Is Simplified Web Testing Possible?

When testing enterprise Web applications, project managers often eschew Web-testing suites that are simple to use. PMs sometimes believe that simpler Web-testing tools might not be able to handle complex testing scenarios. However, when testing iMacros, CRN engineers found that it can easily compete with $20,000 enterprise testing software.

IMacros provides 24/7 automatic testing of Web applications, performs regression tests, measures responses, automates any submissions on Web forms and interacts with animated applications.

For Flash-based applications, iMacros Scripting Edition arrives with an image recognition plug-in that can identify individual images on a page, even if the images are animated. IMacros can test any input from a graphical element that uses Flash animation without having to rely on its static coordinate-based macro language. Instead, the commands use a dynamic coordinate system and the image recognition plug-in to identify key regions in Flash files. In most instances, the image recognition plug-in also can follow moving elements such as buttons, sliders and menus within animated Flash files and perform actions on recognized elements. IMacros has come a long way since last year when it supported a limited ActiveX wrapper for Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). Today, version 5 fully supports any .Net language, including languages that support threading. In fact, a C# application can create thread instances with iMacros code. IMacros scripting code also supports C++, Java, Perl and Foxpro.

Out of the box, CRN engineers were able to test iMacros code using VBA on Access and Excel. The tool supports direct interaction with table and spreadsheet fields and provides bidirectional communication so developers can use data from databases and spreadsheets to test Web applications.

IMacros also provides command line parameters for batch processing. With the Scripting Edition, iOpus provides a royalty-free player that allows users to freely distribute iMacros applications. The player contains the features of the Scripting edition but cannot record new macros. Meant for use by solution providers, iOpus offers very little in a channel program and concentrates on the end user. For those VARs looking to sell the product to their customers, the company offers a single-tier channel program that operates on a commission basis. There are two commission structures. The first is an entry level where VARs simply sell the product and can earn a margin of up to 15 percent. A more complex commission structure with at least a 30 percent margin is geared toward VARs that provide technical support (further discounts up to 55 percent are available for higher volume orders).

The company offers partners free priority technical support, free phone support and unlimited free 60-day trial licenses.