Running and Viewing a Web Test

After you have recorded a Web test, it is a good practice to run it and verify that it works correctly. When you are sure that the recorded test can be successfully run, you can begin the process of adding validation rules, extraction rules, data binding, and other customizations.

To verify a Web test, use the following process:

• Run your Web test and examine the feedback in the two panes of the Web Test Viewer. The top pane shows an overview of the status of individual requests. The bottom pane provides more detail on the requests and the responses to those requests.

• Identify any problem requests using the top pane of the Web Test Viewer. You can expand any nodes to see dependent requests. Any page redirects are added as new top level request nodes. Requests that failed are identified by one symbol, while requests that passed are identified by a different symbol. This makes it easy to find failing requests.

• Perform a quick visual inspection of the request using the Web Browser tab in the bottom pane.

• Use the Request, Response, and Details panes to examine any problems with URLs, return codes, page redirects, and dependent requests.

• Problems that commonly cause requests to fail include the following:

  • URLs called through JavaScript

  • ActiveX controls

  • Applets

  These problems arise because the recorder can only record requests coming from the Web browser. If you experience any one or more of these problems, you can manually add the necessary requests to the recorded Web test. For more information, see About JavaScript and ActiveX Controls in Web Tests.

  Determining what requests must be added can be a complex task. Consider the following suggestions for troubleshooting these problems:

  • Using a network analysis tool such as Microsoft Network Monitor (Netmon)

  • Examining the Web logs for the application

  • Reviewing the source code of the application

For more information, see How to: Run a Web Test.

The Web Test Viewer

The Web Test Viewer is the primary tool for running Web tests. You can use the Web Test Viewer to verify that a Web test is working correctly, and to debug it.

By using the two panes in the Web Test Viewer window, you can see the details of each request in your Web test and the resulting response to those requests.

Note

To change a Web test, use the Web Test Editor. For more information, see How to: Edit an Existing Web Test.

The top pane of the Web Test Viewer displays four columns:

Column	Description
Request	Displays the HTTP request that you recorded in your test. The icon next to the request indicates whether the request passed or failed after it was completed.
HTTP status	Indicates the status of the request during the test run. All requests start as Not yet submitted; the status is updated as the test runs. At the end of the test, the status of the request is typically OK.
Response Time	Displays the total time of the response from the Web server after the completion of a request.
Size	Displays the size of the response to the request after completion.

The bottom pane of the Web Test Viewer contains the following five tabbed pages:

Page	Description
Web Browser	Displays the rendered page returned from the current HTTP request.
Request	Displays the contents of the current HTTP request.
Response	Displays the HTTP response received as a reply to the current HTTP request.
Context	Displays the collection of contexts for a Web test. The context collection is a set of name and value pairs that contains important information persisted during a Web test.
Details	Displays specific details about the currently displayed Web page, including any validation and extraction rules you have applied and their results.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Run a Web Test
How to: Change the Web Test Run Settings
How to: Edit an Existing Web Test