You can create a data correlation
rule that creates a reference from a regular expression when the rule
is applied to test data.
Procedure
- Open a data correlation rule set in the rules editor. A new rule set contains one empty rule pass.
- Click Insert, and then select Create
a reference. An empty Create
a reference rule is inserted in the rule pass.
- Under Details, supply information for all fields
that are marked with asterisks and shaded in red. For Reference
field, click the down arrow to select the field in which
to create the reference. Use the push buttons at the top of the window
to select a protocol, and then select a field. For example,
to create a reference in the content field of an HTTP response, click
the down arrow, and then click . To create references
in multiple fields, click the Add field push
button to add another Reference field.
- In Regular expression, type an expression
to use to locate the reference. If only a part of the regular expression
is required for a reference, enclose that part in parentheses.
- Open the test, and locate the response to create the
reference in.
- Copy the text from the response to the clipboard.
- In the rules editor, click the Toggle regular
expression assistant push button to open the regular expression
assistant.
- Paste the text from the clipboard to the Test
regular expression page of the regular expression assistant
window. If the Test regular expression page
is empty, the contents of the clipboard is automatically pasted in.
- Click the Captured group tab
in the regular expression assistant. The overall
group is displayed, and the captured groups are displayed. If no groups
are displayed, edit the regular expression accordingly.
To create more than one reference using the same regular
expression, enclose each part in parentheses. For example, two references
can be created from this regular expression: name=(\S+)\svalue=(.+?).
- In Reference names, provide names
for the references. The names that you specify are available
to child rules. To use the references as arguments in child rules,
enclose the reference name in percent signs. For example,
if you specify a reference name of name, you
can use %name% as an argument in a child rule.
- Optional: If an attribute contains multiple
matches for the regular expression, in Occurrence,
type or select the occurrence to use to create the reference.
- Optional: Under Create reference
only if used, select true to create
a reference only if a substitution site uses the reference. Select false to
create the reference regardless of whether a corresponding substitution
site is found.
- Optional: Under Overlapping site
action, select the action to take when a new reference
overlaps with existing references.
Option |
Description |
Always remove existing |
If the new reference overlaps with other references, the other
references are removed. |
Keep existing |
If the new reference overlaps with other references, the other
references are not removed. |
Keep existing only if used |
If the new reference overlaps with other references, the other
references are removed only if the references are unused. |
- Optional: Under Create reference
even if overlapping, select true to
create a reference even if the new reference overlaps with existing
references.
- Optional: In Log level,
select the level of error data to be written to the error log. With
logs, you can see which rules worked and which did not. When you are
debugging data correlation rules, use the Action log
level. If the Action log level does not provide
enough data for troubleshooting, use the Detail log
level. The Detail log level products a significantly
higher number of log entries. Typically, when you are sure that the
data correlation rules that you have written work correctly, use the None or Summary log
levels to reduce memory and disk-space consumption and unrequired
entries in the error log.
Option |
Description |
None |
Nothing is logged. |
Warning |
A message is logged when there are potential problems that
are detected when the rule is applied. |
Summary |
One message is logged for the rule, no matter how many times
the rule is applied. |
Important |
A message is logged every time the rule is applied in a manner
that is not typical. This is the default log level. |
Action |
A message is logged every time the rule is applied. |
Detail |
A detailed message is logged every time the rule is applied. |
- Optional: In Label,
type a label for the rule. If you do not type a label name, the rule
is given a default name. The default name is the base name with the
regular expression appended.
- Optional: In Description,
describe the rule. Descriptions can be useful if you share rule set
files with other testers.