Parameters can be passed to a web server by tacking them onto the URL of an HTTP request. This is commonly known as "URL rewriting". Web Performance TrainerTM enables you to either edit these values in place, or to replace the parameters at runtime so the virtual users have unique values. A typical URL containing parameters would be: http://192.168.1.103/servlet/URLTest?param1=value1&param2=value2 In this example, the names of the parameters are "param1" and "param2" and their values are "value1" and "value2". It isn't important to know the syntax since Web Performance Trainer will parse the name/value pairs for you. To edit an HTTP request containing URL rewriting, select the request from the URL table, and either use the menu Edit->Edit URL, or double click on the row containing the request. This will bring up the HTTP Request Editor. Since the parameters are passed as part of the GET header field, clicking on the GET header field (the one at the top) will bring up the URL editor: This is a real example recorded at http://www.yahoo.com. The two parameters that are being passed via URL rewriting are "y" and "rd". Double clicking on the row containing the parameter will bring up the Parameter Editor: You can edit the value by hand by simply typing in a new value into the Value: field. When you click OK that new value will be changed in the recorded HTTP request's URL. If you would like the value to be replaced during playback, check the "Replace at Runtime" box and select a vector of form data values from the pulldown menu. These values can be either imported from text files, or the values can be generated randomly. See Form Data Management for more details. The default behavior is for each virtual user to go through the series of values contained in the form data vector. For example, if the values in a particular series were 4, 5, and 6, each virtual user would use the values 4, 5, and 6. On the other hand, if Global Sequential Access is chosen, each virtual user will get a unique value from the series. For example, virtual user one would get a value of 4, virtual user two would use the value of 5, and virtual user three would receive a value of 6 for the same field.

Search