Data processing: measuring – calibrating – or testing – Measurement system – Performance or efficiency evaluation
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-28
2003-02-18
Hoff, Marc S. (Department: 2857)
Data processing: measuring, calibrating, or testing
Measurement system
Performance or efficiency evaluation
C703S022000, C702S183000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06522995
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to Web-based sever testing tools and, particularly, to an improved method for enhancing control of Web-based server testing.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Web application and database server testing tools, such as Segue Software's SilkPerformer running on Windows NT do not provide adequate methods of control at the granularity level required.
SilkPerformer is a tool that enables simulation of worldwide web users of an e-business site. As a single NT machine does not have the capacity required to “stress-test” an S/390 server (for example), SilkPerformer's “multi-machine” option may be implemented to invoke simulation “agents” on multiple NT machines, which are controlled at a central NT workstation, to increase the number of virtual users participating in the simulation. Due to the structure inherent in both Windows NT and the Segue product, there is no method for operator manipulation of the “path” or parameters of the workload once it has been started. There is additionally no method available to view, from a global perspective, the cumulative status of the test as it is being run as Segue only writes test statistics to the repository at the conclusion of the test.
It would thus be highly desirable to provide, in a web-based server test scenario, an additional level of control so that a test operator could dynamically “focus” the test on any specific function that needs further testing. This level of control is required to ensure that the test operator may manipulate the test as it progresses to either correct or prevent errors from occurring which may adversely affect the outcome of the test. Via the use of cumulative statistics, an operator may become immediately aware of any problem or may be able to notice trends leading to a failure situation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a platform-independent, self-adjusting control and execution system for testing and simulating users of a web server.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an enhancement for a web-based test tool to provide greater control over simulation of users accessing a web server of an e-business site.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an enhancement for a web-based test tool to provide control over simulation of users accessing a web server of an e-business site by enabling the test operator to manipulate the test as it progresses to either correct or prevent errors from occurring which may adversely affect the outcome of the test.
Thus in accordance with the invention there is provided a control mechanism to be used in conjunction with a web-based server testing tool that provides a level of control required to meet a comprehensive set of testing requirements. In order to achieve the required testing level granularity, and provide test-tool independence, the inventive control mechanism is provided external to a web-based server testing tool. As the tool is web-based, control over the web-based workload is enhanced.
The inventive tool is implemented for testing web-based products, and requires the simple configuration of test agents to operate as the workload would. A database, such as DB
2
(v.6.1), may be implemented for storing all of the configuration information and Net.Data and IBM HTTP Server 5.2 product may be implemented for providing the pathway which delivers test configuration information to a “web-aware” client. Using the same pathway, information about the progress of any ongoing testing is stored in DB
2
during test execution. Once these statistics exist in DB
2
, the strong analytical ability of the database is utilized to produce a web-page, via a Net.Data macro, that would provide a global view of the ongoing tests to the operator. The design which meets all of the aforementioned criterion requires a plurality of DB
2
tables. For example, at least six (6) DB
2
tables may be implemented which are related to one another to provide an extremely flexible method of delivering test configuration options to each “virtual” user as they request this information. The granularity of control using the present invention ranges to one parameter set for the entire test all the way down to having a different parameter set for each “virtual” user. Further tables may be implemented, for example, to contain log data in the following categories: response time, errors, and good/bad count, and further, to include information about each transaction that is available.
Advantageously, the testing tool enhancement of the invention is self-adjusting, providing “feed-back” information which may be used to automatically adjust test parameters and terminate malfunctioning tests, thereby optimizing the test environment. Furthermore, the present invention may be used by any web-based testing tool provided that the test tool can parse HTML pages and extract data into variables, and, moreover, may be implemented on a variety of system platforms.
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Conti Thomas W.
Morlitz David M.
Hoff Marc S.
International Business Machines - Corporation
Kim Paul
Kinnaman, Jr. William A.
Scully Scott Murphy & Presser
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