I agree that getting page not found is a bad thing.:-o I'm getting the site just fine using IE on both Windows 2000 and Mac. What browser and connectivity are you using?
If you like latka's XML scripting system for writing tests then Load 2.0 offers a good XML scripting system that connects to HTTP and SOAP services. Load is also free and open-source.
It seems to me that every software developer eventually rolls his own test rig. I've seen it be kind of a right-of-passage thing like a samarai graduating when he makes his own sword.
The problem is most software developers go on to work on other projects. Without someone to maintain the test code the company winds-up with a dead asset on their hands.
This is where open-source really helps. Projects like TestMaker offer the developer what they want and the source code improvements can be added as patches back to the code. The community of contributors keeps the test tool alive over time.
Details on TestMaker are at http://www.pushtotest.com/ptt
Plenty of test tools exist to automate testing of a Web application. I really like the idea of having an automated test system that would tell you in the morning what it found wrong on your site during a nightly check. I have built several such systems and they provide a big benefit back to the company in decreased down-time and improved user satisfaction. You will find details on how these test automation systems work in my upcoming book Testing Web Services. Try http://www.pushtotest.com/ptt/thebook.html to download the chapters. It's free and I would appreciate your feedback.
I would advise you to not take a decision to implement an automated test system lightly. Your decision commits your business to maintain the system and that can be expensive and complicated. All of the commercial test tools require an engineer to instrument all of the Web pages to be tested. They give you GUI tools to click through a Web site and the tool writes a test script that the test system can run. Eventually you wind up with a library of test scripts that need to be kept up-to-date as the Web site changes.
Additionally, these tools are reading Web pages to build scripts. One of HTML's shortcomings is that it mixes presentation data (font sizes, paragraph locations, etc.) with the actual content. HTML is very loosely formatted so test tools often fail to automate the script-writing process.
I've been building and testing complex interoperable systems for the past 15 years. In my experience the best way to build an automated test system is to give your software developers a test tool that lets them build tests while they are coding. The same tests may then be brought out of the developer's lab and used to check the service in production for scalability, performance and functionality.
One other thing to point out: there is little difference in functionality between the commercial test tools (which cost $20,000 to $50,000) and the free open-source test tools. I recommend you look at my open-source TestMaker project (http://www.pushtotest.com/ptt) and JMeter (http://www.apache.org.)
TestMaker comes with a graphic environment, script language, library of test objects (TOOL), sample test agents and a LOT of documentation. Plus my company PushToTest is the "go to" company for enterprises that need to test systems in Web environments. We're here to add functions needed by our customers, to run tests and to train your team in how to use the tool for their own needs.
Hope this helps. Feel free to drop me a line (fcohen@pushtotest.com) if you need additional help.
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I agree that getting page not found is a bad thing. :-o I'm getting the site just fine using IE on both Windows 2000 and Mac. What browser and connectivity are you using?
-Frank
The only problem with Cactus and Latka is they seem like dormant open-source projects. Is anyone working on them? -Frank
If you like latka's XML scripting system for writing tests then Load 2.0 offers a good XML scripting system that connects to HTTP and SOAP services. Load is also free and open-source.
Details are on http://www.pushtotest.com/ptt
-Frank
It seems to me that every software developer eventually rolls his own test rig. I've seen it be kind of a right-of-passage thing like a samarai graduating when he makes his own sword.
The problem is most software developers go on to work on other projects. Without someone to maintain the test code the company winds-up with a dead asset on their hands.
This is where open-source really helps. Projects like TestMaker offer the developer what they want and the source code improvements can be added as patches back to the code. The community of contributors keeps the test tool alive over time.
Details on TestMaker are at http://www.pushtotest.com/ptt
-Frank
You may find eValid's test tool useful too. It's in the sub-$1000 price range. Details are at http://www.e-valid.com/
-Frank
Plenty of test tools exist to automate testing of a Web application. I really like the idea of having an automated test system that would tell you in the morning what it found wrong on your site during a nightly check. I have built several such systems and they provide a big benefit back to the company in decreased down-time and improved user satisfaction. You will find details on how these test automation systems work in my upcoming book Testing Web Services. Try http://www.pushtotest.com/ptt/thebook.html to download the chapters. It's free and I would appreciate your feedback.
I would advise you to not take a decision to implement an automated test system lightly. Your decision commits your business to maintain the system and that can be expensive and complicated. All of the commercial test tools require an engineer to instrument all of the Web pages to be tested. They give you GUI tools to click through a Web site and the tool writes a test script that the test system can run. Eventually you wind up with a library of test scripts that need to be kept up-to-date as the Web site changes.
Additionally, these tools are reading Web pages to build scripts. One of HTML's shortcomings is that it mixes presentation data (font sizes, paragraph locations, etc.) with the actual content. HTML is very loosely formatted so test tools often fail to automate the script-writing process.
I've been building and testing complex interoperable systems for the past 15 years. In my experience the best way to build an automated test system is to give your software developers a test tool that lets them build tests while they are coding. The same tests may then be brought out of the developer's lab and used to check the service in production for scalability, performance and functionality.
One other thing to point out: there is little difference in functionality between the commercial test tools (which cost $20,000 to $50,000) and the free open-source test tools. I recommend you look at my open-source TestMaker project (http://www.pushtotest.com/ptt) and JMeter (http://www.apache.org.)
TestMaker comes with a graphic environment, script language, library of test objects (TOOL), sample test agents and a LOT of documentation. Plus my company PushToTest is the "go to" company for enterprises that need to test systems in Web environments. We're here to add functions needed by our customers, to run tests and to train your team in how to use the tool for their own needs.
Hope this helps. Feel free to drop me a line (fcohen@pushtotest.com) if you need additional help.
-Frank