We fixed the last of the beta-blockers and TestMaker 5 will be released on Monday. We are now working on release notes and tutorials.

I am planning to record a screencast to show TestMaker 4 users the changes and improvements in TestMaker 5. Below is the draft script that I came up with. Feel free to comment and offer changes and improvements. I am also thinking that this script will become part of the tutorial documents that come with TestMaker 5.

Welcome To The PushToTest TestMaker Version 5 Screencast. I am Frank Cohen, the founder and CEO of PushToTest.

PushToTest TestMaker is a platform for Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), Web service, and Web application governance and test automation. PushToTest TestMaker 5 delivers ease-of-use improvements and powerful root cause analysis and remediation solutions.

This screencast is for existing TestMaker users to explain the new features and changes.

First of all, you should know that TM 5 is backwardly compatible to TM4 scripts (show running the soap example script.) We also fixed several-long standing issues from TM 4, including the jCookie problem with international non-top-level domains. By the way, we have a new bug tracking service at bugs.pushtotest.com. (show it)

We were very happy to get InfoWorld's Excellent (8.7) rating on TM 4, (show it.) We often hear how powerful TM is and that power comes with a learning curve. We responded by focusing our efforts on making TM 5 easier-of-use and increasing its power.

We made TM5 easier in 3 ways:

First, TM 5 integrates TestGen4Web (show it) TestGen4Web is a plug-in to Firefox from our friends at Spikesource. The plug-in makes it easy to visually record unit tests of a Web application. TM5 turns these unit tests into functional tests, load tests, and service monitors.

For those of you that are unable to use Firefox, TM5 continues its support for the network Proxy Recorder system that watches you use Microsoft Internet Explorer or your desktop applications and writes a unit test script for you. (Click the New Agent icon to see these options.)

A second way we made TM5 easier is in our expanded support for languages. TestMaker 4 supports writing tests in Java and Jython. Jython is a 100% Java implementation of the Python language. Three years ago we began our effort to bring scripting for test creation on the Java platform to the world. TM is now the biggest distribution of the Jython scripting language. Our efforts have paid off, for example Java 6 now supports many dynamic scripting languages, AND NOW, so does TestMaker. In TestMaker 5 you may write tests in Java, JRuby, Groovy, Python, Rhino (JavaScript), Perl, PHP, and many others.

The third way we made TM easier to use is in the area of Web service testing. TM is a popular platform to test Web Services. TM 5 integrates soapUI. (show it)

In summary we made TM5 easier-to-use by integrating TestGen4Web, by supporting many dynamic scripting languages, and by integrating soapUI. Next lets talk about the ways we made TM5 more powerful.

We made TM5 more powerful in 3 ways:

First, we integrated the TestNetwork environment. We previously sold TestNetwork as a commercial add-on into TM5. TestNetwork is now part of the free TM5 codebase.

TestNetwork operates TM5 tests in a distributed test environment. We call them TestNodes, they are free standing Web service-based environments that run TM5 tests. (show the architecture drawing in Firefox) There are 3 popular configurations of TestNodes.

First, on a software developer's local machine, a local instance of a TestNode operates functional, load tests, and service monitors. (Show TM5 Preferences) By default a TestNode starts on your local machine when TestMaker starts.

(Back to drawing) Second, in a QA setting, install a TestNode on each server in a rack of servers in a QA lab to conduct load testing.

Third, in an IT setting, install TestNodes at various locations around your network to prove Service Level Agreements by monitoring your services.

There are two additional ways we made TM5 more powerful.

TM5 introduces and supports a new XML-based TestScenario system to automatically turn unit tests into function tests, load tests, and service monitors without any additional effort. The lower left panel in TM5 is the new Controller system to graphically operate TestScenarios.

(Open load test 2, and describe the controller controls. Then show the already run load test 1 and point out the controls.) Controller features: buttons to start/stop/pause/edit/expand/and close a TestScenario, the slider show progress as a test operates and enables you to change the order of a test as it runs, scalability index charts, transaction distribution charts, and resource monitoring charts appear in the controller panel.

TestScenario's are the way in TM5 to define load tests, functional, and service monitors. In TM4 the XSTest package turned unit tests into scalability tests. XSTest is now part of the TestScenario system. TestScenarios are XML documents to provide all the operating instructions necessary to run a load test, a functional test, and a service monitor. See the other screencasts and documentation on the PushToTest Web site to better understand TestScenarios. They are wonderfully powerful.

Lastly, TM5 introduces powerful new features to do root cause analysis and mitigation. One way TM5 does this is by providing an integrated resource monitor to watch cpu, network, memory utilization as tests operate. By default a Monitor starts on your local machine when TM starts. Show Preferences. The monitor provides root-cause analysis and remediation to determine where and why bottlenecks to good performance exist.

Thank you for watching this screencast. We showed a summary of the new features and changes TestMaker users may expect in PushToTest TestMaker version 5.