A Test Plan defines and provides a layout of how and what to test: the web application as well as the client server application. It can be viewed as a container for running tests. It provides a framework in which it will execute a sequence of operations or tools to perform the testing. A test plan includes elements such as thread groups, logic controllers, sample-generating controllers, listeners, timers, assertions, and configuration elements. A test plan must have at least one thread group.
User Defined Variables:
Here you can define static variables that allow you to extract repeated values throughout your tests, such as server names, port number, etc. For example, if you are testing an application on server www.example-Jmeter.net, then you can define a variable called "server" with the value of www.techaltum.com. This value will replace variable "${server}" found anywhere in the test plan.
Functional Test Mode:
This will cause Jmeter to record the data returned from the server for each sample and write this data to the file that you have selected in your Listener. You may use the Configuration button on a listener to decide what fields to save. This can be useful if you are doing a small run to ensure that your server is returning the expected results. However, as this option allows Jmeter to save the maximum sample information, Jmeter's performance will reduce.
If you are doing stress-testing, do not select this option, as it will affect your results.
If checked, this feature will save all information, including the full response log data and the default items, which are: time stamp, the data type, the label, the thread name, the response time, message, code, and a success indicator.
Run each Thread Group separately:
If you have two or more Thread Groups in your Test Plan, selecting this will instruct Jmeter to run each serially. Otherwise, Jmeter will run Thread Groups simultaneously or in parallel.
Add directory or jar to class path:
This additive feature allows you to add JAR files or directories in case you have created your own extension to the Jmeter package you are using. However, you will need to restart Jmeter if you remove any entry. Alternatively, you can copy all the jar files to the Jmeter | lib directory.
User Defined Variables:
Here you can define static variables that allow you to extract repeated values throughout your tests, such as server names, port number, etc. For example, if you are testing an application on server www.example-Jmeter.net, then you can define a variable called "server" with the value of www.techaltum.com. This value will replace variable "${server}" found anywhere in the test plan.
Functional Test Mode:
This will cause Jmeter to record the data returned from the server for each sample and write this data to the file that you have selected in your Listener. You may use the Configuration button on a listener to decide what fields to save. This can be useful if you are doing a small run to ensure that your server is returning the expected results. However, as this option allows Jmeter to save the maximum sample information, Jmeter's performance will reduce.
If you are doing stress-testing, do not select this option, as it will affect your results.
If checked, this feature will save all information, including the full response log data and the default items, which are: time stamp, the data type, the label, the thread name, the response time, message, code, and a success indicator.
Run each Thread Group separately:
If you have two or more Thread Groups in your Test Plan, selecting this will instruct Jmeter to run each serially. Otherwise, Jmeter will run Thread Groups simultaneously or in parallel.
Add directory or jar to class path:
This additive feature allows you to add JAR files or directories in case you have created your own extension to the Jmeter package you are using. However, you will need to restart Jmeter if you remove any entry. Alternatively, you can copy all the jar files to the Jmeter | lib directory.
