Upgrading Questions

Common Support Questions

How do I upgrade from PesterCat 1.x to 2.0?

You can upgrade PesterCat by following the normal installation instructions. During the upgrade the installer will remove the files from the old version and replace them with files for the new version. The first time you start the new application your PesterCat application preferences will be upgraded to the new XML format.

Will scripts created with PesterCat 1.x work with 2.0?

Yes. PesterCat 2.0 can read and import script created with older version of PesterCat. Scripts created with PesterCat 2.0 may not work correctly when using older versions of the application.

What are the major new features?

Major new features in PesterCat 2.0 include:

See the ChangeLog for details.

How do I upgrade the PesterCat Ant toolkit?

Upgrading the PesterCat toolkit requires that you remove any .jar files from the old PesterCat 1.x Ant toolkit and replace them with the .jar files in the new toolkit. Ant build files created to work with the PesterCat 1.x Ant toolkit are compatible with the new toolkit. Additionally, you will want to make sure the toolkit is using the latest config.xml file format for PesterCat preferences. The format of this file is converted automatically when you upgrade the PesterCat gui application and start it the first time.

What version of Java is required?

PesterCat requires at least a Java JRE version 1.5.0 to be installed (Also called Java 5.0). PesterCat is tested using the Sun JDK.

Does PesterCat validate JavaScript?

PesterCat will validate for the existence of JavaScript in an HTML page response. It does not execute JavaScript during script playback. You can create Regular Expression validations to validate the existance of javascript text within page responses.

SSL Support?

PesterCat supports SSL during script playback/execution. PesterCat does not currently support the ability to record secure websites using SSL unless you use an external browser extension (ie PesterCat Toolbar). Another option is to record using HTTP and play it back using HTTPS. This can be done easily using variables.

Recording does not work when web application are on the local machine (localhost)?

When recording scripts using web applications on the localhost you may need to configure your web so that the proxy settings are used for connections on the local machine. Both IE and Firefox have settings to exclude proxy settings for localhost. Within IE 6.0 this setting is under 'Connections' --> 'Lan Settings' --> 'Proxy Server'. You will want to make sure the 'bypass proxy server for local addresses' is unchecked. In Firefox the setting is called 'No Proxy for:'. Make sure the localhost, and 127.0.0.1 settings are removed.

Recording does not work when using VPN connections on Windows XP?

The default Local Area Network (LAN) proxy settings do not apply to VPN connections for IE on Windows XP. Try editing the VPN proxy settings. You can do this from IE by clicking: Tools --> Internet Options --> Connections (Tab) --> Select your VPN connection --> Settings. You should then see a 'Proxy Settings' dialog that will allow you to configure the proxy settings that will be used when the VPN is active.

Can I use PesterCat with Oracle and/or Microsoft SQL Server?

PesterCat connects to databases using JDBC drivers. Both Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server make JDBC drivers available for connecting to their databases. MySQL and PostgreSQL maintain JDBC drivers as well.

How do I install JDBC drivers?

JDBC drivers are typically packaged in .jar files. You should obtain the necessary jar files from your database vendor. To install the JDBC driver so that it can be used from PesterCat it should be located in a directory accessible from your local machine.

Can I connect to a database using ODBC?

Yes. It is possible to get PesterCat database connections working over ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) using what is called an ODBC-JDBC bridge driver.

I'm having problems getting PesterCat database connections working?

Most JDBC connection problems are due to an incorrect connection string. Contact your database vendor for information on how the JDBC connection strings should be formatted. A test button is provided in the Preferences editor to help get things configured correctly.

I'm having problems getting shared variables to work using PesterCat linked script steps?

Shared variables are shared between the calling script and the linked script. The variables need to exist in both scripts in order to be shared. Then just make sure the 'Share Variables' setting is checked in your linked scripts steps.

I'm getting java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space errors when running large scripts. How can I increase the amount of Java heap space?

You should be able to increase the Java heap space allocated for PesterCat by completing the following steps:

  1. Create an empty text file named PesterCat.vmoptions in the directory you installed PesterCat. Normally this is the 'C:\Program Files\PesterCat' directory on Windows.
  2. Add the following line into the newly created PesterCat.vmoptions file: 
    	-Xmx512m
  3. Save the PesterCat.vmoptions file.
  4. Restart PesterCat.
This should increase the java heap space to 512 Megs of memory when running PesterCat (the default is 128m). This increases memory when running with the PesterCat GUI only. See this for information on how to alter memory settings for long running PesterCat Ant Tasks.

Is it possible to automate PesterCat or incorporate it into a nightly build process?

Yes. Check out the PesterCat Ant Toolkit download on the download page. This will allow you to run PesterCat scripts using the Apache Ant project. Ant version 1.6 or greater is recommended.

Can you provide sample output for the PesterCat Ant Toolkit?

A sample containing two demo scripts is available online here.

Is it possible to run PesterCat scripts from the command line?

Yes. Using the PesterCat Ant Toolkit you can create all sorts of Unix scripts, aliases, or DOS batch files to run PesterCat scripts from the command line.

More memory for Ant Tasks?

If you are running a large number of scripts using the PesterCat playback Ant task you may need to increase the size of your virtual machine memory. You might need to do this if you are getting java.lang.OutOfMemory exceptions while running PesterCat ant tasks. You can increase the memory size of the Ant JVM by setting an environment variable on your platform. On Unix you could add the following to your .bash_profile (sets memory to 512M): 

	set ANT_OPTS=-Xmx512M; export ANT_OPTS
On windows set the ANT_OPTS environment variable in the system settings (sets memory to 512M): 
	ANT_OPTS = -Xmx512M

I'm using PesterCat for Linux and I keep getting errors stating that a GTK2 compiled version the Mozilla web browser is required...?

Try the following:

  1. Install the compatibility package for the standard C++ library. This might enable the existing GTK2 compiled FireFox and/or Mozilla packages included with your Linux distribution to be used by PesterCat. 
    	Redhat Enterprise 4 : up2date install libstdc++
	Fedora Core 5 : yum install libstdc++
	Debian (Sarge): apt-get install libstdc++6
	Ubuntu (Dapper Drake): apt-get install libstdc++6
  2. Click the Install button when PesterCat displays the browser download dialog. This will download a GTK2 version of the Mozilla 1.6 web browser. It will be installed in your /home/<username>/.pestercat/ directory.