When you record a test, you perform a sequence of steps that you expect a typical user to perform. From the recording, a test is generated that exactly mirrors these interactions. When you run this test, it uses the same data that you used during recording. To vary the data in the test, you use a datapool, which contains variable data. At run time, this variable data is substituted for the data in the recorded test.
Create the datapool. Create a datapool with three items. The following figure shows a datapool called Search in IBM.
Record a test. Type the Web address www.ibm.com/us/, search for IBM Rational Performance Tester, and stop recording. The following figure shows the test that is generated. Note that the Datapools list, on the right, is empty. This is because the test is not yet associated with a datapool.
Associate the test with the datapool. To associate a test with a datapool, click the Add Datapool button, and select the datapool. The following figure, which now contains a datapool in the Datapools list, shows the expanded test. The test elements that have a yellow background contain data that can be substituted or is already substituted (by either a datapool or data correlation, which is not discussed here).
After you have associated the request with the datapool column, IBM+Rational+Performance+Tester changes to a dark green background to indicate that it is datapooled, as shown in the following figure. Items that have been modified appear in italics; the italics are removed after you save the test.