WAPT 8.1 and WAPT Pro 3.1 beta versions

It has been a while since we last updated our products, and now we plan to do this very soon. This time we decided to provide beta versions to our users couple weeks before the official release, as there are several highly requested new features. So, I am happy to let you know that new versions are available for download.

These versions are fully functional and hopefully not too raw to try. However if you find a bug, you are welcome to report it as usual. We will do our best to provide a fix as soon as possible.

New versions are compatible with the current official builds of all extension modules [..]

Extreme online shopping with WAPT Pro

Recently we have discovered that our load testing solution can be applied in a quite unusual way. One of our users has shared his “success story” with us. It perfectly shows how widely you can apply the product if you know its features very well and have a good fantasy.

The story is actually about Cyber Monday online shopping. You know, some web sites run very special actions to attract customers. They sell limited number of items at exceptionally low prices. In theory you can make a very good deal if you participate. In practice this is almost impossible, because each new item is ordered by someone immediately after it becomes available. Here is where WAPT Pro appeared to be a great automation solution.

Cloud load testing with WAPT Pro

Clouds are very popular these days, because they provide a convenient virtual environment for a number of tasks from web hosting to scientific computing. In a cloud you can get a fresh ready to use system with almost any predefined parameters in a matter of minutes without need to purchase hardware and setup the OS. Besides that, clouds usually provide very fast and wide Internet connection. That is why it is usually a very good idea to use clouds for load testing of a web site. This is especially useful if the target site is hosted in the same cloud.

Since WAPT does not require any unusual hardware, it can be easily setup on any virtual system. There is no special license for this type of use.

Module for GWT Testing

We have recently released a new extension module for WAPT and WAPT Pro products. As its name suggests, it is targeted at handling web applications developed with help of GWT (Google Web Toolkit).

Till now we have had 4 extension modules. Two of them are optional (ASP.net and JSON), meaning that you can use them to facilitate testing (in many cases this means a significant improvement), but still there are no applications for which these modules are mandatory.

Two other modules (Flash and Silverlight) are used to convert binary data to XML and back again. So, if you have an application developed in Flash or Silverlight, you will not be able to load test it properly without the corresponding module.

Troubleshooting recording problems in WAPT

In most cases it is very easy to record a virtual user profile with WAPT. You only need to click the “Rec” button on the toolbar and choose the browser that you would like to use for recording in the “Recording Options” dialog.

In most cases the best choice is the embedded browser window, because if you use it, you will see how the recorded requests appear in the left view near the site content. If you use an external browser, you will have to put it over the WAPT window to be able to monitor the process.

Still there can be two reasons why you may need to use an external browser [..]