A timing constraint is a specialized validation action that you add to the test behavior code or to the test data table (TDT) to measure the duration of a method call or a sequence of method calls.
Timing constraints appear in the test behavior code as a pair of method calls, one to initialize the timer and the other to measure the duration. Each timing constraint appears as a row in the TDT, where you can define the timing constraint's values.
You can use one of several logical operators and units of time to define the value. Operators include <, >, =, <=, and >=. Units of time include nanoseconds, milliseconds, seconds, minutes, hours, and days.
For example, to verify that the total time of completion for a pair of messages is less than 3 seconds, you would define the value in the test data table row as < 3 seconds. To verify that the total time of completion for a pair of messages is greater than or equal to 2 milliseconds, you would define the value in the test data table row as > = 2 ms. If more than one message is being timed, the first message is considered the start message, while the last message is considered the end message.
Related tasks
Inserting timing constraints