Mercury Interactive

Mercury Interactive are market leading suppliers of commercial test automation tools. They provide a wide range of tools addressing functional testing, load testing and performance monitoring. Their products include WinRunner and LoadRunner.

WinRunner

WinRunner is used for functional testing of applications. Testing simulates a user interacting with the Windows graphical user interface. Powerful functions are provided to allow tests to interact with the user interface - to obtain information from it and to apply inputs to it.  WinRunner can record an operator using with the system. These recodings can be used as building blocks for test development. A flexible scripting language TSL, derived from C, allows the development of sophisticated testware.

LoadRunner

LoadRunner is a load simulation tool. Many virtual users ( VUsers ) can be operated each simulating a real user of the system. As a load generator the tool can be used to assess the performance of the system under simulated load or to apply stress to the system to test its integrity.

LoadRunner provides powerful facilities for managing the execution of VUsers allowing scenarios to simulate different patterns and levels of usage. The tool includes facilities to monitor and analyse system response times and to record the use of resources by the system. A flexible analysis tool allows clear presentation of the information gathered during test runs.

A VUser operates at the protocol level simulating traffic from the client to the server. Industry standard protocols for example HTTP and ODBC are explicitly supported by LoadRunner. Furthermore any protocol that communicates over a windows socket can be supported. LoadRunner provides a recording tool for capturing periods of interaction between a real client and the server. The C language functions recorded are enhanced to provide test scripts.

SQC Capabilities

Channel Alliance Partners

SQC are members of the Mercury Interactive Channel Alliance Partner program. Members of the program are specialist companies providing professional services and training to users of Mercury products. We specialise in providing professional services to enable users to make effective use of the Mercury tools.

Qualified Professionals

In 2003 Mercury established the Certified Product Consultant (CPC) qualification scheme. The CPC qualifications demand detailed product knowledge and an ability to use the products to solve real problems. The CPC rigour is such that when Mercury clients work with CPC qualified personnel they are assured that they are working with proven consultants with knowledge and ability that sets them apart and the capability to do the job right ( see Mercury web-site Certification Programs ).

With CPC qualified personnel available for both WinRunner and LoadRunner we can provide high quality professional services support to Mercury users. Our knowledge of testing ( see Software Assurance section ) and of test automation ( see Software Test Automation section ) means the support we offer goes beyond basic use.  We are able to support clients developing demanding test solutions. We are experts in the use of WinRunner TSL scripting and LoadRunner scripting.

Our Professional Services

There are many different aspects to address when deploying automated test tools. These include:- understanding the tool and what it can do, deciding what the tool should be used for, implementing testware to address the problems and avoiding or overcoming the niggles that can plague automated testing. A Mercury client can benefit by using support and consultancy from SQC to:

• Provide project specific consultancy on the use of the tools. Helping users to choose how to use the tools to meet project objectives.
• Give guidance on approaches to implementing testware for particular test tasks.
• Ensure the test automation tests what needs to be tested. Avoiding the pitfall of testing the things that are easy to test using the tool whilst missing things that the test should really be targeting.
• Develop initial testware in conjunction with the in-house personnel and to provide mentoring thoughout the project on the use of the tool.
• Develop specific test suites on behalf of the client.
• Help client personnel overcome technical problems they encounter when implementing particular tests.

When large numbers of re-usable tests are required testware needs to move beyond individual standalone test scripts. Appropriate testware architectures and re-use of testware components becomes essential to the success of the automation exercise. With our experience of a wide variety of automated testing SQC consultancy will assist clients who need to develop large, rigorous and robust test solutions using Mercury tools.