On IxLoad Configurations and TestComposer Scripts
A TestComposer script is a complex, multi-steps sequence of commands and flow instructions.
A TestComposer script comprises one or more steps of the following types:
- Protocol commands: Device commands issued for a variety of different protocol interfaces, including Telnet, SSH1/SSH2/SSHAuto, CmdTool, TclSh, TL1, COM, Raw, CSVAnalyzer, IxEmail and Reporter.
For some commands, a GUI-based Response Template Editor allows you to define templates for the response expected from the device. At runtime, such a Response Template is then used for parsing and retrieving parameters from the command output.
There is a limit to the number of characters that you can capture in the command string. If you exceed the limit the command is ignored or some part of the command may not be captured. At present you can enter upto 100 characters, depending on the device that is used for this session. This limit also includes the prompt of the terminal, the longer the prompt, the shorter the command that can be entered.
- Events: For every TestComposer script, a default IxLoad session that connects to an IxLoad Tcl server is automatically created. This default session supports a number of predefined IxLoad events for configuring test ports, applying IxLoad test configuration files, starting protocol traffic, launching tests, and retrieving test run results.
- Flow control instructions: Common programming instructions such as If, For, While, Break permit the branching of the script flow based on the evaluation of a criterion associated with the step.
- Procedures: Scripts having been created in the TestComposer plugin and saved as procedure resources in the resources database can be imported as procedures into other TestComposer scripts. External procedure resources can also be called from a script using a RunProcedure control step.
Procedures can also be defined within the body of a script and can be called locally, without the need for saving them to the database.
A TestComposer script can have an associated pass/fail criterion that determines if the script executed successfully or not. Complex pass/fail criterion expressions can be created using an Expression Builder GUI that supports the creation of expressions based on TestComposer variables, and Tcl commands and operators.
A TestComposer script is saved as part of an IxLoad configuration (repository) and can be accessed only from the test that contains it, or it can be saved as a procedure resource. When saved as a procedure resource, the script can be re-used across multiple TestComposer scripts.
When contained in an IxLoad configuration, a TestComposer script can be run from any context of IxLoad, or it can be executed as a custom test from the Quick Tests IxLoad configuration page.
IxLoad TestComposer │ User Guide |