Configuring Browser Settings

In Silk Performer, expand the Profiles node in the Project tree.

Right-click the profile that you want to configure and choose Edit Profile.

Tip: Alternatively, you can choose Settings > Active Profile from the menu bar.

The Profile - [<profile name>] dialog box opens, and the Replay category is displayed in the shortcut list on the left.

In the shortcut list, click the Web icon.

Click the Browser tab. Use the Browser type area to specify browser-specific settings.

From the Browser list box, select the Web browser you want to use for your simulation. The selection you make determines the format of the header information included in your HTTP requests and the threading model used for simulation.

Note: For mobile Web application testing (iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Phone or Blackberry) you can change the user agent string used for recording.

Click the Limit connections per server option button to limit the connections on a per-server basis as real browsers do (for example, two connections to one server, four connections to two servers).

Note: It is not recommended that you use this option for low-level Web API, as only the Max total connections value is considered.

In the Max concurrent connections to a HTTP 1.0 server text box, specify the connection limit to every server that uses HTTP 1.0.
In the Max concurrent connections to a HTTP 1.1 server text box, specify the connection limit to every server that uses HTTP 1.1.
In the Max total connections text box, specify the absolute maximum number of connections that the emulated browser can open. To perform an accurate connection simulation this value should be above the per-server setting.

Click the Limit connections per virtual user option button to limit the connections on a per-user basis (for example, four connections to one user, four connections to two users).

In the Max. concurrent connections text box, specify the maximum number of simultaneous connections that the client may establish to the server in the case of custom browsers. Since the server has to allocate more system resources for each connection, the server's performance decreases as the number of connections increases. As with Web browsers, Silk Performer uses one thread per connection to send and receive data concurrently. For single-threaded (synchronous) operations, set this value to 1. For multi-threaded simulations, choose a value between 2 and 32.
Note: Values are pre-defined for each selected browser. You can only edit Max. concurrent connections if you select Custom from the Browser list box.
Select the Single-threaded option to replay scripts using a single thread. This setting forces all low-level web functions to execute synchronously.

From the HTTP version list box, select the HTTP version of the browser that is to be simulated. This is typically HTTP/1.0.

Check the Keep-Alive semantics check box to set "keep-alive" for HTTP/HTTPS. Keep-alive is a feature that, when supported by both browser and server, allows connections to remain intact after requests and responses are complete.

Check the Content-Encoding check box to enable Silk Performer to decode compressed data received from the server. When this option is enabled, Silk Performer sends an Accept-Encoding header to inform the server that encoded data can be submitted (via gzip and compression-deflation methods).

In the User agent text box, specify user agent information that should be sent to the server when custom browsers are used. This is typically the browser name, including platform information. This string is used for the HTTP request header User-Agent: that is sent using Silk Performer's low-level web functions.

In the Accept text box, specify the document types that the server may send to the client custom browsers are used. This string is used in the HTTP request header Accept: that is sent using Silk Performer's low-level web functions.

In the Additional HTTP headers text box, specify one or more additional headers, using the exact syntax in the case of custom browsers. Use a new line for each header. These headers will be appended to each request that is sent using Silk Performer's low-level web functions.

Click OK to save your settings.