Rational Robot

# Start Robot on the proxy computer.

# In the Proxy Administration dialog box, match up the proxy computer and port with each server to be used in the test.

# In the Method:Proxy Method:Proxy Method:Proxy Method:Proxy tab of the Session Record Options dialog box, match up each client with the server it will send requests to. Be sure to specify the actual server and not the proxy computer.

# Configure each client to send requests to the proxy computer, not to the server. For example, if the client will be sending requests to an Oracle database, use the Oracle client configuration software to specify the proxy computer’s address and port number, not the server’s.

# On each client computer, a tester should start the client application and navigate to the point where recording will begin.

# On the proxy computer, enable recording (File File File File > Record Session Record Session Record Session Record Session).

# With recording enabled, each tester at each client computer performs the transactions to record.

# When all transactions are complete, stop recording on the proxy computer.

1. In Robot, click the Record Session button. Alternatively, click File > Record Session, or press CTRL+SHIFT+R.

2. Ty p e t h e session name (40 characters maximum), or accept the default name. You will specify the script name when you finish recording the script. If you have not yet set your session recording options, do so now by clicking Options.

3. Click OK in the Record Session - Enter Session Name dialog box. The following events occur:

. Robot is minimized (default behavior).

. The Session Record floating toolbar appears (default behavior). You can use this toolbar to stop recording, redisplay Robot, split a script, and insert features into a script.

. The Session Recorder icon appears on the taskbar. The icon blinks as Robot captures requests and responses.

4. If the Start Application dialog box is displayed, provide the following information, and click OK:

. The path of the executable file for the browser or database application.

. Optionally, the working directory for any components (such as DLLs) that the client application needs at runtime.

. Optionally, any arguments that you want to pass to the client application. The Start Application dialog box appears only if you are performing API recording, or if you are performing network or proxy recording and selected Prompt for application name on start recording in the General tab of the Session Record Options dialog box.

5. Perform the transactions that you want to record. As the application sends requests to the server, notice the activity in the Session Recorder window. Progress bars and request statistics appear in the top of the window.

If there is no activity in the Session Recorder window (or if the Session Recorder icon never blinks), there is a problem with the recording. Stop recording and try to find the cause of the problem.

6. Optionally, insert features such as blocks and timers through the Session Insert floating toolbar or through the Robot Insert menu.

7. Optionally, when you finish recording transactions, close the client application. With API recording, when you close the client, Robot asks whether you want to stop recording. If so, click Yes, and either name the session or click to ignore the recorded information in the Generating Scripts dialog box.

8. Click the Stop Recording button on the Session Record floating toolbar.

# A block begins with the comment. In the VU language, a block begins like this:

/* Start_Block "BlockName" */

# Robot automatically starts a timer at the start of the block. In the VU language, the timer looks like this:

start_time ["BlockName"] _fs_ts;

Typically, the start_time emulation command is inserted after the first action, but with an argument to use a read-only variable that refers to the start of the first action.

# The ID of every emulation command in a block is constructed the same way that is, by the block name followed by a unique, three-digit autonumber. For example, in the VU language:

http_header_recv ["BlockName002"] 200;

When you end a block, command IDs are constructed as they were before you started the block. For example, if the last command ID before the block was Script025, the next command ID after the block will be Script026.

# A block ends with a stop_time command plus a comment. For example, in the VU language:

stop_time ["BlockName"]; /* Stop_Block */

1. If the Session Insert floating toolbar is not already displayed, click the Insert button on the Session Record floating toolbar.

2. Click the Start Block button at that point in the script where you want the block to begin for example, just before you start to record a transaction.

3. Type the block name. Robot uses this name as the prefix for all command IDs in the block. The maximum number of characters for a command ID prefix is seven.

4. Click OK.

5. Record all of the client requests in the block.

6. Click the Stop Block button to end the current block, and click OK.

7. Continue recording the other sections of the script. When you start and stop a block during recording, the commands are reported as annotations in the Annotations window.

If you are using network or proxy recording, and the computer that you want to use is not listed in the Method Network and Method Proxy tabs, you can add it to the list.

1. Click Tools > Session Record Options

2. Click the Method:Network tab or Method:Proxy tab, depending on whether you are adding a computer for network or proxy recording.

3. Click Manage Computers.

4. Click New.

5. In the Name box of the Computers group, type a name to associate with the network name of the computer that you are adding. You can assign any name up to 40 characters.

6. Type the computer’s network name.

7. Optionally, click Ping to make sure that the network name you just typed is correct. If it is correct, -Successful Ping of network name- appears in the status bar.

8. Select Client System to list this computer as a client. Select Server System to list this computer as a server. You can select both choices.

9. Click Add.

10. Take the following steps to use a port number with the network name. A port number is required for servers used in proxy recording:

a. In the Ports Ports Ports Ports group, type a name to associate with the port number that you are adding. You can assign any name up to 40 characters.

b. Type the port number to use with the computer’s network name.

c. Click Apply, then OK .

11. Click Close Close Close Close.

Use the error recovery options to specify how Robot handles script command failures and verification point failures.

1. Open the GUI Playback Options dialog box.

2. Click the Error Recovery tab.

3. To specify what Robot should do if it encounters a failure, click one of the following options under both On script command failure and On verification point failure:

Continue execution - Continues playback of the script.

Skip current script - Terminates playback of the current script. If the script with the failure was called from another script, playback resumes with the command following the CallScript command.

Abort playback - Terminates playback of the current script. If the script with the failure was called from another script, the calling script also terminates.

4. Click OK or change other options.

1. Prepare for playback by restoring the test environment.

2. Set your playback options. You can also set these options after you start playback.

3. Click the Playback Script button on the toolbar.

4. Type a name or select it from the list.

5. To change the playback options, click GUI Options. When finished, click OK.

6. Click OK to continue.

7. If the Specify Log Information dialog box appears, fill in the dialog box and click OK.

8. If a prompt appears asking if you want to overwrite the log, do one of the following:

.Click Yes to overwrite the log.

.Click No to return to the Specify Log Information dialog box. Change the build, log folder, and/or log information.

.Click Cancel to cancel the playback.

1. Open the GUI Playback Options dialog box.

2. Click the Log tab.

3. To output the playback results to the log so you can view them, select Output playback results to log.

4. To have the log appear automatically after playback is complete, select View log after playback. If you clear this, you can still view the log after playback by clicking Tools > Rational Test > TestManager, and then opening the log.

5. To have Robot prompt you before it overwrites a log, select Prompt before overwrite log.

6. Click one of the following: Specify log information at playback , displays the Specify Log Information dialog box so that you can specify the build, log folder, and log. Use default log information At playback, uses the same build and log folder that was used during the last playback. Uses the script name as the log name.

7. Click OK or change other options.

1.Problem: During recording, you create a personnel file for a new employee, using the employee’s unique social security number. Each time the script is played back, there is an attempt to create the same personnel file and supply the same social security number. The application rejects the duplicate requests.

Solution: Use a datapool to send different employee data, including unique social security numbers, to the server each time the script is played back.

2. Problem: You delete a record during recording. During playback, each instance and iteration of the script attempts to delete the same record, and Record Not Found errors result.

Solution: Use a datapool to reference a different record in the deletion request each time the script is played back.

3. Problem: The client application reads a database record while you record a script for a performance test. During playback, that same record is read hundreds of times. Because the client application is well designed, it puts the record in cache memory, making its retrieval deceptively fast in subsequent fetches. The response times that the performance test yields will be inaccurate.

Solution: Use a datapool to request a different record each time the script is played back.