Knowledge Base

Action Message Format (AMF) Testing

by Community Manager on 07-06-2011 11:22 AM - last edited on 07-07-2011 07:17 PM by Community Manager

CloudTest provides Action Message Format (AMF) test support via the Recording Editor. Simply launch the Recording Editor, launch the browser to record from and point it at your AMF-based HTTP site or service. The Recording Editor will automatically decode AMF messages such as those between ActionScript objects and AMF services that it encounters during an HTTP(S) recording and then present content in plain text within the Recording Editor, Message Editor, and in test results.

  
  1. Create the HTTP(S) Recording

To get started, use the following steps:

    1. Start your SOASTA Conductor.

      Note: If a SOASTA Conductor is not installed on the client machine, install one using the link in the lower-left, and then start it before proceeding. See Installing SOASTA Conductor for help.
    2. In the Central list, select HTTP(S) Message Recording and then click New.
    3. The Recording Editor, New HTTP(S) Message Recording page appears.

    1. Optionally, enter a recording name other than the default or specify a Save Location.
    2. Select the Conductor you started above from the Available Conductors list.

Note: The Conductor Status you select must indicate “connected”.

  1. Specify a Recording Method. Either HTTP(S) Recording or Packet-level Recording.
  2. Launch the browser window from which you will record.
  3. Click the Record button.

 
  1. Convert the AMF-based Recording to a Test Clip

Once you have a recording for your AMF-based site(s), use the following conversion steps to create a test clip.

  1. Apply filters to the recording, and when ready, click Convert to a Clip. The Create a Test Clip from a Recording Wizard appears.
  2. Enter a clip name and select a clip timing type (use Sequenced if you’re unsure) and then click Next. The Bursts and Think Times page appears.
  3. Choose whether to Insert Think Times (accept the default if you’re unsure) and then click Next.
  4. The Match Targets to Recording Messages page appears. If targets for your HTTP site(s) exist, they will be detected here for a match. If not you can create them in the next step. In either case, click Next.
  5. The Create New Targets page appears.

    Review the New Targets (they should correlate to the site(s) that were recorded). Click Next again. The Create Clip page appears.
  6. In the Next Steps section, choose Go to the Clip Editor in order to inspect messages in the AMF-based test clip.
  
  1. Editing and Playing an AMF-based Message in the Clip Editor

Viewing and editing an AMF message is the same as any other HTTP message within CloudTest.

    1. With the AMF-based test clip open in the Clip Editor, select a message that you’d like to edit and then double-click it.

The selected message is opened in the sub-pane with the tab title Selected: <MessageName> active. Note that the decoded content is
presented as plain text just as with any other message.


 
  1. You can edit the message here by navigating through the nodes in the sub-pane tree.

  1. Play the message by clicking the Play button on the sub-pane toolbar. The tab will switch to Results when the response is received.

When you play a message in the Clip Editor, if it has the AMF content-type, CloudTest will automatically encode it before sending the request. Similarly, message responses are decoded before they display in the Message Editor sub-pane of the Clip Editor. The decoded response will also be displayed in results (such as in the Result Details widget).

Note the "Content-Type: application/x-amf" header indicating the AMF type in the screenshot above.

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