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For all LoadRunner users who work with Citrix deployed applications, it is important to note that there have been major changes to the Citrix 7.x architecture which will directly impacts how LoadRunner scripts are created. One of the big changes is that Citrix 7.x no longer uses ICA files to connect to the server. Instead, the ICA information is generated on the fly and is only usable for a short period of time.  Additionally, with the addition of the Citrix Storefront, the login and published app selection is HTML only.

Be Read Entire Entry

Introduction to C Macros
C macros aren’t  discussed a lot by HP LoadRunner users, yet they are at the core of the C programming language used in VUGen. They can provide flexibility and power that reduces script development and maintenance times. A good example would be where a function cannot be used to encapsulate reusable code blocks because something in the code block must be known at compile time instead of at run time. In this case, there would be a global variable accessed within the code block, but the name of the variable Read Entire Entry

Considering installing or upgrading to LoadRunner 12? Below are the latest specifications for the Controller, Generator, MI Listener, VUGen, and Analysis.
Controller

Processor
CPU Type: Intel Core, Pentium, Xeon, AMD or compatibleSpeed: 1.6 GHz or faster

Memory (RAM)
Minimum: 2GB  Recommended: 4GB

Free  Hard Disk Space
Minimum: 40 GB

Screen Resolution
Minimum: 1024 x 768

Operating System

Windows 7 (SP1) 32 bit or 64 bit
Windows 8 64 bit
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HP’s May 2013 release of LoadRunner 11.52 was more than just a simple patch. While there are general performance improvements in VUGen and Analysis for general user functions, it also has several new features. This article will cover many of them so you can determine if it is time to upgrade.
Replay Statistics Summary
HP deployed multiple changes within the VUGen IDE.  A Replay Statistics Summary is now available for connection information made between each iteration, after a replay.  To disable/enable Replay Statistics go Read Entire Entry

Recently one of our LoadRunner consultants was experiencing Vugen recording issues using the Citrix/Xenapp protocol. After some investigation into the configuration settings on the Xenapp server, a focus was placed on the “Linger” setting. When it was turned on, the session could not be properly hooked into by the recording engine of Vugen. Here is what Citrix says about this setting:

Linger settings
A user session ends after user processes and visible windows end (for example, when a user exits from an application, the sessio Read Entire Entry

HP recently released Knowledge Base article KM00211140 for LoadRunner, dealing with decoding the encoded user name and password in a flex call when recording against HP’s Service Manager Service Request Catalog (SRC). SRC  uses both flex and web to communicate to the back end.  The encoding used is Base64. Their example is good,  and could be used as a starting point for encoding/decoding BASE64 for other applications. To pull this off, you will need to include mic_socket.h in the  Globals.h section of the VUgen script . Then Read Entire Entry

Several years back, I found this posting and thought it was interesting. I am just now getting around to sharing it. Try this code if you want. I use this LoadRunner utility code to assist in analyzing test data, or to write desired dynamic data from scripts to .csv files outside of LoadRunner scenario results folders.

This code requires some script parameters to be defined, and you have to pre-allocate your folder where you want to write your data. The code also checks to see if you are running from Vugen or the Controller. I Read Entire Entry

This is a basic scripting technique for enhancing your VuGen scripts to add error checking and detailed logging (in this case a web HTTP status code that is in the 4XX – 5XX range) for specific steps.

First, set up a parameter called {pIteration} that uses the Iteration Number type to automatically keep track of the iteration. At the beginning of my action.c I might start with something like this:
// Declare Variables
int rc = 0, iHttp;
lr_vuser_status_message(“Starting iteration Number: %s”,
lr_eval_string({pIterati Read Entire Entry

Bill Selph recommends the following LoadRunner parameter and correlation label naming conventions for use in scripts:

All correlated values begin with “LRC_”
All parameters begins with “LRP_”

Bill finds this an easier way to edit and debug of complex scripts.

Do you have similar naming conventions that you use when coding Vugen script? How about giving out some recommendations to the community by commenting in the section below. Read Entire Entry

This post addresses a situation where part of a VuGen parameter value needed to be a hard coded value, and another part had to be totally random. This specific example had to do with a credit card where the total number of digits for the card was 16, but the first two digits needed to start with “47” to pass the business rules of the site for processing valid card numbers. If the number on the card did not start off with “47”, the card would automatically be rejected.
// DECLARE VARIABLES

char result[100], creditCardNum[1056];
in Read Entire Entry