eValid™ -- Automated Web Quality Solution Browser-Based, Client-Side, Functional Testing & Validation, Load & Performance Tuning, Page Timing, Website Analysis, and Rich Internet Application Monitoring.

General Description
This eValid data synthesis playback mode allows a single parameterized script to play back many instances with parametric values selected from a simple user-assigned value table. The eValid data synthesis option is different from the eVgenerate facility in these ways:

• It retrieves data from a simple line by line table.
• The number of repetitions is determined by the length of the data table.
• All of data combinations implied by the data table are run in a series of repeat playbacks of the test script.
• Data choices are specifically deterministic and constrained, vs. all combinations or random selection.
• The complexity of the script modification is restricted and simplified.

Data Table
The Test Data Synthesis table has a very simple format.

• Each line corresponds to one set of values for one test.
• Values are assigned using the name of the parameter for which substitution will be done.
• The playback script itself specifies the name of the file to use for extraction of parametric values.

Script Modification Required
Two forms of script modification are needed to implement the eValid Test Data Synthesis Option:

1. Instances of fields to be replaced within the script have to be parameterized, using the structure $PARAMETER.
2. The data file from which the expansions are going to be made has to be created, in the format:

   ...$PARA1=valueA...  ...$PARA2=valueA...
   ...$PARA1=valueB...  ...$PARA2=valueB...
   ...$PARA1=valueC...  ...$PARA2=valueC...
   

3. The script must indicate the name of the file from which to draw the values, using the special eValid command:

   DataSynthesisFile "filename"
   

4. Playback must be done with the "Run Synthesized" option available from the Playback Mode selection. In this mode eValid will run the script a number of times equal to the number of lines found in the declared DataSynthesisFile.
5. Playback of the script always proceeds n=1, n=2, ... n=N. In other words, the first line is used first...and the last line is used last.

Complete Example
Here is an example Test Data Synthesis table that specifies values for use in running a test of a site login sequence.

$ACCOUNT=firstuser $PASSWORD=gobbler
$ACCOUNT=seconduser $PASSWORD=hatchet
$ACCOUNT=WonderBread $PASSWORD=goofy
$ACCOUNT=george $PASSWORD=superprogrammer

Here is a fragment of an eValid script that shows use of the parameters that are supplied by the Test Data Synthesis table.

# Regular eValid Playback Script
 ...
DataSynthesisFile "example.txt"
 ...
GoToLink ...URL...?Account=$ACCOUNT & Password=$PASSWORD...
...

The Test Data Synthesis table has four lines, so when you invoke eValid's Data Synthesis Playback Mode using the Playback Mode > Control Playback > Run Synthesized you will automatically run the specified script four times, one each for the combinations of values in the table.

Logfile Response
The logfiles generated are the SAME as if you used the Run Multiple playback option: Each sequential playback is separated in the logfiles as if there were separate tests being run.

Note that in case the Data Synthesis File is not found, this will be noted as an error message in the event log. Without a Data Synthesis File defined, playback of the script with $PARAMETERS will likely fail.

Special Characters
Special characters can be substituted for these characters:

Constraints and Limitations