Saturday, May 26, 2012

dynaTrace API Integration with VSTS

Performance Testing aside, Performance Engineering is becoming the need of the hour. For a Performance Test Engineer to effectively gauge to provide Performance Engineering solutions, there are plenty number of tools now being available in the market. dynaTrace is one such tool from Compuware, available now for Performance Engineering solutions.

We all know that VSTS tool from Microsoft cater to the Performance Testing solutions of HTTP and HTTPS protocols with utmost compatible support for Microsoft Technologies. Even though Performance Engineering solutions are provided from Microsoft as well, in terms of plug-ins (Refer: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms404677.aspx), the solution needs its own time and effort to come up to the level that the dynaTrace tool is providing today.

To close this gap, dynaTrace has developed a plug-in to VSTS and is available for download in the following location:


To download the plug-in, you must have the dynaTrace community login ID and Password, which would be available if you register as a partner.

Step-by-Step instructions to integrate dynaTrace API with VSTS:

  • After downloading the plug-in, unzip the downloaded content using an unzip utility other than provided natively in MS Windows OS. You would run into facing errors if you use the Windows native unzip utility. For more information read the following known issues:

 
  • Place the unzipped content of the downloaded plug-in in the following location:
~\My Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Addins
  
  • Then, in VSTS go to Tools -> Options… -> Environment -> Add-in/Macros Security


  • Click on ‘Add…’


  • Select the folder and click on ‘OK’.
  • Then go to ‘Tools’-> ‘Addin Manager’:

  • Select the checkbox available under ‘Available Add-ins’ and ‘Startup’ and click on ‘OK’. Restart VSTS (Close and launch VSTS again).
  • After successful installation, the following two menu items would be available under ‘Tools’:

  • Now, go to ‘Tools’ -> ‘dynaTrace Configuration’ in VSTS:

  • Now, open the VSTS Test project, change the dynaTrace Server to the IP address, where dynaTrace server is installed. Provide the dynaTrace Server port accordingly.

  •  In the ‘Solution Explorer’, right click on the References and ‘Add Reference…’:

  • Browse and select the ‘dynaTrace.VSTS.WebTestPlug-in.dll’ from the unzipped plug-in folder:

  • Click on ‘OK’. Then, the plug-in should be available under the ‘References’ as shown below:

  • Save the project and right click on recorded script header and select ‘Add Web Test Plug-in…’:

  • Select the plug-in and click on OK:

  • Execute the web test and observe the pure path is being collected in the dynaTrace tab:



Now, have the dynaTrace client installed on the same machine as VSTS and click on each Pure Path link to observe the object level performance details.

Note:
  • If the Pure Paths are not getting displayed, check whether the dynaTrace License is activated.
  • Make sure that the dynaTrace .Net agent is injected in the application server. If the application is running on the same machine as VSTS, then configure the ‘Launcher’ tab in the dynaTrace plug-in installed (Tools -> dynaTrace Configuration in VSTS) and launch the application with Tools -> dynaTrace Launcher available in VSTS.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Testing - Manual, Automation and Performance - Which is great?

Manual deals with more of test cases,

Executing them on the application, reporting bugs...


Automation deals with more of scripting,

Changing the test case to a test script, test suite execution on the application - again final aim is to find bugs…


Performance deals with more of Server Response Times,

Load testing, Stress testing, Monitoring - again to find out performance violations...


There cannot be Automation without Manual Testing (Test Cases),

There cannot be Manual Testing without Performance (availability of the application for testing)

And there cannot be Performance Testing without automating! (Scripting)

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

We break it!

We break it, only to make it!

We crash it, only to make it stable!

We fight, only to build harmony!

We reproduce a bug, only to make it not reproducible forever!

We test negative, only to make it positive!

We destroy confidence, only to build it!

We are Testers, the first users!

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Bored of Testing?

Are you bored of Testing?

Are you bored of testing the same application, again and again?

Not able to find any bugs?

Here is the way! – Start looking at the application with new eyes!


Forget all your previous assumptions and perceptions!

Forget the fights you had with the developers!

Look at the application,

As though you are looking at it for the first time! Like a new user!


This is the way! Look at all the corners!

Look here! Look there!

Think of a new scenario,

And break the application!


Don’t think that automating will solve all the problems!

A machine will not be able to see, what you can see!

A machine will not be able to think, what you can think!

So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and break the application!