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A packet of information sent by an HTTP server to a World-Wide Web browser and then sent back by the browser each time it accesses that server. Cookies can contain any arbitrary information the server chooses and are used to maintain state between otherwise stateless HTTP transactions.
A cookie is one or more pieces of information stored as text strings on your computer. When you connect to a web site, it sends you a cookie and your browser stores it. Next time you connect to the web site the browser returns the cookie to the server. The most common use of a cookie is to store user details. For example, if you place an order or fill out a form with your name and address and other information, the web site stores your details and sends the ID data to your browser as a cookie which stores it on your hard drive. The next time you connect to the web site, your cookie ID is automatically retrieved and sent to the web site. This enables web sites to process the cookie information and to customize the web page it sends back to you.
Typically cookies are used to authenticate or identify a registered user of a web site without requiring them to sign in again every time they access that web site.
OpenSTA Commander is the Graphical User Interface used to develop and run HTTP/S Tests and to display the results of Test-runs for analysis.
Each OpenSTA Package, provides its own Plug-ins and supply Package-specific Test Configuration, data collection, Test-run monitoring and Results display facilities. All Plug-in funcrtionality is invoked from Commander.
Common Object Request Broker Architecture. An Object Management Group specification which provides the standard interface definition between OMG-compliant objects. Object Management Group is a consortium aimed at setting standards in object-oriented programming. An OMG-compliant object is a cross-compatible distributed object standard, a common binary object with methods and data that work using all types of development environments on all types of platforms.
The Document Object Model (DOM) is an application programming interface (API) for HTML and XML documents (web pages). It defines the logical structure of documents and the way a document is accessed and manipulated.
With the Document Object Model, programmers can build documents, navigate their structure, and add, modify, or delete elements and content. Anything found in an HTML or XML document can be accessed, changed, deleted, or added using the Document Object Model, with a few exceptions - in particular, the DOM interfaces for the XML internal and external subsets have not yet been specified.
The OpenSTA Gateway interfaces with the Script Modeler and enables you to create Scripts. The Gateway functions as a proxy server which intercepts and records the HTTP/S traffic that passes between browser and web site during a web session.
An OpenSTA Host is a networked computer or device used to run a Test. Or a networked computer or device within a web application environment that can be targeted for data collection during a Test-run by defining a data collection query within a Profile.
Hypertext Markup Language. A hypertext document format used on the World-Wide Web. HTML is built on top of SGML. Tags are embedded in the text. A tag consists of a <, a case insensitive directive, zero or more parameters and a >. Matched pairs of directives, like <TITLE> and </TITLE> are used to delimit text which is to appear in a special place or style.
HyperText Transfer Protocol. The client-server TCP/IP protocol used on the World-Wide Web for the exchange of HTML documents. HTTP is the protocol which enables the distribution of information over the web.
HyperText Transmission Protocol, Secure. A variant of HTTP used by Netscape for handling secure transactions. A unique protocol that is simply SSL underneath HTTP. See SSL.
Using a web site in a way that would be considered operationally normal with a normal to heavy number of concurrent users.
A method and philosophy for software licensing and distribution designed to encourage use and improvement of software written by volunteers by ensuring that anyone can copy the source code and modify it freely.
The term open source, is now more widely used than the earlier term, free software, but has broadly the same meaning - free of distribution restrictions, not necessarily free of charge.
An OpenSTA Dataname comprises between 1 and 16 alphanumeric, underscore or hyphen characters. The first character must be alphabetic.
The following are not allowed:
The OpenSTA Name Server allows the interaction of multiple computers across a variety of platforms in order to run Tests. The Name Server's functionality is built on the Object Management Group's CORBA standard.
Object Management Group. A consortium aimed at setting standards in object-oriented programming. In 1989, this consortium, which included IBM Corporation, Apple Computer Inc. and Sun Microsystems Inc., mobilized to create a cross-compatible distributed object standard. The goal was a common binary object with methods and data that work using all types of development environments on all types of platforms. Using a committee of organizations, OMG set out to create the first Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) standard which appeared in 1991. The latest standard is CORBA 2.2.
An algorithm or program to determine the syntactic structure of a sentence or string of symbols in some language. A parser normally takes as input a sequence of tokens output by a lexical analyzer. It may produce some kind of abstract syntax tree, or data structure, as output.
One or more Tests designed to investigate the efficiency of web application environments. Used to identify any weaknesses or limitations of target web applications using a series of stress Tests or load Tests.
An OpenSTA Profile is a collection of user-defined queries which determine the data collection carried out from Hosts when a Test is run. OpenSTA supports NT Performance and SNMP Profiles.
A proxy server acts as a security barrier between your internal network (intranet) and the Internet, keeping other people on the Internet from gaining access to confidential information on your internal network or your computer. This is a function that is often combined with a firewall is a proxy server.
A proxy server is used to access web pages by the other computers. When another computer requests a web page, it is retrieved by the proxy server and then sent to the requesting computer. The net effect of this action is that the remote computer hosting the web page never comes into direct contact with anything on your home network, other than the proxy server.
Proxy servers can also make your Internet access work more efficiently. If you access a page on a web site, it is cached (stored) on the proxy server. This means that the next time you go back to that page, it normally doesn't have to load again from the web site. Instead it loads instantaneously from the proxy server.
Automatic configuration settings are contained in a file provided by your system administrator.
The OpenSTA Repository is where Scripts, Profiles, Tests and results. The default location is within the OpenSTA program files directory structure. You can create new Repositories and change the Repository path if required. In Commander click Tools > Repository Path.
Manage the Repository using the Repository Window within Commander.
Hard copy and on-line versions are available of this guide. In Script Modeler click Help > SCL Reference.
SCL, Script Control Language, is a scripting language created by CYRANO used to write Scripts which define the content of your Tests. Use SCL to model Scripts and develop the Test scenarios you need.
Refer to the SCL Reference Guide for more information.
Scripts form the basis of your Tests. They are created from the recordings of the HTTP/S traffic generated during a web session and written in SCL scripting language which enables you to model their content. They encapsulate the web activity you need to test and enable you to reproduce the required test conditions. Use Commander to select Scripts and include them in a Test then run the Test against target web application environment in order to accurately simulate the way real end users work and evaluate its performance.
Scripts are saved in an .HTP file which is stored in the Repository.
Simple Network Management Protocol. The Internet standard protocol developed to manage nodes on an IP network. SNMP is not limited to TCP/IP. It can be used to manage and monitor all sorts of equipment including computers, routers, wiring hubs, toasters and jukeboxes.
Secure Sockets Layer. A protocol designed by Netscape Communications Corporation to provide encrypted communications on the Internet. SSL is layered beneath application protocols such as HTTP, SMTP, Telnet, FTP, Gopher, and NNTP and is layered above the connection protocol TCP/IP. It is used by the HTTPS access method.
Using a web site in a way that would be considered operationally abnormal. Examples of this could be running a load test with a significantly larger number of users than would normally be expected, or running with some infrastructure or systems software facilities restricted.
An OpenSTA Test is comprised of one or more Task Groups which in turn are composed of Tasks. The Scripts and Profiles included in Task Groups are known as Tasks. Script-based Task Groups can contain one or multiple Tasks. Tasks within a Script-based Task Group can be managed by adjusting the Task Settings which control the number of Script iterations and the delay between iterations when a Test is run.
Profile-based Task Groups contain a single Profile Task.
An OpenSTA Test is comprised of one or more Task Groups. Task Groups can be of two types, Script-based or Profile-based. Script-based Task Groups represent one or a sequence of HTTP/S Scripts. Profile-based Task Groups represent a single data collection Profile. Task Groups can contain either Scripts, or a Profile, but not both. The Scripts and Profiles included in Task Groups are known as Tasks.
A Test can include as many Task Groups as necessary.
An OpenSTA Task Group definition constitutes the Tasks included in the Task Group and the Task Group settings that you apply.
Task Group settings include Task Settings, Virtual User settings and Host settings which can be adjusted to control the load generated during a Test-run.
Task Settings control the number of times a Virtual User runs a Script and the delay you want to apply between each iteration of a Script when a Test is run.
Virtual User settings control the load generated against target web application environments during a Test-run by specifying the number of Virtual Users running the Task Groups within the Test and controlling when the Virtual Users run each Task Group. Set Logging levels to determine the level of performance statistics gathered from Virtual Users running the Tasks. You can also select to Generate Timers for each web page returned during a Test-run.
Host settings specify which Host computer a Task Group runs on during a Test-run.
An OpenSTA Test is a set of user controlled definitions that specify which Scripts and Profiles are included and the settings that apply when the Test is run. Scripts define the test conditions that will be simulated when the Test is run. Scripts and Profiles are the building blocks of a Test which can be incorporated by reference into many different Tests.
Scripts supply the content of a Test and Profiles control the type of results data that is collected during a Test-run. Test parameters specify the properties that apply when you run the Test, including the number of Virtual Users, the iterations between each Script, the delay between Scripts and which Host computers a Test is run.
Commander provides you with a flexible Test development framework in which you can build Test content and structure by selecting the Scripts and Profiles you need. A Test is represented in table format where each row within it represents the HTTP/S replay and data collection Tasks that will be carried out when the Test is run. Test Tasks are known as Task Groups of which there are two types, either Script-based and Profile-based.
Uniform Resource Identifier. The generic set of all names and addresses which are short strings which refer to objects (typically on the Internet). The most common kinds of URI are URLs and relative URLs.
Uniform Resource Locator. A standard way of specifying the location of an object, typically a web page, on the Internet. Other types of object are described below. URLs are the form of address used on the World-Wide Web. They are used in HTML documents to specify the target of a hyperlink which is often another HTML document (possibly stored on another computer).
Variables allow you to vary the fixed values recorded in Scripts. A variable is defined within a Script. Refer to the Modeling Scripts section for more information.
A Virtual User is the simulation of a real life user that performs the activity you specify during a Test-run. You control the activity of your Virtual Users by recording and modeling the Scripts that represent the activity you want. When the Test that includes the Script is run, the Script is replayed exactly as the browser made the original requests.
Any computer on the Internet running a World-Wide Web server process. A particular web site is identified by the host name part of a URL or URI.
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