Sessions, transactions, and requests
Sessions
Performance tests consist of web requests made by the following types of user sessions:
- Big session - user navigates community/collection hierarchy, reaching a “Big” item
- Browse session - user browses site by title, finds a “Small” item, and downloads the PDF
- Search session - user searches site, finds a “Medium” item, and downloads the PDF
- Tiny session - user navigates community/collection hierarchy, reaching a “Tiny” item
Transactions
Each session consists of a series of ordered transactions (page visits or downloads), resulting from some user action on the site. When run in JMeter, a random delay (“think time”) is inserted between each transaction in order to more closely mimic actual user behavior.
Big session
| Transaction | User action |
|---|---|
| Big-A-Home | Visit homepage |
| Big-B-Community | Click link to “Big Items” community |
| Big-C-Subcommunity | Click link to “Big Angry Items” subcommunity |
| Big-D-Collection | Click link to “Big Angry Birds” collection |
| Big-E-Recent | Click link to show more recent submissions |
| Big-F-Item | Click item at top of list |
| Big-G-ItemFull | Click to show full item page |
Browse session
| Transaction | User action |
|---|---|
| Browse-A-Home | Visit homepage |
| Browse-B-ByTitleBig20 | Click browse by Title, listing 20 “Big” items |
| Browse-C-ByTitleBig100 | Choose to list 100 items per page |
| Browse-D-ByTitleSmall100 | Click “S”, listing 100 “Small” items |
| Search-E-SmallItem | Select first title |
| Search-F-SmallDownload | Download text.pdf |
Search session
| Transaction | User action |
|---|---|
| Search-A-Home | Visit homepage |
| Search-B-GlobalSearch | Search for “attenuation” |
| Search-C-FilterAuthor | Filter by author “Bushy Cylinder Head” |
| Search-D-MediumItem | Select first title that starts with “Medium” |
| Search-E-MediumDownload | Download text.pdf |
Tiny session
| Transaction | User action |
|---|---|
| Tiny-A-Home | Visit homepage |
| Tiny-B-Community | Click link to “Tiny Items” community |
| Tiny-C-Subcommunity | Click link to “Tiny Angry Items” subcommunity |
| Tiny-D-Collection | Click link to “Tiny Angry Birds” collection |
| Tiny-E-Recent | Click link to show more recent submissions |
| Tiny-F-Item | Click item at top of list |
| Tiny-G-ItemFull | Click to show full item page |
Requests
Transactions are further broken down into a set of HTTP requests that are made for that page visit or download.
The specific list of requests is dependent on the version of DSpace under test, and is defined in the JMeter test file for that version. After a test is complete, average response times and bytes for each request will be listed in the report for each transaction.