New Web and Load Test Features in Beta2

In beta2 we added a number of new minor features, and a couple of major ones.

We also changed our licensing model, which you can read about here.

Here is a list of the minor features we added, along with a brief description of each. The last one in the list, compare two runs in Excel, is probably my most favorite feature in the entire release.

Area	Title	Description
Recorder	Recorder options in tools options	Starting URL supplies a default url to start recording from. Two new options to control whether or not the recorder does hidden field matching, and whether or not it runs the dynamic parameter detection tool after recording completes.
Recorder	Recorder records all requests by default, fold dependents under page	In 2008, static dependents not found by the dependents parser were not recorded by default. Now they are.
Web test	search/replace	Search and replace in web test requests!
Playback	Add request bytes column	Request byte count is now shown in request list pane in playback (in addition to response byte count)
Playback	PreRequestDataBinding event	This new event fires before data binding occurs, allowing a plugin to dynamically change data bindings in a request.
Data binding	64 bit csv	This fixes a limitation we had in beta1, and now enables csv data sources on 64 bit machines.
Data binding	New APIs on WebTest to control data cursor position and reload data	Give full control over the cursor, enabling tight control of which user is using what data. Also reload enables refreshing a datasource during the test.
Load Test	Scrub counter sets	We refreshed the set of counters being collected, thresholds, and default counters.
Analyzer	Add standard deviation and 99th percentile stats to load test analyzer
Analyzer	Graph instance 0 for CPU on local runs by default	Fixes the problem documented in this post.
Analyzer	Specify range for a counter (CPU range is 100)	Now you can specify a range for a given counter. Also percentage counters get a range of 100 by default.
Analyzer	Fixed range on perf graph	The performance graph now gets a default range set for it (range is rounded up response time of the slowest measurement)
Analyzer	Computer tags	Computer tags enable you to classify computers by function (e.g. web server, db server, etc.). Also enables run to run comparison even if the runs are on different physical machines.
Reporting	Compare two runs in Excel	This is a new, rich reporting option that enables you to compare performance and resource utilization data in two different runs.

Ed.

Comments

• Anonymous
  December 01, 2009
  Just a note to say that webtest search/replace can be done in 2008 if you right-click the webtest in the Solution Explorer and "Open With" XML editor - it's just as potentially exciting as editing the registry...