LloydMc
asked on
Web Load Testing Tool Causing Exceptions
Hello,
I'm trying to load test my asp.net application. I've tried using MS ACT and Red Gate's Ants Load tools, but using either one causes my app to generate alot of exceptions. I'm recording a script and running it with 5 simultaneous connections. The exceptions only seem to be occuring in a couple of pages and I'm not sure why since this does not happen in normal operation(I know - stress testing isn't 'normal operation'). This may seem silly, but is it simply because my app uses forms authentication and I really need separate scripts for each virtual user? If this is the case, why isn't it effecting all pages?
I'm trying to figure out if the load tools have exposed a serious issue in the application or if some scenerios just can't be included in the testing. I know I'm not giving much detailed info here, but I just want to get some direction from anyone with experience using stress testing tools.
I'm trying to load test my asp.net application. I've tried using MS ACT and Red Gate's Ants Load tools, but using either one causes my app to generate alot of exceptions. I'm recording a script and running it with 5 simultaneous connections. The exceptions only seem to be occuring in a couple of pages and I'm not sure why since this does not happen in normal operation(I know - stress testing isn't 'normal operation'). This may seem silly, but is it simply because my app uses forms authentication and I really need separate scripts for each virtual user? If this is the case, why isn't it effecting all pages?
I'm trying to figure out if the load tools have exposed a serious issue in the application or if some scenerios just can't be included in the testing. I know I'm not giving much detailed info here, but I just want to get some direction from anyone with experience using stress testing tools.
ASKER
venki,
Some of the exceptions are invalid object references which point to session vars, but many errors related to the LosFormatter class occur as well. The LosFormatter exceptions would seem to point to some issue with viewstate. The page which throws the LosFormatter exceptions contains user controls which render hyper links with encrypted query strings. The encrypted query strings are generated by server side script blocks within the html.
Some of the exceptions are invalid object references which point to session vars, but many errors related to the LosFormatter class occur as well. The LosFormatter exceptions would seem to point to some issue with viewstate. The page which throws the LosFormatter exceptions contains user controls which render hyper links with encrypted query strings. The encrypted query strings are generated by server side script blocks within the html.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
ASKER
Andy,
I was previously using HttpUtility.UrlEncode on the encrypted query strings and replacing it with Server.HtmlEncode seemed to stop the runtime exceptions when running the app within the load testing script, however, the load testing tool seems to be capturing those same exceptions as http request errors. When I expand the descriptions for these errors, they reference server side objects, strange. As before, I do not get these exceptions when running the application normally. It's as if the Server.HtmlEncode encoding method causes the load testing script to swallow these errors so they don't bubble up to my central error handler in my global asax file.
I was previously using HttpUtility.UrlEncode on the encrypted query strings and replacing it with Server.HtmlEncode seemed to stop the runtime exceptions when running the app within the load testing script, however, the load testing tool seems to be capturing those same exceptions as http request errors. When I expand the descriptions for these errors, they reference server side objects, strange. As before, I do not get these exceptions when running the application normally. It's as if the Server.HtmlEncode encoding method causes the load testing script to swallow these errors so they don't bubble up to my central error handler in my global asax file.
what kind of exceptions are you getting? can you give me more information on it.
regards
venki