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From James Pulley:
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I have never really cared for the use of the lr_user_data_point() and
having to pull up the user defined graphs for analysis. Instead I take
advantage of some undocumented functions

lr_set_transaction()
lr_get_transaction_duration()

I use these functions in tandem to determine if I need to create a custom tracking transaction where a transaction has run too long and is out of spec.

I can then compare raw numbers at the end of the test, a ratio of <transaction name>_out_of_spe Read Entire Entry

On my latest engagement, I needed a web script to go with all of the Citrix scripts I am creating. The web script was giving me some issues with correlation and NT authentication, so I decided to give Web Click and Script a try. I didn’t have much expectation since neither I nor my colleagues have been able to get it to work in the past, but I thought that it would be worth a try in 9.5. Imagine my surprise when it actually worked! This could partly be because the javascript is minimal. That seems to be where C&S hangs.

There i Read Entire Entry

Let’s say you are testing a web application and the service level agreement of response times for each web page is 1.5 seconds or below. You might want to automatically fail any transaction that comes back in a longer amount of time. You will need to measure the number of milliseconds in the transaction, and see exceeds this amount. You might need to set something like this up for any transaction where timing for milliseconds is crucial. Just because the business process passes, does not mean the transaction should pass, especially Read Entire Entry

Note: This article was originally posted on Loadtester.com, and has been migrated to the Northway web site to maintain the content online.
Loadtester is focused on implementing solutions around HP Software, and specifically the BTO product line acquired by HP in their Mercury Interactive purchase a couple of years ago. I thought it was time to take out my HP barometer and analyze what I have been seeing out in the field each day. What are the biggest obstacles HP Software faces at this point? Where do they stand with their partne Read Entire Entry

I saw this on the LinkedIn.com discussion boards today. Someone was asking about troubleshooting Vugen 9.1 and 9.5 crashing when performing operations. Michael Weinstock of COLES IT in Melbourne, Australia responded:

If this is the same issue (and I suspect that is highly probable):

The root cause of this problem was identified as VUGEN referencing an incorrect version of ss32x25.ocx.

Our issue was addressed by a manual reregistration of this file as follows:
regsvr32 “c:\\windowssystem32ss32x25.ocx”
Do a search on affec Read Entire Entry

When writing Citrix scripts, I depend on ICA files almost exclusively as my means of connecting to the published application. In past versions of Citrix, ICA files were very easy for Citrix admins to create. When Presentation server 4.0 came out, they removed the ability to create these files easily. While searching for an way to do this myself, I ran across an application that I am going to consider essential for any of my future Citrix engagements. It is called Smart Citrix ICA Client. It allows you to select all of your connection Read Entire Entry

Let’s say you want to capture the http response of a page, but it redirects you (code 302). The normal way you might capture the HTTP status code is capturing it in a variable:
HttpRetCode = web_get_int_property(HTTP_INFO_RETURN_CODE);
This would be put after the page request in the script. However, this will only capture the LAST status code received. If there is a redirection in between, it will not be captured. So how do you get the first one? Capture the response header using a correlation. Use the web_reg_save_param function Read Entire Entry

Note: This article was originally posted on Loadtester.com, and has been migrated to the Northway web site to maintain the content online.

HELLO…  HELLO AGAIN
It’s time again for another version update of your favorite load testing product, LoadRunner. The latest release as of this writing is 9.5, and we (Loadtester Inc.) have been waiting for this version anxiously for a couple of reasons. I wanted to go through a few of the new features in this latest version.
LoadRunner now fully supports Windows Vista (SP1) for bot Read Entire Entry

I came across this article today about adding HEAP counters in Perfmon by turning on a registry key:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=290639

The heap performance-monitoring counter is a new feature in Microsoft Windows XP. This feature is included in Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008. Performance Logs and Alerts (Perfmon.exe) can display about 20 heap-related counters. These counters are not enabled by default; you must enable them.
See the article for a complete listing of the counters it ad Read Entire Entry

I had a strange issue on my machine today. I opened up Perfmon and there were no counters available to add for my localhost machine, or my machine by name. After some research on the topic I found this web site:

http://www.technologyquestions.com/technology/windows-xp/150094-advanced-no-performance-counters-listed.html

In short, I was missing two files called perfc009.dat and perfh009.dat. I had to restore the two files from the XP install CD and place them into my %Systemroot%\System32\ directory. I launched Perfmon and everythi Read Entire Entry