LOAD TESTING ON XCELSIUS DATA Prepared for Md. Sazzad Hossain Assistant Professor Department of EECS North South University Group members: Shah Yaser Maqnoon Nadvi 0930728050 Syed Rownak Ehsan 1010947050 1
LOAD TESTING ON XCELSIUS DATA Objective: Use a suitable software to perform a load test on the data structure of the Xcelsisus. Goal is to find out how xcelsius handles load under different data structure, i.e. Excel sheet with and without formula. Method used: We have designed two different types of excel sheet to feed data into Xcelsius. Type 1: Some very basic data but all these data are calculated using formula. Type 2: Exactly the same data from Type 1 but in this case the data are not calculated using any formula. We then designed an xcelsius model and we have used both the data types into the same model. After compiling the output file, we used LoadRunner to determine the number of transaction occurred for both the data types. This document contains introduction to Xcelsius and LoadRunner as these two tools are used for this project. LoadRunner: HP LoadRunner software is an automated performance and load testing product from Hewlett-Packard for examining system behavior and performance, while generating actual load. HP LoadRunner can emulate hundreds or thousands of concurrent users to put the application through the rigors of real-life user loads, while collecting information from key infrastructure components (Web servers, database servers etc.) The results can then be analyzed in detail, to explore the reasons for particular behavior. 2
HP LoadRunner consists of several different tools: Virtual User Generator (VuGen), Controller, load generators, Analysis and Launches. But for our purpose we will not go into all these tools and instead will concentrate on finding the load that it can test. Xcelsius: Crystal Xcelsius (CX) is a data visualization design tool that displays summary-level business data in a visually rich and intuitive format that allows users to analyze and interact with their data in order to make better business decisions. CX is first and foremost a visualization and presentation tool; it is not a back-end reporting tool, nor is it a sophisticated data modeling or integration package. While CX does allow for data manipulation and transformation, it is solely for the purpose of visualization and interactivity purposes, versus more advanced data transformation type functionality, such as Data Integrator, also available from Business Objects. Since Xcelsius is the primary focus in our project I will briefly summarize how this works. How does it work? Crystal Xcelsius uses a unique combination of Microsoft Excel, as a data modeling tool, and Macromedia Flash Player, as the rendering engine, to compile dynamic visualizations via its proprietary Crystal Xcelsius Designer. Before you dismiss CX as a toy because it uses Excel for data modeling, let me emphasize the word DESIGNER in the previous sentence. Within Crystal Xcelsius, Excel is used solely as a data design tool to help integrate and manipulate data into a format that is easy to bind to and that is used for common charting and data visualization components. 3
Test method: For this project we have devised a very simple way to perform the desired test. Below I have mentioned our technique for our test. 1. Design the excel file with formula. 2. Design another excel file without foumula 3. Design the Xcelsius model 4. Use the same xcelsius model for both the data type 5. Use load runner to create a scenario 6. Analyse the number of transaction. 1. Desing the excel file with formula. For this, we have designed a very simple excel file that contains a lot of formula. Below I have attached the screen shot of the excel file below. We can clearly see that the cells here have formula. 4
2. Design another excel file without formula: Next we designed another excel file with exactly the same set of data but there was no formula involved with any of the cells. 3. Design the Xcelsius model: Next step was to design the xcelsius model. Check the screen shot below. 4. Use the same xcelsius model for both the data type: For this, we used the same Xcelsius model but imported the excel file without the formula ( TYPE 2) 5. Use load runner to create a scenario Now we use load runner to create the scenario for testing. Below I have attached the screen shots of the main process steps. All the minor details/steps are excluded. Click New, and the following screen will appear. Select Web (Click and Script). Since we will be testing the flash file only, this is the option we will have to pick. 5
For the next step we will have to simulate of what we will test. In the following screen shot, in the mentioned fields, we have to provide the URL of our site. 6
Next step, we will use the file we are testing. As you can see the load runner is recording all the events( In this case, mouse clicks) 7
Now Load runner replays the scripts and it makes sure that the recorded event is replayed successfully. Next, we have to assign the number of users for the Load test. In this case we have set it to 12 8
The next screen shot shows the load runner window. This window sets up the final environment for the test to begin. In our case, the scenario is.. Number of user : 12 Start time for all users: Simultaneously End time: 4 every 30 seconds. Total Runtime: 2 minutes 30 seconds. 9
The next screen shot showing the window and the analysis graph while the load runner is running all the 12 users we have assigned. What is important for us to notice that the top right corner we have the scenario status. This scenario status gives us the number of transaction for the test which we will require. 10
6. Analyze the number of transaction. As we had two files for analysis, the result is mentioned below This next table displays the details of the data file that contained formula. Passed transaction for this one is 2035175 This table here displays the details of the data file that contained NO formula. We can clearly see that passed transaction for this one is 2040022 Conclusion Xcelsius is still not as popular as other developing tools but the popularity is gaining day by day. So it is important for us to know how well xcelsius will handle the load. In this project we were 11
tried to find out that how a heavy data sheet with formula work for xcelsius compared to the data sheet without the formula. We could clearly see that the excel sheet that had no formula had more transactions than the one that had formula. 12