall, we collected data from over 5,900 KPI timings during the entire run.
    4. Here's the chart that shows the KPI vs. imposed load: 1,000 BUs Chart You can see from the chart that response time is constant up to about 200 users and then grows linearly with the increasing load.
  • Detailed Example Explanation
    Here is the detailed Experiment Description that describes all of the above in complete detail, and also includes the actual eValid test script used.
  • Webinar YouTube Movie: "Load Testing Mobile Web Apps"
    Here is the webinar movie associated with this experiment: Mobile Testing Web Apps [Webinar, 39:07].
You may also want to see the earlier eValid Blog item that deals with related aspects of testing of mobile web applications: Testing Mobile Device Web Applications.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Selected Recent Forum Posts

Here is a selection of some of the posts that we think would be of general interest.

Friday, April 12, 2013

SalesForce Example Runs At Full Speed


We have heard from several users and potential users asking whether the SalesForce example script we used in our SalesForce Example 1 writeup could be played back faster? And if so, how much faster?

The recording from life that you see played back in the YouTube movie is running in "real time" -- every delay made during the recording is faithfully reproduced. The total script playback time is 310.1 seconds; the duty cycle of that playback is 20%, meaning that 80% of that time is spent waiting (expending "think time").

Can it be run faster? The answer is yes!

By adjusting the Playback Wait Time Multiplier to 0 the playback runs at a 95% duty cycle, with a total playback time of 59.8 seconds. There's no unnecessary waiting at all by the playback engine; all of the waiting time is for the SalesForce application and website to respond.

Here is the Original YouTube Movie and here is the adjusted Full Speed YouTube Movie. Viewer warning: the full speed movie goes by very fast, but rest assured that every test step is there. For a play by play sequence of screenshots you can review the complete Screen Image sequence, which is the same for either version.

Standard Speed Playback
  Full Speed Playback

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

SalesForce Example Illustrates eValid Operation

The www.SalesForce.com application, which represents one of the earliest "software as a service" offerings, is well known for its very sophisticated use of JavaScript. Because of its internal complexity, and also in part because the application is under constant modification and update, successful functional testing of the SalesForce application has always been challenging.

Test Script Creation and Playback
The test plan for this example is to log into the account, create a new unique user, add some data to that user's record, confirm that the new user data is present, and then log off. The completed Example 1 Test Script recording was made "from life" using the AJAX Recording Protocol. Here is the Complete Example 1 Explanation.

Playback
Here is the sequence of Screen Images taken after each step in the test plan. You can watch a movie of this eValid test scrip playing back (click to view):

Monday, April 8, 2013

Selected Recent Forum Posts

Here is a selection of some of the posts that we think would be of general interest.

Monday, April 1, 2013

Selected Recent Forum Posts

Here is a selection of some of the posts that we think would be of general interest.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Selected Recent Forum Posts

Here is a selection of some of the posts that we think would be of general interest.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Selected Recent Forum Posts

Here is a selection of some of the posts that we think would be of general interest.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Additional eValid Patent Issued


In another step aimed at beefing up the Intellectual Property surrounding the eValid product, we are pleased to announce that an additional patent has been approved by the USPTO. Here is the complete USPatent #8,392,890 that issued on 5 March 2013. The areas covered by this patent include such key eValid features as the use of DOM-based synchronization of AJAX test playbacks, and the manipulation of pages in test mode using structural test methods.

This patent joins three other previously issued patents. There are several other patents under consideration by the USPTO that cover additional aspects of the eValid product and the technology used to implement it.

If you're working in this technology area you may want to take a look at the Business Development (BizDev) Opportunities that are based on eValid technology.

Overall these patents support eValid with fundamental and foundational technology for testing web applications through programmatic control of the DOM of a browser for analytic purposes.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

New eValid Version Supports Windows 8 and IE 10

We're pleased to let you know that the latest eValid version has been proved out on Windows 8 with IE10. The range of operating systems now includes Windows 2000/2008, XP, Vista, and Windows 7 in addition to Windows 8. eValid is operational with all IE versions including IE 8, IE 9, and now IE 10.

By way of some stats, our internal test suite of ~350 tests runs in 4-6 hours on each of the platforms. Only when every test shows no FAILs does eValid advance from mechnical testing to the final-release stage.

Friday, March 1, 2013

Selected Recent Forum Posts

Here is a selection of some of the posts that we think would be of general interest.

Friday, February 22, 2013

Selected Recent Forum Posts

Here is a selection of some of the posts that we think would be of general interest.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Selected Recent Forum Posts

Here is a selection of some of the posts that we think would be of general interest.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Selected Recent Forum Posts

Here is a selection of some of the posts that we think would be of general interest.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

New eValid Usage Agreement with CRIM

Beginning in January 2013 the team of software testers at the CRIM Testing and Interoperability Centre, a part of the Canadian Computer Research Institute of Montreal (CRIM) will have easy and direct access to eValid technology for their projects. CRIM members include over 160 organizations of various types, ranging from academic institutions to large-scale industrial enterprises.

Under the supervision of Mr. Raymond Rivest, Senior Test Specialist, all 140+ members of CRIM will have the right to obtain no-cost, short-term "proof of concept" licenses. Given a successful proof of concept project result, all CRIM members can lease eValid on a Commercial License basis for their project(s) on very favorable discounted short-term and long-term licensing terms.

For information about eValid usage within CRIM and taking advantage of the special terms and conditions of this strategic alliance you can contact Mr. Rivest directly at raymond.rivest@crim.ca.

Monday, January 14, 2013

EULA and SLA Information

From time to time we do need to re-advise people about the eValid End User License Agreement (EULA). This license applies to all eValid installations, worlwide. You've agreed to this license when you "click-through" in the eValid product installation step.

As we continue to upgrade our infrastructure and make changes to servers for eValid and its various support systems, a question often arises about our Service Level Agreement (SLA). For some of our "public facing" website support, and for some of our Commercial Licenses, we rely in part on machine resources provided to us by Verio (An NTT Communications Company) which are supported to the 99.9% level via Verio's own UNIX Hosting Accounts SLA.

Friday, January 11, 2013

Examples of Structural Testing

We recently have had a number of customers trying out the "structural testing" aspect of eValid. In structural tests the test script uses information that is derived from the PageMap utility to allow "navigation" within a page based on its HTML structure. Scripts built this way are very durable because they don't depend the current contents of a page.

Here are some examples of Testing with DOM Interactions that show fifteen different types of structural test actions that rely on the DOM manipulating, structural test commands in eValid.