Combining non-standard protocols in a single script that are not listed in Multi-Protocol selection

Posted: April 21st, 2008 | Author: TnT Admin | Filed under: How-Tos | Tags: , , , | 5 Comments »

Have you ever wanted a combination of two separate protocols that were unavailable in the list of multi-protocol? For example, part of the web application has streaming video component and the activities to be recorded requires you to login, conduct some verification before you have the video link for the user to click. If you need to test the entire flow, you may want to have Media Player (MMS) with Web (HTTP/HTML) combined together to emulate the activities.

By default, when you are about to select the protocols from Multi-Protocol selection, you won’t be able to combine both of them together as illustrated below. (Click on image to enlarge).

However, there are means to do that! Basically, what you need to do is to enable the protocol to be displayed in the “New Multiple Protocol Script” list when creating a “New Virtual User”. Let’s go through the technical overview:

    1. Go to {installation}\dat\protocols. By default, it’s C:\Program Files\LoadRunner\dat\protocols
    2. Open the desired protocol file that has the.lrp file extension. (E.g. mms.lrp)
    3. Amend parameter, Multi in the .lrp file from 0 to 1. E.g. Multi=0 to Multi=1
    4. Open Vugen for a new vuser script and you should be able to see the enabled protocol in the list “New Multiple Protocol Script”.

You should be able to see the enabled protocol similar to the following screenshot. (Click on image to enlarge).

Click on the link if you need a sample of the files; You need to rename the file to mms.lrp and place it in {installation}\dat\protocols if you want to use it

Note:

Having provided the above, you will still need a basic understanding on how the combined script will be executed. Both protocol will execute as it is of it’s own where (1) Web (HTTP/HTML) will still allow the HTTP sends and receives when the Web (HTTP/HTML) APIs are executed and (2) Media Player (MMS) will make a direct connection to the Media Server (or publishing point) that will stream the video down when executing the Media Player (MMS) APIs. HTTP communication will stop from there till the streaming completes. You can refer to a previous article, “Introducing Media Player (MMS) protocol in LoadRunner!“.

I’ve only tried with Web (HTTP/HTML) and Media Player (MMS). I’ve yet to try other combination of protocols. If you do have given a try before, it will be great to hear from too! As for the licensing, I’m not too sure if this is a breach in the license. Will be great to hear from the experts or vendor on this!

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5 Comments on “Combining non-standard protocols in a single script that are not listed in Multi-Protocol selection”

  1. 1 Ed Sauer said at 2:37 am on October 25th, 2008:

    I had to combine RTE and WAP back in VuGen 7.5. It was quite involved and since then the underlying files have changed going to 8.x. At the time Mercury SE told me that it was something they had not seen before. He did not address the licensing aspect. Basically once you record the RTE script you add in the WAP code. Then you have to modify the protocol file C:\Program Files\Mercury Interactive\Mercury LoadRunner\dat\mdrv\mdrv_rte.dat and add WAP (or the protocol you want to add like smtp or QTWeb) to the list on the UtilityExt=lrun_api line. And modify the C:\Program Files\Mercury Interactive\Mercury LoadRunner\dat\protocols\RTE.lrp file [VuGen] section by modifying the CFG_TAB_XML and CFG_TAB_DLL lines so that they include the information found in their counterparts found in the protocol you want to add. This will give you the runtime settings for both protocols. I believe that it may cause some HP support folks to take the quick route and deny support because of the modifications, but others may be more accepting.

  2. 2 TnT Admin said at 4:05 pm on October 26th, 2008:

    Thanks Ed! Yup, agreed that nowadays the support team shy away from making advance modifications of the underlying files and only stick to documentations…

  3. 3 Kumar said at 4:20 am on February 5th, 2009:

    Hi, How can we generate script if the application development has not been completed. to be more precise, if i have to do performance testing of the appliaction which has not been developed completly then how can we go ahead. Do we need to write API create script. And if yes, then for Java applictaion do we need to write Java API and for .net application, .net API etc. Please suggect.

  4. 4 TnT Admin said at 11:09 pm on February 21st, 2009:

    Hi Kumar,

    For a start, recording is the best option as it saves more time. The fundamental thing for working on scripts is understanding the protocol. You might want to refer to our previous article, “Which protocol to use?” to get an better understanding working on the scripts.

  5. 5 Machindra Jogdand said at 1:55 pm on May 14th, 2009:

    I want to record NWBC application for SAP. It uses NWBCClient.exe file to start the application. Inside application we get web application (I am not sure wheter its web app, Flex etc application inside).
    I am not able to get exact protocol for recording. If multiple protocols help then please explain how to record for this application.

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