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

Main Idea: eValid can monitor searching for, downloading, and delivery of a video object, using certain kinds of synchronization schemes based on observing the behavior of the video player.

Introduction
This page presents a script that can be used to monitor a YouTube Video. To illustrate how this is done we have created a playback script that:

• Starts at a page from which you can search for a specific video.
• Searches for it and confirms that the expected result if found.
• Launches the video playback after synchronizing on a starting screen.
• Times how long the playback takes by synchronizing on elements of the viewer display.
• Confirms the "end of movie" as a final validation step.

Script Description
Here are the steps involved in the sequence (the actual script is given below).

1. Creating a Monitoring .evs script for a multimedia website by going to YouTube:

   

2. Input a "Search" for a unique Video to monitor Start/Stop Times:

   

3. Await your results after clicking on the "Search" link:

   

4. Select a unique "START" to synchronize rectangular area (i.e. blank area):

   

5. When the video finishes playing select a unique "Stop" synchronize rectangle area (i.e. appearence of the "replay" or 02:00/02:00 black box):

   

6. A successful playback generates the following GREEN flag:

   

7. Sample of Manually inserted "ElapsedTime" markers...

   

8. Sample of Video specific "PlayValue" command settings for synchronization effects:

   

9. Sample of "Event Log" details on the screen rectangle synchronization:

   

10. Sample of "Timing Log" details relating to the Start/Stop timer checks:

    

11. Sample of the final Youtube.evs script file, note "SyncOnText" additions:

    

Script Details
This is the originally recorded script as used in this illustration. Over a period of time, regression to the website have been overcome by index motion script command updates, as shown below.

# Recording by eValid™ # Copyright © 2010 by Software Research, Inc. # Recording made on: Microsoft Windows XP # ProjectID "Project" GroupID "Group" TestID "1-youtube" LogID "DEFAULT" PlayValue _PI 10 PlayValue _PJ 150000 PlayValue _PV 0 ScreenSize 1280 1024 FontSize 2 DeleteCache DeleteCookies InitLink "http://www.youtube.com/" SyncOnElementProperty 0 "id" "footer-search-term" "" IndexSet 0 IndexFindElement 0 DOWN "id" "masthead-search-term" "" IndexInputValue 0 "TEXT" "Leo Kottke Vaseline Machine Gun 70ies" "" "" IndexMove +3 IndexSubmitClick 0 "" ResetTimer #Wait 3084 SyncOnText 0 "Machine" "" FollowLink 0 181 "Leo Kottke - Vaseline Machine Gun" "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tew_fIhz3eY" "" WindowPos 0 0 0 980 724 clSyncRect 0 112 456 42 44 0 ElapsedTime "Start" ### Synced on the "replay" rectangular area for ending... WindowPos 0 0 0 980 724 clSyncRect 0 342 119 131 88 997127 ### #NOTE: CHECKSUM value(s) will/may differ from desktop to desktop, #please see your event log upon any errors and adjust accordingly. ### ElapsedTime "Stop" #End of Script.