LoadGen Cloud 2024-Q4

2024 December 19

We are excited to announce the LoadGen Cloud 2024 Q4 release. This update brings many new features, improvements, and fixes that enhance the overall performance and user experience. Our team has diligently incorporated user feedback to ensure this release meets your needs.

Introducing Control value extraction with LastControlValue in LoadGen Studio

We are pleased to announce a new feature in LoadGen Studio that enhances validation capabilities within your workloads. You can now extract the value of a UI control during validation and store it in the variable LastControlValue. This allows for dynamic verification of UI elements during test execution, enabling you to check if a control holds the expected value. By leveraging this feature, you can create more robust and responsive workloads, ensuring that applications are thoroughly evaluated under simulated user interactions. Read more about Control validations in this article.

Other new features

• Control validation ClassNames and AutomationIDs: When collecting the controls to set up the Control validation, we now display not only the control's name but also its ClassName and AutomationID.
• MouseMove action variable support: The 'MouseMove' action in LoadGen Studio now supports variables, allowing for dynamic positioning and more flexible test scripting.
• CPU Performance task multithreading: We've introduced support for multithreaded CPU performance tasks with timeout settings, enabling more comprehensive performance testing scenarios.
• IO location: IO action allows the user to perform the IO operation on a designated directory (or share).
• IntelliSense and Syntax Highlighting: Enhancements to IntelliSense functionality and syntax highlighting in free code sections improve the coding experience within LoadGen Studio.
• .NET 8 Compatibility: LoadGen Studio now includes built-in checks for .NET 8 compatibility, ensuring your testing environment is current with the latest framework standards.

These new features and enhancements are designed to provide a more robust and user-friendly experience, enabling you to conduct performance testing with greater efficiency and precision.

Frontend Improvements

• Several cosmetic changes.
• LoadGen Insight: The first LoadGen Insight customers are using LoadGen Insight. If you want to try out LoadGen Insight, please let us know: https://www.loadgen.com/insight

LoadGen Studio

• Control Validation 'nth' setting corrected: The 'nth' control setting no longer accepts a value of 0, preventing configuration errors.
• 'LastControlValue' availability restored: The 'LastControlValue' variable is now accessible in the 'Select Case' construct.
• Control Depth limitation implemented: Control validation now respects specified control depth limits, enhancing performance.
• ControlName addition to validation pane: The 'ControlName' field has been added to the Control Validation pane for better identification.
• Playwright integration issue fixed: Compatibility issues with the latest Playwright version have been resolved.
• Cloud Mode publishing distinction enforced: In Cloud mode, a strict distinction in workloads during publishing is now maintained.
• Auto-update functionality restored: The auto-update feature in Studio operates correctly.
• Variable names translation corrected: Translation of variable names to their values functions as intended.
• Base64 Converter accuracy improved: The Base64 converter works correctly with strings like Edge and Word.
• The control validation opening issue was resolved: Opening control validation no longer results in 'Parameter not valid' errors.
• New FreeCode .NET Editor integrated: We have switched to a new way of creating your own methods as FreeCode actions.
• ControlFullPreviewImage size managed: The 'ControlFullPreviewImage' no longer becomes excessively large.
• The skip option in control validation saving has been fixed. The 'Skip' option now saves the control depth as configured.
• OCR/QR Validation copy-paste enabled: It is now possible to copy and paste OCR/QR validations across multiple actions.
• MouseMove copy-paste order corrected: Copying and pasting no longer places 'MouseMove' actions at the bottom.
• MouseMove variable support added: The 'MouseMove' action now supports variables for dynamic positioning.
• Control found occurrence default set to 1: The default occurrence for 'Control found' and 'OCR found' is now set to 1 instead of 0.
• QR/OCR validation area saving fixed: The specified area in QR and OCR validations is now saved correctly.
• Start Process quotes check implemented: The 'Start Process' action now checks for quotes, preventing errors.
• The application disabling issue has been resolved. Applications with the same name in the General Simulation Flow can now be properly disabled.
• Control value assignment to variables implemented: A control's value can now be assigned directly to a variable, enhancing dynamic interaction within workflows.
• WebTesting connection stability improved: WebTesting no longer frequently displays 'You are not connected' messages, ensuring a more stable testing environment.
• Command-line parameter handling corrected: Issues with command-line parameters in the 'Start Application' action, especially when using quotes, have been resolved.
• Exception handling in 'Bring to Top' and 'Repeat Loop' fixed: Exceptions causing corruption in these actions have been addressed.
• QR code detection reliability has been enhanced. There have been fewer instances of QR codes not being found.
• .NET 8 compatibility ensured: Studio now includes checks for .NET 8 compatibility, replacing previous .NET 6 checks.
• WebTesting recording efficiency improved: WebTesting recordings no longer save unnecessary extra clicks, streamlining the recording process.
• CPU Performance Task multithreading support added: Support for multithreaded CPU performance tasks with timeouts has been implemented.
• IntelliSense and syntax highlighting in FreeCode enhanced: IntelliSense functionality and syntax highlighting in free code sections have been improved for a better coding experience.
• Functional test execution corrected: Functional tests perform full test runs as expected.
• Wizard resizing and anchoring issues fixed: To make the UI more responsive, we have addressed resizing and anchoring problems in wizards.

LoadGen Cloud Agent

• Web Testing Playback issue resolved: The Core Agent now correctly plays web tests following the latest Playwright update.
• Local Client Sheet retrieval fixed: The Local Client Sheet now returns the expected list of clients.
• Variable assignment corrected: The LastValidationX and LastValidationY variables are now properly assigned during OCR and QR operations.
• OCR and QR Timeout functionality restored: Timeout settings for OCR and QR validations operate as intended.
• WebAPI stability enhanced: The Cloud Agent's stability has been improved, preventing stoppages related to WebAPI issues.
• Variable overwrites issues addressed: Global and local variables maintain integrity across sessions without unintended overwrites.
• CEF# Package updated: The Chromium Embedded Framework (CEF#) has been updated to the latest version for improved performance and security.
• Cryptographic Exception resolved: The Core Agent no longer encounters  System.Security.Cryptography.CryptographicException errors.
• Playwright permissions corrected: Missing permissions on the ARM folder for Playwright have been added, ensuring seamless operation.
• .NET 8.0 Runtime: All necessary packages for the Core Agent are updated, preventing operational disruptions.

We encourage all users to update their LoadGen Suite to benefit from these improvements and new features. As always, we appreciate your feedback and look forward to continuing to enhance LoadGen in future releases.