[ptt-users] RE: Recorder idea
Frank Cohen
fcohen at pushtotest.com
Tue Feb 27 14:25:06 PST 2007
Hi Seth: Thank you for your thoughts. I appreciate it.
You make a very good point that proxy recorders are good for managing
the fidelity of the playback. The down side of them is the effort it
takes to understand the context of the request.
The new browser-based plug-in recorder will not be the exclusive way
to create test scripts for TestMaker. You will still be able to
record scripts using the TestMaker 4 recorder. You will still be able
to write scripts manually. And the TestGen4Web approach does not play-
back through the browser, it creates a TestMaker script. If you found
an IE-ish style use of a browser then you would either ask us for a
modification to TestMaker to support the new style, or you would make
changes to the script to behave in the desired way, or you would
change TestMaker and contribute the change to the project.
We will be releasing an alpha distribution of this feature in the
next few weeks. I would love to learn your feedback. Thanks for your
great support.
-Frank
On Feb 27, 2007, at 10:35 AM, Friedman, Seth wrote:
> I haven't seen TestGen4Web before now, but the AJAX support would
> be awesome.
>
> The only question that occurs to me about recording via firefox
> plugin, is: what can one do to see whether any browser-specific
> behavior is skewing the recorded traffic? On a standalone http
> proxy or sniffer I'm fairly confident that I'm just looking at bits
> going by, but if there's javascriptisms that make the recorded test
> script "firefox"ish at all, I'd want to know that & be able to re-
> record in the "IE"ish style.
>
> I don't know how different the browsers are in this area, maybe
> this is paranoid of me to worry about. If it's just a matter of
> presenting XML data a-la http sniffer/proxy, rather than any
> interpretation/rendering of it, good to know.
>
> Best--
> seth
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Frank Cohen [mailto:fcohen at pushtotest.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2007 10:04 AM
> To: Friedman, Seth; Geoff Meakin
> Cc: TestMaker users list
> Subject: Recorder idea
>
> Hmmm... I didn't see it either.
>
> By the way, I'm having good feelings about using TestGen4Web from
> SpikeSource as the Web recorder in TM5. It supports HTTP, HTTPS, and
> AJAX (XML), plus it uses HTTPUnit, something I've been considering
> adding to TestMaker for a while.
>
> The idea is that you would use TestGen4Web as a Firefox plug-in (TM5
> would ship with Firefox and the plug-in installed) and then output a
> TestMaker script that's ready to run.
>
> Have you seen TestGen4Web?
>
> http://developer.spikesource.com/wiki/index.php/Projects:TestGen4Web
>
> -Frank
>
>
>
>
> On Feb 27, 2007, at 9:50 AM, Friedman, Seth wrote:
>
>> Geoff/Frank,
>>
>>
>>
>> I don’t see the actual files for this Recorder.py included.. did I
>> miss a url somewhere in the thread?
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> seth
>>
>>
>>
>> From: Geoff Meakin [mailto:geoffm at gamesys.co.uk]
>> Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2007 8:40 AM
>> To: Friedman, Seth; Frank Cohen
>> Subject: RE: [ptt-users] Setting up the proxy server
>>
>>
>>
>> Hi Frank,
>>
>> I came to the same conclusion myself after writing it that it would
>> be great to have a firefox plugin to do everything you need to do.
>> I'm not sure if there's a way of overriding SSL problems with
>> firefox plugins- for example see the "selenium" project firefox
>> plugin where they discuss in detail the fact they cant get SSL to
>> behave properly without hacks and tweaks.
>>
>> I dont really know that much about firefox plugins so would be
>> interested to hear thoughts of somebody who does :-)
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Friedman, Seth [mailto:sfriedman at videoegg.com]
>> Sent: Wed 21/02/2007 16:31
>> To: Frank Cohen; Geoff Meakin
>> Subject: RE: [ptt-users] Setting up the proxy server
>>
>> Really cool, Frank. I'll try both of these when I can get
>> some spare cycles. I need cross platform capability & maxQ looks
>> like it might be the more portable of the two, so maybe I'll start
>> there.
>>
>> Thanks again--
>> seth
>>
>>
>> ________________________________
>>
>> From: Frank Cohen [mailto:frank at pushtotest.com]
>> Sent: Tue 2/20/2007 4:00 PM
>> To: Geoff Meakin
>> Cc: Friedman, Seth
>> Subject: Re: [ptt-users] Setting up the proxy server
>>
>>
>>
>> Hi Geoff and Seth: This is awesome stuff. Thank you for sending it. I
>> forwarded it to the dev at lists.pushtotest.com list and to Avantica,
>> the group doing the TestMaker 5 completion coding.
>>
>> The only thing that concerns me about the technique is the number of
>> steps involved. I'm wondering if a better approach would be to write
>> a plug-in to FireFox that outputs TestMaker scripts and embed FireFox
>> into TestMaker? What do you think?
>>
>> -Frank
>>
>>
>>
>> On Feb 17, 2007, at 2:02 AM, Geoff Meakin wrote:
>>
>>> Hi guys, sorry for the delay its been a busy week at gamesys towers!
>>>
>>> Here's the code- no real instructions for it yet, so here you go..
>>>
>>> *Requirements*
>>> ==============
>>> In order to run this you will need on Windows:
>>>
>>> CYGWIN
>>> Python for CYGWIN
>>> Tlslite python library (download off web)
>>>
>>> on Unix:
>>>
>>> Python
>>> Tlslite
>>>
>>> Installing those is an exercise left to the reader :-)
>>>
>>> *Overview*
>>> ==========
>>> The recorder works by becoming both a browser and a webserver in
>>> one, accepting requests (both HTTP and HTTPS), decoding them,
>>> outputting relevant python code, and forwarding the requests on to
>>> the real server.
>>>
>>> *Setup*
>>> =======
>>> For the webserver part, first of all you need to generate your own
>>> selfsigned certificates using OPENSSL. This is a (free) 5 minute
>>> exercise and there are many how-tos on the web how to do it. I
>>> would include my actual certificates, but they are tied to our
>>> servers, and thats kind of sensitive so I dont want to release
>>> them. Just tie your ssl certificates to whichever URL you are
>>> wanting to record- you're trying to fool browsers into believing
>>> that the recorder IS the webserver at that URL. Simple enough.
>>> Note, as long as you have a working certificate it will work with
>>> any URL providing you dont mind SSL warning popups when browsing.
>>> There are ways to get rid of these including getting the
>>> certificate 100% correct, importing the CA into your browser etc.,
>>> but all these can be found on the web and I want to explain the
>>> other stuff..
>>>
>>> I seem to remember you need to specify -dec or -dec2 on one of the
>>> flags to openssl to set the encryption type of the final
>>> certificate. The python tls libs dont recognise all encryption
>>> types, but i found this one worked... Generate yourself files
>>> called server.csr, server.crt and server.key and put them in the
>>> same directory as your unpacked tarfile (attached).
>>>
>>> Then you just need to configure where you're pointing this recorder
>>> to-
>>> Thats all defined in SharedData.py- you need to specify the 4
>>> forward settings at the top of this file/class with the name of the
>>> server you want to record.
>>>
>>> The recorder works by you sending your requests for your URL to it,
>>> rather than to the URL (so not a true proxy, although could be
>>> adapted into one). You do this by for example on windows, popping a:
>>>
>>> 127.0.0.1 my.testserver.local
>>>
>>> into your hosts file (my.testserver.local is obviously the hostname
>>> of your URL you are recording)
>>>
>>> This will override DNS lookups and send it to the recorder instead.
>>>
>>> So finally the recorder needs to know where to send the real
>>> requests and what URL they were bound for- those are those 4
>>> forwarding properties I talked about above, so pop the relevant
>>> info in there.
>>>
>>> *Running*
>>> =========
>>>
>>> To run just type
>>> python Recorder.py
>>>
>>> you should see server started on 443, server started on 80
>>>
>>> If your hosts file is pointing in the right place then when you
>>> browse your site you should instantly see things come out of STDOUT
>>> from the recorder representing your requests.
>>>
>>> Each request to the webserver has its own requestid (a comment),
>>> and both the HTTP(s) request and HTTP(s) response is logged IN FULL
>>> in the log subdirectory of the recorder for informational purposes
>>> so you can see the innards of whats going on
>>>
>>> To stop just type CTRL+C and reset your hosts file to normal.
>>>
>>> *3 final notes*
>>> ===============
>>>
>>> I usually have 2 simple icons on my desktop/taskbar etc., one for
>>> setting my hosts file in record mode, one for setting my hosts file
>>> in normal mode- just takes the pain out of remembering where your
>>> hosts file is ;-)
>>>
>>> The output the recorder produces is currently for Testmaker as we
>>> use it- very slightly different to the official Testmaker release
>>> as we've wrapped some of Testmaker 4's agentbase functions in our
>>> own functions (so you'll see self.getPage instead of self.get). All
>>> the output is controlled by Logger.py, so its very simple to adapt
>>> to the latest version of Testmaker if you want, or even write the
>>> output in a different language if you want.
>>>
>>> The tlslite library by default logs to STDOUT nasty debug messages
>>> on every request which you dont want to see (kind of like apache
>>> access logs), as they will be interspersed with your recorder
>>> output. To get rid of these, edit /usr/lib/python2.4/
>>> BaseHTTPServer.py and comment out the line:
>>>
>>> # print (self.protocol_version, code, message)
>>>
>>> in the send_response function
>>>
>>> This should get rid of them.
>>>
>>>
>>> Let me know what you think/ whether its useful/ if the instructions
>>> dont make sense, I can always do a step-by-step guide if you want,
>>> or give you our TWiki wiki page on it
>>>
>>> Cheers
>>> -Geoff
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Excellent Seth. Thank you for the offer. I'd love your evaluation. I
>>> will forward this to Geoff's email. Thanks! -Frank
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Feb 12, 2007, at 10:35 AM, Friedman, Seth wrote:
>>>
>>>> I didn't see Geoff's email address to ask him directly, but if
>> he's
>>>> comfortable sharing it - I'd be happy to give it a spin, e.g.
>>>> briefly testing it out & giving feedback to you/him.
>>>>
>>>> best,
>>>> Seth
>>>> From: users-bounces at lists.pushtotest.com on behalf of Frank Cohen
>>>> Sent: Sat 2/10/2007 10:50 PM
>>>> To: TestMaker users list
>>>> Subject: Re: [ptt-users] Setting up the proxy server
>>>>
>>>> Hi Geoff: I'd love to see it. Please send it to me at
>>>> fcohen at pushtotest.com. Thanks. -Frank
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Feb 10, 2007, at 10:38 AM, Geoff Meakin wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Hi Frank,
>>>>>
>>>>> If you would be interested, I wrote a HTTP and HTTPS recorder in
>>>>> python which outputs testmaker code. It just runs commandline
>> and
>>>>> is based on tlslite.
>>>>>
>>>>> It has limitations, but works perfectly for our scenario.
>>>>>
>>>>> Cheers
>>>>> -Geoff
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: users-bounces at lists.pushtotest.com on behalf of Friedman,
>>> Seth
>>>>> Sent: Thu 08/02/2007 18:16
>>>>> To: TestMaker users list; TestMaker users list
>>>>> Subject: RE: [ptt-users] Setting up the proxy server
>>>>>
>>>>> One idea I've been intending to explore e.g. figure out if it's
>>>>> already possible, is a standalone recorder packaging (ie:
>> sniffer)
>>>>> that could be passed around independently of TestMaker. I've
>>>>> been in the position to help a developer fix a bug, and he was
>>>>> uncomfortable installing the full testmaker suite, but probably
>>>>> could be convinced to run something smaller.
>>>>>
>>>>> It seems like a niche that's not particularly well filled -
>>> there's
>>>>> all the powerful network-focused tools (ethereal, network
>> general,
>>>>> etc) which are not the most effective for application level
>> work,
>>>>> and then there's the lightweight HTTP specific ones (Effetech)
>>> that
>>>>> have some, for us, major limitations around post.
>>>>>
>>>>> seth
>>>>>
>>>>> ________________________________
>>>>>
>>>>> From: users-bounces at lists.pushtotest.com on behalf of Frank
>> Cohen
>>>>> Sent: Thu 2/8/2007 8:26 AM
>>>>> To: TestMaker users list
>>>>> Subject: Re: [ptt-users] Setting up the proxy server
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Glad to hear it. Thanks.
>>>>>
>>>>> By the way, we are making substantial changes to the TestMaker
>>>>> Recorder for TestMaker 5 and the team would appreciate any
>>> feedback
>>>>> or experiences you have on using the current Recorder so we can
>>> make
>>>>> it better.
>>>>>
>>>>> -Frank
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Feb 8, 2007, at 1:48 AM, Dave Talkowski wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> It's OK - I checked with the IT boys and dicovered that
>> some of
>>>> the
>>>>>> external traffic was being blocked by the firewall. Works fine
>>>> now!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Dave T.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>>> From: users-bounces at lists.pushtotest.com
>>>>>> [mailto:users-bounces at lists.pushtotest.com] On Behalf Of Frank
>>>> Cohen
>>>>>> Sent: Tuesday, February 06, 2007 6:19 PM
>>>>>> To: TestMaker users list
>>>>>> Subject: Re: [ptt-users] Setting up the proxy server
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi Dave: Sorry for the delayed response. I'm looking into why
>>> your
>>>>>> message wasn't posted immediate to the list.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Is the page you are trying to record available on the public
>>>>> Internet?
>>>>>> If so, what is the URL. Is the site using HTTPS?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -Frank
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Jan 24, 2007, at 2:17 AM, Dave Talkowski wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I'm having a bit of trouble using the Agent Recorder. I've
>>>> tried a
>>>>>>> variety of settings in my IE6 browser, but when I try to
>> run a
>>>> test
>>>>>>> agent, I get one of the following:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> - no web pages displayed and the test reported as
>> done (!)
>>>>>>> - browser reports 'Page cannot be displayed'
>>>>>>> - the following errors in the text output:
>>>>>>> java.lang.NullPointerException
>>>>>>> at
>>>>>>> com.bitmechanic.maxq.SwingMain.reportOutsideException
>>>>>>> (SwingMain.java:305)
>>>>>>> at
>>>> com.bitmechanic.maxq.RequestHandler.run
>>>>>>> (RequestHandler.java:243)
>>>>>>> at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:
>>> 534)
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I guess it's a security setting here or something, but I'm
>>>> stumped!
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Anyone got any ideas for a fix?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> DaveTalkowski
>>>>>>> Senior Analyst
>>>>>>> * dave.talkowski at assureweb.co.uk
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>> Users mailing list
>>>>>>> Users at lists.pushtotest.com
>>>>>>> http://lists.pushtotest.com/mailman/listinfo/users
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> Frank Cohen, PushToTest, http://www.PushToTest.com <http://
>> www.pushtotest.com/> <http://
>>>>> www.pushtotest.com/> , phone 408 374 7426
>>>>>> TestMaker: The open-source SOA test automation tool
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> Users mailing list
>>>>>> Users at lists.pushtotest.com
>>>>>> http://lists.pushtotest.com/mailman/listinfo/users
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> Users mailing list
>>>>>> Users at lists.pushtotest.com
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>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Frank Cohen, PushToTest, http://www.PushToTest.com <http://
>> www.pushtotest.com/> <http://
>>>>> www.pushtotest.com/> , phone 408 374 7426
>>>>> TestMaker: The open-source SOA test automation tool
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Users mailing list
>>>>> Users at lists.pushtotest.com
>>>>> http://lists.pushtotest.com/mailman/listinfo/users
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Users mailing list
>>>>> Users at lists.pushtotest.com
>>>>> http://lists.pushtotest.com/mailman/listinfo/users
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Frank Cohen, PushToTest, http://www.PushToTest.com <http://
>> www.pushtotest.com/> , phone 408 374
>>> 7426
>>>> TestMaker: The open-source SOA test automation tool
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Users mailing list
>>>> Users at lists.pushtotest.com
>>>> http://lists.pushtotest.com/mailman/listinfo/users
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> <recorder.tgz>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Frank Cohen, PushToTest, http://www.PushToTest.com <http://
>> www.pushtotest.com/> , phone 408 374 7426
>> TestMaker: The open-source SOA test automation tool
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Frank Cohen, PushToTest, http://www.PushToTest.com, phone 408 374 7426
> TestMaker: The open-source SOA test automation tool
>
>
>
>
>
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--
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TestMaker: The open-source SOA test automation tool
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