HP LoadRunner Protocol SDK
Glossary
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A

API function
A function implemented by a protocol to be used in test steps.

application
As used in this guide, the application, or application to be tested, is the item on which you perform load testing. It can be a single server-based application, a set of applications having a common invocation point, or any other item that uses a communications network to reply to requests, up to an entire server farm. During a test run, the application receives requests from, and responds to, a load generator that is emulating users of the application's client.

application API
A function exposed by the application to be tested.

application to be tested
As used in this guide, the application, or application to be tested, is the item on which you perform load testing. It can be a single server-based application, a set of applications having a common invocation point, or any other item that uses a communications network to reply to requests, up to an entire server farm. During a test run, the application receives requests from, and responds to, a load generator that is emulating users of the application's client.

argument
A value passed to a function or an item in a function parameter list. The term argument is preferred to the term parameter in most HP Software documentation for both formal parameters and actual parameters. This convention avoids confusion where the product makes special use of the term parameter.

AUT

Application Under Test

As used in this guide, the application, or application to be tested, is the item on which you perform load testing. It can be a single server-based application, a set of applications having a common invocation point, or any other item that uses a communications network to reply to requests, up to an entire server farm. During a test run, the application receives requests from, and responds to, a load generator that is emulating users of the application's client.

C

client application
The Windows application that exercises the server application. Recording with API hooking traps communication between the client and the application being tested

code generation
The iterative process of abstracting higher level information from lower level information, and results in a test script. Code generation starts with recorded events and ends with events that correspond to an output to the script or log. The events are then written to the output. See also: filter. Code generation starts automatically at the end of a recording session. See also, regeneration.

E

event
A data structure that stores information to be used in code generation. Events may represent activities of the client application and server, comments, log entries, C code, and others. Events are either recorded or are a product of a filter.

F

filter
A software component that processes events by combining or abstracting data from input events and outputting new, higher-level events. Filters are used in code generation.

H

hook function
A function implemented by the protocol that is invoked in place of the application's recorded function during a recording session.

L

load generator
The client side of the test run. The load generators run the test by sending requests to the application as required by the test script and processing the responses.

M

mdrv
The LoadRunner run-time test execution component.

N

named argument
Named function parameters are implemented in VuGen as a string containing a key-value pair. For example, in this call, all arguments except the first(the step name) and the LAST marker are named arguments:
web_url("Open xyz home page.", "URL=http://www.xyz.com/","TargetBrowser=HP Technologies", "RecContentType=text/html", "Mode=HTML", LAST);
The prototype for this function is: int web_url(const char *mpszStepName, ...);

P

parameter
A variable in a script that is managed by LoadRunner. A parameter is not declared in the script as, for example, a C language variable is declared. Parameters are sometimes created at design time. In general, these parameters get the runtime value from a table or from a function. Examples of such functions are a random number generator or iteration counter.Other parameters are output arguments of test steps, created during test run to store values from the server response. As an input argument, a parameter is a marker consisting of the parameter name in brackets. The form of brackets is configurable, but is generally curly brackets {} or angle brackets <>.For example, the call to web_reg_save_param("outFlightVal", ...); causes output parameter outFlightVal to be created and a value assigned after the next action that leads to a response from the server. The parameter can then be used as an input argument: "Value={outFlightVal}".

positional argument

An item in the parameter list of a function whose meaning is fixed by its position in the list. For example, this function has two positional arguments:

int lr_param_ increment (const char *destination_ param, const char *source_param);

protocol
A set of DLLs, resources, and configuration files to be used by LoadRunner to test a given type or types of application. For example, the FTP protocol is used to test FTP server applications. A special case is the utilities protocol (sometimes called lr functions) that provides LoadRunner services to other protocols.

R

recorded function
A source function that is recorded using a hook function during a recording session.

recording session
The activity during which a VuGen user performs a series of actions that constitute a business process on a client application of the application being tested, while VuGen traps the communication between the client and the application.

regeneration
A code generation run initiated by the user.Regeneration is initiated by the user and runs the same process on the same data as code generation. However, depending on the protocol implementation, regeneration and code generation may be configured differently.

S

source function
An API of the application to be tested.

T

test step
A call in a test script to a function defined by a protocol (API function) or, less commonly, a call to an external program from a test script. In this guide, a test step is a call to an API function unless specified otherwise.

W

WPLUS
The LoadRunner component that performs socket-level recording for all protocols that require socket-level events.