The lifespan of the dataset defines how long the Virtual user will use values from the same row before fetching the next row of values. Note that if a testcase does not use any values from a dataset, no rows will ever be used.
Virtual User - No matter how many times the testcase is executed, only one row from the dataset will be used..
Testcase - A single row of values will be used for the duration of each testcase.
Web Page - Each web page that uses values from the dataset will use a different row.
URL - Each transaction (URL) that uses values from the dataset will use a different row.
Single Use - Every time a dataset value is used, a different row will be used.
If enabled, this setting will allow a Virtual User to start over at the beginning of the dataset when all the rows have been used. This could mean that a row is used more than once.
If enabled, this setting would allow multiple Virtual Users to simultaneously use the same row from a Dataset. If a dataset is not reusable, it cannot be sharable.
To edit an entry in a dataset, double-click the cell and start typing. Press <ESC> to cancel the changes and <RETURN> to move to the next cell.
To add new rows, edit the last cell and press <RETURN>. A new row will be created with sample data - continue filling in new rows by typing new entries and pressing the <RETURN> key. Press the <TAB> key to finish editing the last new entry.
There are two options for reloading a dataset from an external file: automatic and manual.
The Reload button will attempt to automatically re-import a dataset using the settings that were originally used to import the dataset the first time. If an error occurs, or the dataset was not originally imported, then the manual method must be used.
The manual reload button (...) beside the Reload button will open the dataset import dialog. If the dataset was originally imported from a file, those settings will be preset in the dialog. If not, the dialog will have the settings last used to import a dataset.
The Edit Fields... button will open the Edit Dataset Fields dialog, which is similar to the New Dataset dialog shown in the Datasets section.
This allows the creation or removal of fields in the dataset. A field may be effectively moved by deleting it and adding a new field at the end with the same name.
The Fill... button allows the selected field to be filled with randomly generated alpha or numeric data. Select the field to be filled by pressing the field name (column heading) in the table.
Note that the Quantity field will be automatically set to the total number of rows in the dataset and cannot be changed. The Width field defines how long each generated value will be. The Data Type chooses between alpha and numeric data. A preview of the data is available in the list at the right after pressing the Generate Values button. After generating values, pressing the OK button will save the values into the dataset.