Eggplant Performance 7 Release Notes

Features and Improvements 7.3.0 (Nov 2017)

• Automatic data correlation
  • New capability to automatically suggest values in a web recording that need to be correlated.
  • Suggestions are made by either analyzing a recording, or by comparing a recording with a replay of a script.
  • Data correlation rules are suggested for chosen values.
• Redesigned web log viewer
  • New Comparison mode allows you to compare a replay with the original recording. Differences are automatically highlighted.
  • HTTP requests/responses are automatically formatted, depending on the Content-Type.
  • Raw text view displays exactly what was sent to/received from the server.
  • Hex view displays the exact bytes sent/received.
  • Searching in a web log has been greatly improved.
• Improvements to Data Correlation rules
  • Adds the ability to use XPath expressions in correlation rules
    • Data correlation rules can now use an XPath expression to identify the value to be extracted from an HTML/XML response.
    • New method added to the Response class: C#: Response.ExtractXPath, Java: Response.extractXPath.
  • Adds the ability to search from the end of the response in correlation rules
    • When specifying the values to search for, it is now possible to start the search from either the end or the beginning of the response.
    • New method added to the Response class: C#: Response.ExtractFromEnd, Java: Response.extractFromEnd.
  • Code snippets can be inserted to handle common scenarios, such as writing extracted values to the event log.
• New Replace Date/Time generation rule
  • You can create generation rules that can automatically replace dates/times sent to the server during a recording with a different date/time when running the script.
  • You can specify the format of the dates/times to be replaced.
  • The replacement value can be the current date/time or a literal string, or a value from a data source, or the result of calling a function.
  • New method added: C#: FormatDateTime, Java: formatDateTime.
• Improvements to Background Script generation rule
  • Any requests that match a background script rule now cause code to be generated in the background script, rather than just omitting them from the main script.
• Fine-grain control over the form-matching algorithm
  • Control how forms in an HTML response are matched with subsequent HTTP requests during the script generation process.
• Generate data files from a web recording
  • Generate data tables and dictionaries from a recording.
  • Values identified as potential user input are automatically suggested, as are hosts, ports, and protocols.
• Improved handling of JSON in web scripts
  • New method added: C#: Response.ContentAsJson, Java: Response.getContentAsJson.
• Support for Eggplant Functional helper suites
  • Any helper suites that are used by the main suite are automatically transferred to the injector machines.
• Record using browser incognito mode
  • This removes the need to empty your browser cache prior to starting a web recording.
• Many more bug fixes and improvements.

Eggplant Performance Analyzer

• New Failed Transactions category
  • New category allows charts/tables to be created that only show transactions that did not complete successfully.
  • Two new charts are included in the default analysis templates:
    • Transaction Failure Rate.
    • Failed Transaction Count.
• Removed stratified sampling option.

Features and Improvements 7.2.0 (May 2017)

• New Objectives feature for creating tests
  • An Objective guides you through the process of setting up a performance test for your application in a step by step manner, explaining each step in the process.
  • Objectives are designed to help create tests quickly for those users who are new to performance testing. They contain steps for creating recordings, scripts, KPIs, workmixes, workflows, application under test definitions, data files, and injectors.
  • Objectives can be created for testing websites, web services, Citrix servers, or any other system.
• Applications Under Test (AUT)
  • You can define the applications you want to test in Eggplant Performance.
  • An AUT can be a website, web service, Citrix server, or other application.
  • For each AUT, you can specify details about the application such as URL, WSDL, or host and port.
  • You can also specify the expected load on the AUT, in terms of expected numbers of users, expected transaction rate, and expected HTTP request rate.
  • For a website, you can also specify scripting options, such as whether you want to create network or UI-level scripts, and which programming language to use.
• Workmixes
  • A workmix defines a set of workflows and the relative proportion of each within a test. For example, if a workflow is 20% of a workmix, then it consists of 20 virtual users in a 100 virtual user test. By using workmixes, you can swiftly create tests consisting of multiple workflows.
• KPIs
  • Definition of key performance indicators has been moved from Analyzer to Studio.
  • You can create KPI collections within Studio and assign them to a test definition.
  • All KPIs assigned to a test are automatically collected and reported on in Analyzer.
• Improved Citrix image matching
  • Adds image hotspots.
  • Metadata has been added to Citrix images, so that the hotspot location, required tolerance, and discrepancy are stored alongside the image and do not have to be set in scripts.
  • Citrix image viewer application lets you edit the metadata associated with an image.
  • Studio now displays the Citrix images in a recording.
• Improved user interface for configuring test data
  • The screens for test-level and group-level data have been replaced by a single screen, so you can view all the data bindings for a test in one place.
  • A new data wizard guides you through the process of setting up a data binding for your test.
• Dockable windows in Studio
  • The project tree, workspace tree, objective tree, and build output windows are now dockable windows.
  • The windows can be moved, docked and tabbed on the left, right, top, or bottom of the screen.
• Other Fixes
  • Support for Microsoft Visual Studio 2017.
  • Many more bug fixes and improvements.

Eggplant Performance Analyzer

• Histogram Charts
  • You can now create histogram charts, showing the distribution of values. For example, you can create a histogram of transaction response times. This can be useful for identifying patterns in response times, which can help identify server issues.

Features and Improvements 7.1.0 (Dec 2016)

• Support for WebSockets
  • New classes and methods have been added to the Java and C# web virtual users to support sending and receiving of WebSocket messages between a client and server.
  • WebSocket traffic is now automatically captured by the Proxy Recorder when recording a website.
  • Web generation has been enhanced to include WebSocket traffic. The generated code can be customized by creating a new WebSocket generation rule.
• Changes to Licensing
  • eggPlant Performance Studio no longer needs to be licensed. You can record, generate, and edit scripts, as well as define workflows, tests, and so forth, without requiring a license.
  • Test Controller is now the component that is licensed; that is, you only now need a license to actually execute a test.
  • The license format has changed. Previously, a license was simply text. The new licenses are files.
  • Old-style licenses that have previously been installed will continue to work, so users need to obtain a new license only when their old one expires.
• New Script "Regions"
  • New regions have been added to generated scripts for entering import/using statements, and for adding custom code to handle WebSocket traffic.
  • Any code placed within a defined region persists between regenerations of the script.
• Web Generation Changes
  • An option has been added to exclude sub-requests from the generated script completely.
  • Code to handle sub-requests has been extracted into a separate method in order to make the script more readable.
  • Sub-requests with Content-Type: application/json are now promoted by default.
  • A new macro, $variable, can be used for planting custom code in data correlation rules.
  • It is now possible to filter generation rules by query data as well as by POST data.
• Enhancements to Script Debugging with Visual Studio and Eclipse
  • The virtual user's event log is automatically opened in the event log viewer when the debugging session is started. The event log viewer updates in real time as the code executes.
  • For a web virtual user, the web log viewer also automatically opens and updates as the code executes.
• Many more bug fixes and improvements.

Features and Improvements 7.0.1 (Oct 2016)

This is a maintenance release that fixes the following issues:

• A summary of previous test runs in a series is now available.
• If a virtual user has a detailed web log available, there is a link to the web log from the virtual user view.
• An HTTP Request Rate chart has been added.
• Searching and filtering has been added to the virtual user view.
• Fixed a bug that caused the Injector Status view to consume excess CPU when there is a large number of injectors/engines.
• Fixed a bug that caused Test Controller to crash on exit.
• Improved navigation between VU groups in Studio.

Features and Improvements 7.0.0 (Sep 2016)

• The Test Controller UI has been completely redesigned
  • A new configurable dashboard has been added so you can choose exactly what information you want to see during test execution.
  • The dashboard configuration persists on a per-test basis so that you can customize the information you want to see on a per-test basis.
  • You can configure the time interval to view on each chart (e.g., last 10 minutes, last 30 minutes, entire test run).
  • Errors/warnings tables are now available that display errors/warnings from a test run in a single location.
  • Improved sorting and filtering of all tables: you can now sort/filter on any column in any table.
  • You can open a chart at any point during the test run and data from the whole test run is available immediately.
• Improved Previous Runs View
  • Much more information available about previous test runs.
  • All charts and tables that are available during the test run are also available for previous runs.
• Test Controller REST API
  • It is now possible to fully automate Test Controller via a REST API.
  • Tests can be started, stopped, and monitored using REST, making for easier integration into CI systems or other processes.
• File Transfer Improvements
  • File transfer from Test Controller to injectors has been improved.
  • File transfer progress is now displayed on a per-injector basis.
  • File transfer can be paused, resumed, or cancelled on a per-injector basis.
  • Additional options for communicating with injectors have been added. It is now possible to choose whether to encrypt communication with injectors, and whether to zip files before transfer.
  • File transfer automatically recovers from connection failures and resumes the file transfer.
• Performance Improvements
  • Scalability has been improved: large quantities of data generated by large tests are now managed more effectively.
  • New UI is more responsive when handling large quantities of data.
• IPV6 Support
  • Full support for IPV6 during recording, generation, and replay of web scripts.
• Many more bug fixes and improvements.