Obtaining the Latest Release Notes
Contacting Compuware Customer Support
If you accessed this document from the product CD or from the program shortcuts on your desktop, you may not be reading the latest release notes. For the most recent information, go to FrontLine, Compuware's customer support Web site. The first time you access FrontLine, you are required to register and obtain a password. After logging onto FrontLine, select your product from the drop-down list and click Go. On the left side of the page, click the Documentation link. You will find the latest release notes listed with the other product documentation.
QALoad has the following minimum system requirements:
(*See the Technical Notes section for more information about using IE 7.0.)
The system requirements for each individual QALoad component follow:
Microsoft
Visual C++ 6.0 Service Pack 3 or higher, Visual Studio .NET 2002 (7.0),
Visual Studio .NET 2003 (7.1), or Visual Studio .NET 2005 (8.0) for script
compilation and script validation.
Note: See the Technical Notes section
for more information about compiler compatibility.
cdo.dll must be installed on the
machine to use the send utility. CDO is an optional messaging component
of Microsoft Outlook. When you view the options for Office or Outlook
setup, CDO is listed under the options for Outlook. TCP/IP
communications
Note: The Server Analysis Agent must be installed on the same Workstation/Server
as the QALoad Player. It shares the same system requirements as
the Player workstation. The Server Analysis Agent is supported on Windows
platforms only.
The QALoad Player and associated utilities are supported on AIX, Linux, and Solaris. Compilers that are 32-bit compatible are required. The system requirements for each operating system follow:
AIX 5L Version 5.2 or 5.3
100 MB minimum available disk space
ANSI C compiler for compiling scripts. Compuware requires IBM’s VisualAge C and C++ compilers, version 6.0 (patched to level 6.0.0.14). Compuware also supports GNU GCC compiler version 3.3.2.
Note: The VisualAge compilers must be patched to the level indicated by the “September 2005 VisualAge C++ Professional V6.0 for AIX PTF”. For more information, refer to the IBM website.
Java Runtime Environment 1.4 or 1.5 for playing back Java scripts
TCP/IP communications
Appropriate client application environment
Compuware requires the Linux system-provided GNU GCC version 3.2.3 compiler
Note: The system should be updated to the packages indicated in the Red Hat Advisory: RHBA-2005:661-11. Additional packages required to resolve dependencies also should be applied.
ANSI C compiler for compiling scripts. Compuware requires Sun Workshop compiler version 5.3 or Sun Forte 6.2. Compuware also supports GNU GCC compiler version 3.2.3.
In addition, your Windows system may need to meet specific requirements to support the middleware you will be testing. The Winsock and NetLoad middlewares do not have any additional QALoad Windows Player requirements.
QALoad supports load testing of Oracle Net8/Net9 environments when the following requirements are met:
QALoad supports load testing of ODBC environments when the following requirements are met:
QALoad supports load testing under Uniface when the following requirements are met:
QALoad supports load testing under Citrix when the following requirements are met:
QALoad supports load testing under SAP when the following requirements are met:
QALoad supports load testing under ADO when the following requirements are met:
QALoad supports load testing under Oracle Forms Server when the following requirements are met:
Note: For 1.3, Compuware recommends that you use the Java HotSpot Client VM.
QALoad supports load testing of J2EE components when the following requirements are met:
QALoad supports load testing of WWW environments when the following requirements are met:
QALoad supports Streaming Media under WWW when the following requirements are met:
QALoad 05.05.01 supports integration with ApplicationVantage version 9.9.
Integration with ApplicationVantage is supported on the Windows platform only.
QALoad 05.05.01 supports integration with ServerVantage version 9.9 and 10.0.
QALoad 05.05.01 supports integration with ClientVantage version 9.9 and 10.0.
The following commands are being deprecated and will no longer be supported in QALoad Release 05.05.01 and later:
SAP Functions
Do_SAPCheckScreen
Do_SAPCheckStatus
Do_SAPCheckTitle
Do_SAPClearMessages
Do_SAPDumpEvent
Do_SAPExtractString
Do_SAPFrontEnd
Do_SAPFullMenu
Do_SAPGetControlValue
Do_SAPGetIt_Event
Do_SAPGetScreenTitle
Do_SAPGetStatusMsg
Do_SAPInit
Do_SAPLogging
Do_SAPLogin
Do_SAPLogoff
Do_SAPSendDblClick
Do_SAPSendEvent
Do_SAPSendMenu
Do_SAPSendOKCode
Do_SAPSendPFKey
Do_SAPSendReturn
Do_SAPSetCheckScreenWildcard
Do_SAPSetCtrlValue
Do_SAPSetCursor
Support for the SAP 4.6x client has been removed in release 05.05.01 and later. The Animating a Capture File feature has also been removed.
QALoad's Java middleware will no longer support JDK 1.3 in release 05.05.01 and later.
The following environments and middlewares will not be supported after QALoad release 05.05.01:
ADO
Oracle 2-tier
QARun
Multi-port player execution
Server Analysis Agent
Conversion of WWW scripts into C code (QALoad will only create Visual Navigator assets).
Solaris 7
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.x
You can now record and playback against applications deployed via the Citrix Web Interface. This starts Universal Sessions of both Citrix and WWW middlewares to handle the transition of information from the web browser to the Citrix client. Script and capture files are saved in the Program Files\Compuware\QALoad\Middlewares\Universal directory.
The Citrix middleware has been enhanced to support script synchronization based on full and partial bitmap comparisons between screens at capture versus runtime. You can now capture your whole screen or a defined portion of the screen at capture time via a button on the capture window.
During capture, images are saved to the \QALoad\Middlewares\Citrix\Captures\Screenshots folder. After capture, the images are saved within a folder that has the same name as your capture file in the Captures directory. For example, if you named your capture file "Test.cap", you can find your screenshots in the \QALoad\Middlewares\Citrix\Captures\Test folder.
You can now create scripts against a published application deployed via Citrix without requiring a formal ICA file.
QALoad now has the ability to clear items from the internal event list resulting in enhanced synchronization with the server.
Functionality has been added during recording in an SAP session, which outputs all controls in a window to an SAP capture file. In QALoad Workbench, there is a new SAP convert option called "Insert SAP control comments". The option called "View Control Log" gives you the opportunity to see the SAP capture control log file. During playback, user commands SAPGUIGetUniqueString, SAPGUIGetControlText, and SAPGUIContentCheck are implemented.
QALoad has been enhanced to allow you to control the level of JavaScript execution used for convert and replay. You can select from Full, Limited, or None, which result in writing the command DO_SetJavaScriptLevel (level) to the script.
While in a Universal session including WWW and OFS, you now have the ability to automatically build variable handling functionality specific to the use of ICX tickets and cookies without having to manually modify the script.
To use the new automatic handling of ICX ticket and cookies in OFS 11i environments, you must generate a new capture file in 5.5.1. This can be achieved by either putting the existing .proxycap file through Post Capture processing or re-recording the application.
QALoad's support of OFS now extends to users that access their server via an HTTP proxy.
Through QALoad's ability to perform Universal OFS and Web middleware replays, the recording and playback against Oracle 11i servers have been simplified.
Functionality has been added during convert and replay to identify OFS controls based on their creation. A new command, ofsWindowCreated has been implemented.
In Workbench, you can now create a zip file that contains the portion of the QALoad directory structure that contains the files necessary for a given script to be run by the Player.
A feature was added that allows you to modify the default behavior of CGI parameters when they appear underneath a ClickOnLink tree item.
The advanced convert options for QALoad's web middleware have been changed to replace "Memory Options" and "Minimize Memory Usage" with "Playback Options" and "Minimized Processing" (respectively). This results in a new script command being placed in your script - Set(EVERY_REQUEST, MINIMIZED_PROCESSOR_MODE, TRUE);.
If you have been using the previous mode, the script command Set(EVERY_REQUEST, MINIMIZED_MEMORY_MODE, TRUE); will still continue to function, but this command will be deprecated in a future release of QALoad and you should switch to the new option. Please refer to the online help for more details on this change and its impact to the web middleware.
Random number seeds are used to inject random delays in script execution for each load test. The seed (or value) is automatically generated by QALoad. The previous GUI controls for random seed generation in the Conductor Options for Player have been removed.
When using Server Monitoring, the Choose Counters wizard page now provides a convenient way to select multiple counters and move the selections between the AVAILABLE ITEMS list and the SELECTED ITEMS list. This wizard page now enables you to take advantage of the Windows control key shortcuts for selecting multiple items – SHIFT-click or CTRL-click. The previous item selection and de-selection methods are still available.
You can now decide the degree of precision for response times and metrics that are displayed in a report. The number of decimal places for the timing data range from 0 to 9.
You can add descriptive and explanatory text to graphs using the 'Text Box' or the 'Balloon with Text' features available on the Graph Annotate toolbar. When you use this feature, text bubbles are added to graphs as part of a template that is used when the template is applied to future timing files.
The color assigned to represent various metrics within the default graphs now represents the same metrics from graph to graph to provide consistency for Analyze users.
You now have the ability to generate Scatter Plot, Radar, Candle Stick, open high-low, and high-low close graphs in Analyze.
The ability to use QALoad to execute ClientVantage scripts to monitor the end user experience has been simplified with the provision of the QALoad Player API. This enables ClientVantage users to execute scripts on a Player without a Conductor. ClientVantage users can create an instance of a Player thread within its process space and direct it through the execution of a script using multiple virtual users.
When you install QALoad on a Windows XP machine with Service Pack 2 applied, the Windows Firewall is automatically configured to include the QALoad Player agent as an allowed exception. This configuration is required for communication between the Conductor and Player machines during a load test.
If you are migrating from a previous version of QALoad, you must re-compile your existing scripts in the Script Development Workbench to use them in this release.
When load testing WWW scripts that use NTLM authorization, do not use the "Switch User" feature of Windows XP. Using this feature allows multiple user sessions to be active simultaneously, which can cause problems with script playback. If you need to use a different Windows profile, log off Windows and log on as a different user.
certdb.txt for OFS recordingFor the SSL support provided in this release, QALoad modifies
the client machine's JInitiator certdb.txt file to include
QALoad's CA certificate during the initial SSL recording process
for an Oracle Forms Server application. This certificate authority information
is internally validated by Oracle during the OFS-SSL session. If you want
to remove the QALoad CA certificate, delete the following text
from the certdb.txt file:
#qaload
-----BEGIN
CERTIFICATE-----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-----END
CERTIFICATE-----
#qaload
To use the SAP or Citrix middlewares, you must ensure that the VC++ MFC and Template Libraries option is selected when you install Visual C++. This option installs the headers, libraries, sources, and browser database for MFC and ATL, which are required for both the SAP and Citrix middlewares.
To prevent performance issues, Compuware recommends that you increase your system paging file size to a fixed size of:
QALoad now supports Internet Explorer 7.0. Compuware recommends that you turn off the IE 7 Anti-Phishing Filter to avoid inaccurate test results.
If you are using IE 7 to capture a secure site, you may be prompted with a browser window that indicates there is a problem with the website's security certificate. To prevent the security alerts from appearing in the future and make QALoad a trusted source, follow the steps below to import a QALoad Certificate Authority into IE:
IE 7 introduced methods for gathering additional information for ActiveX controls which are missing details and lack fully defined codepaths. IE now queries Microsoft's own ActiveX repository to look for additional detail as well as other sites based on information gathered from the control.
You should decide if these additional requests are desirable for your testing scenario in QALoad and create traffic filters to reflect your preferences. You may find your test results are more consistent if you add http://active.microsoft.com/ to the Blocked Traffic filter.
QALoad JavaScript support requires that all form elements (for example, buttons and text fields) must be inside of HTML forms in order to execute associated JavaScript. JavaScript that depends on time or date information may require the user to parameterize the script. QALoad's windowless replay does not support certain specific JavaScript functions listed below.
setTimeout
clearInterval
clearTimeout
setInterval
showHelp
showModalDialog
showModelessDialog
As of 5.5.1, modified Citrix scripts should not have waitpoints placed directly after BEGIN_TRANSACTION markers. For best use of system resources, Compuware recommends that you place DO_SetTransactionCleanup before the END_TRANSACTION marker.
This section describes known issues related to the current release of QALoad.
A known issue exists with the Microsoft Operating System that may cause new programs to appear behind other already open programs. When you start a program from another program, the new program window may appear behind all other open windows. Additionally, the new-window icon flashes on the taskbar. This symptom occurs on a Microsoft Windows 2000-based computer or on a Microsoft Windows XP-based computer. Microsoft has documented a procedure that details how users can modify the value of the ForegroundLockTimeout registry entry in Registry Editor to correct the issue. For specific instructions and more information on this issue, please refer to the following article located at the Microsoft Help and Support website for details: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;886217
If you are running McAfee's VirusScan 8.0 with the "Buffer Overflow Protection" option enabled, Internet Explorer may fail to launch when you start a Winsock recording or when you record OFS socket mode. To prevent this issue, disable the "Buffer Overflow Protection" feature within McAfee VirusScan.
If you are running your application on Windows XP SP2, Compuware recommends you turn off the 'pop-up blocker' feature before recording a transaction. The feature can be disabled using the browser window's Tools menu in Internet Options>Privacy.
MS XML version 4.0 parser is required to view pre-defined or custom reports (relying on XML translations). Internet Explorer 5.5 ships with the MS XML version 3.0 parser. Compuware provides the MS XML 4.0 parser with this version of QALoad so that an upgrade to IE 6.0 is not required. It is automatically installed by QALoad but does not override any other version that may exist on the machine. QALoad Analyze looks for and loads this parser when using pre-defined or custom reports.
The Send utility in Analyze does not always work properly with Outlook 2003. If you experience problems when clicking the Send button in the email that is generated by the utility, you can use the utility to create a .zip file of the results and manually attach that file to an email you create directly in Outlook.
Timing file names containing multi-byte characters do not display the file name correctly in Analyze tabs. The multi-byte characters are removed from the name and, if containing all multi-byte characters, the tab reads “TimingFile.tim”. Annotation Objects for Graphs do not support MBCS either, so some characters may be displayed incorrectly in annotation object text for languages utilizing MBCS.
If you are using the QALoad Conductor on a machine that has Microsoft Office 2000 or XP installed, when launching Conductor, you may be prompted repeatedly to insert a Microsoft Office installation CD. This problem is a known issue with Microsoft Office. It occurs during use with an account that is different from the account used during the Office installation when none of the Office components were launched since installation. To avoid receiving the prompts, launch any Microsoft Office component under the user account that was used during installation, and close it. For more information about this Microsoft Office issue, refer to the Microsoft knowledge base article Q298385.
QALoad supports load testing of Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Web applications that use Double Byte Character Sets (DBCS). Viewing timing files and Summary reports with International versions of Microsoft Windows is only possible if the timing file is viewed on the same Windows language platform on which the timing file was created.
When using the Server Analysis Agent to monitor the "Process->% Processor Time" counter on a multi-processor machine, values greater than 100% for any instance of the counter are reported as 100%. To ensure accurate results, Compuware recommends that you use Remote Monitoring or Top Processes Monitoring when monitoring any instance of the "Process->% Processor Time" counter.
A file descriptor limit exists on the Solaris platform if a script is running in threaded mode, logfile generation is turned on, and there are more than 250 virtual users. To avoid this limitation, modify the Logfile Generation parameters so that logfiles are not generated by all virtual users:
QALoad now supports the use of non-Administrator users on the Windows 2000 and Windows XP Professional Edition platforms. Administrative rights are still required to install the software and appropriate user privileges are required for QALoad to write files to its own directory (which by default is in the Program Files directory). Administrative rights are also required when using middlewares that require the Capture Initialization Phase option. This requirement applies to middlewares other than WWW.
If you have uninstalled all previous versions of QALoad but the installation process indicates that a previous version of the product is still installed, you may need to remove a registry key. In the Windows Registry Editor, delete the following registry key if it exists on your system:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{90C9114B-ED44-4AB9-B32F-1B9EA363FBEF}
The Visual Navigator's Find/Replace functionality may not find and replace XML tree items.
The Checkpoint view may be blank when applying an existing saved template.
For Performance Monitoring of Application Servers for WebSphere, WebLogic, SAP, WMI, and WebSphere MQ, you must install the ServerVantage agent that is packaged with the QALoad software. The agent should be installed on a non-production machine that does not currently have a ServerVantage agent installed.
Subrequests in Old-Style WWW Scripts Invalid characters in the Conductor Runtime Graphs on Japanese Operating System If you are running a Japanese Operating System, you may see invalid characters in the file names in the drop-down list on the Series tab of the Conductor Runtime Graph. There is no known resolution at this time. The improper interpretation of the characters involves a third-party tool that the software uses to display this information. Check FrontLine for future updates to resolve this issue.
There are limitations to the size of a Central Datapool that the QALoad Conductor can handle when starting a test. When attempting to use a Central Datapool file that is approximately 20MB or greater, the QALoad Conductor may fail to start. To avoid this problem, create a smaller Central Datapool file, or use a local Datapool for the test instead.
HTTP scripts fail to compile on AIX systems using GCC as the compiler after the QALoad SSL module is installed. You must manually install a different library for your scripts to compile properly.
When installing the SSL module, EasyScript for Secure WWW, on AIX using the package installation method, you must perform the following steps after the installation is complete:
Login to the AIX system as 'root'.
cd to /opt/QALoad/lib
Enter the following commands:
mv libqlHTTP.a orig.libqlHTTP.a
ln -s ./libqlHTTP128.a libqlHTTP.a
mv libg++qlHTTP.a orig.libg++qlHTTP.a
ln -s ./libg++qlHTTP128.a libg++qlHTTP.a
In Windows XP SP2 and Windows 2003 Server environments, if you experience problems with your applications crashing while capturing, perform the following steps:
Right-click on My Computer and select Properties.
Click the Advanced tab and select Settings in the Performance field.
Click the Data Execution Prevention tab. By default, it is set to guard system processes. To stop your application from crashing, click the second radio button Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select:
Add the link to your program's executable file (.exe) to the list of programs that are allowed.
Restart your machine.
Compuware Customer Support can assist you with all issues, from installation to troubleshooting.
Prior to contacting customer support, gather the following information:
800.538.7822
Refer to Compuware's FrontLine support web site for fast access to critical information about your product. You can read and print documentation, download product fixes, review frequently asked questions, or directly e-mail Compuware with questions or comments. The first time you access FrontLine, you are required to register and obtain a password.
Refer to Compuware's corporate web site at http://www.compuware.com/ for information about Compuware customer support policies and problem resolution process.
Customer Support
Compuware Corporation
One Campus Martius
Detroit, MI 48226-5099
End of QALoad Release Notes
(C) 2007 Compuware Corporation. All rights reserved. Unpublished rights
reserved under the Copyright Laws of the United States.