The Free-format Request Editor is used for parameterizing requests without preserving their name/value structure if it exists. This is the only parameterization control available for requests that do not have a name/value structure. Here are a few examples of such requests:

  • GET request query string does not conform to the format ?<name>=<value>.
  • GET requests with Restful URLs.
  • POST request body that includes XML or JSON.
  • POST request body that includes binary, such as WCF binary or AMF encoding.

Use the Free-format Request Editor similar to the Parameterization Editor. To edit data, select a value (a) that should be replaced and right-click. Then select a source variable in the Variable Picker (b). The color-coded read-only variable control (c) will be inserted. it has the following format (c):

{{<variable>}}<value>

where:

<variable> is the name of the variable selected in the variable picker; 

<value> is the recorded value.

 When you finish editing, click Save (d).


Concatenating variables

To concatenate two variables, after inserting the first variable, place the cursor at the end of the first variable control, right-click and select the second variable in the Variable Picker. The second variable control will be inserted.

Parameterizing WCF binary requests:

  • You can parameterize textual tokens embedded into binary requests, such as AMF requests used in Flash and AIR applications. A token can be surrounded by a binary unreadable message. Just select the recorded token, right-click and in the variable picker, select a variable to replace the token.
  • WCF binary requests can be parameterized as easily as regular text encoded requests because StresStimulus decodes them and displays them as text. The message "Format: WCF binary" will appear on the toolbar.

Parameterizing RESTful requests:

To parameterize a RESTful GET request (without a query string), replace any sub-string of the URL with a variable. For example, if you recorded the request http://example.com/resources/item01 , then you can replace the "item01" with a dataset value or extractor.



Other Options

Right-clicking on a parameter will bring up a context menu with multiple options:

  • Restore to Recorded: Deletes the parameter and restores the original recorded value.
  • Create more like this: Shows a dialog to create similar parameters as the one selected. For more, click here.
  • Remove parameters like this: Deletes all parameters that use the same variable source (extractor, dataset, data generator, function, or scriptable variable ) as the selected parameter.

Changing requests with name/value structure 

  • Requests with a name/value structure can be modified using the Free-format Request Editor.

    Switching to Free-format Request Editor

    Starting with v5.7, any parameters created with Parameterization Grid or Parameterization Editor will not be lost when switching to Free-format Request Editor.

  • When switching from the Free-format Request Editor back to the Parameterization Editor or Parameterization Grid, all changes will be reverted to their recorded state.


Note: After creating at least one free-format parameter in the response, you can no longer safely edit it. If you change the response in the session inspector and click Save, you will receive a warning.

If changes you made in the response are positioned after the Free-format parameter, then such changes will not break the parameter.




  • No labels