Recording a Test


You can use the Record tab to capture actual HTTP requests from MS Internet Explorer while you browse pages and then convert these into series of requests for Web Roller. To achieve this, upon each start Web Roller launches a small transparent proxy engine which listens for HTTP requests on port number specified in Settings, and modifies the MS Internet Explorer proxy settings to make it use this built-in proxy. The Internet Explorer proxy settings are restored to the original values when you exit Web Roller. You can also restore the proxy settings manually (see below). You can as well use Web Roller to capture requests from other browsers, but in this case you will have to manually set the proxy server name and proxy port of your specific browser to the values that are set in the Settings dialog. For more details on how to do this please refer to your browser's Help.

You can perform the required actions in the browser window (navigate sites, go to different pages, fill in and submit forms and so on). Meanwhile all HTTP requests issued by the browser are logged by Web Roller's built-in proxy server. When the recording is over, the log is exported into the test script (as a set of requests). The resulting test script can then be modified using standard methods.

The sequence of actions to record the test script in this case is as follows:

  1. Launch Web Roller and switch to the Edit-Record tab;
  2. Press the Set IE proxy settingsbutton. A blank browser window (MSIE) should appear.
  3. Press the Start Recording button and record the desired sequence of actions: In the browser window, perform the sequence of actions to be automated. As the sequence is recorded, the log of requests sent to the Web server is displayed in Web Roller's window.
  4. Note: the log can contain requests for files which are parts of the target page design: graphics (*.jpg, *.gif, *.png and so on), flash clips (*.swf), stylesheets (*.css) and other elements. If they are not critical for your testing purposes (e.g. you intend to measure the performance of an ASP script on the server side at different client loads), you can exclude these files from your test script by turning on the filtering of specific content type(s) (see Settings dialog) or by selecting the unnecessary elements in the log window (right-click the element) and deleting the selected files or types of files from the log.

  5. To stop recording user actions press the Stop Recording button.
  6. Convert the log to a test script. If you press the Add To Script button, all HTTP requests displayed in the log window will be exported (in the appropriate format) into the current test script. After generating the test script from the log, Web Roller automatically switches to the Requests tab.