Configure Mozilla Thunderbird and MS Outlook side by side

We received an issue from our client on receiving email with multiple information on single line. Basically the web app allows user to fill out an application form. This application will be received by  the Sales team as email for approval. The email should display the details with proper indention, one detail per line. However our client received an email where multiple information are being displayed in a single line.

This issue was not reproducible in our end using Mozilla Thunderbird2.0, all fields are displayed accordingly. So I tried to simulate it in MS Outlook Express.

To do this, I need to setup MS Outlook and configure my corporate email where I will receive the sent application form having the same settings on my Thunderbird.  Since I have Internet Explorer7.0 installed in my box, it comes with MS Outlook Express6.0 SP2 as a component. Now let’s do the configuration part:

1.  Go to Tools>Accounts, Click Add>New Mail

2. Follow wizard and provide the following information:

Display name: <yourname>

Email address: <youremail> (in my case I use my corporate email account)

Incoming mail server: pop.gmail.com (since I’m currently using POP Mail Server on my Thunderbird)

Outgoing mail server: smtp.gmail.com

4. After the wizard, Go to Tools> Accounts, click “Mail” tab, you should be able to see your pop.gmail.com account in the list

5. Select pop.gmail.com then click Properties, Go to Servers tab and verify details as follows:

6. Go to “Advanced” tab and set corresponding PORT for each server SMTP = 465; POP = 995. Don’t forget to set server to use secure connection (SSL)

Here’s the trick, since we are using the same email account in two different email client using POP3 incoming mail server. We need to set the 2nd email client not to delete the incoming emails in the server when we refreshed. We also do this in the “Advanced” tab by checking Delivery options as shown above.

With these setting, receiving mails in the MS Outlook will still allow user to receive the same incoming mails in the Thunderbird.

Now I can test the same scenario using email sent on Mozilla Thunderbird and MS Outlook.

JMeter 101: Using HTTP Proxy to Record your Test

HTTP Proxy Server is a non-test element feature of JMeter which enables user to record scripts from a real browser.

1. Add Thread Group in your Testplan

Add Thread Group

2. Add Proxy Server to WorkBench

• Add Non-test Elements > HTTP Proxy Server

• Set “Target Controller” where your recorded scripts will be added

• Set URL patters to INCLUDE or EXCLUDE

• • .* – all
  • .*\.png – all png images
  • .*\.gif – all gif images
  • .*\.jpg – all jpg images
  • .*\.php
  • .*\.jsp
  • .*\.html
  • .*\.htm
  • .*\.js
• Click START

3. Set your Browser to use Proxy (I used IE7 browser)

• Go to Tools > Internet options > Connections > LAN Setting
• Select “proxy server”
• Set Address = localhost; Port = 8080

4. Browse your application and record

5. In HTTP Proxy Server, click “Stop” when finished

To verify if recording was successful, you should be able to see HTTP requests generated under your “Target Controller”

More Tricks:

Add a Constant Timer to the HTTP Proxy Server node to record your think-time (right-click on the “HTTP Proxy Server” node and choose “Add,” “Timer,” and then “Constant Timer.”)

Next change the “Thread Delay” on the timer to “${T}” to tell the proxy server to record your time rather than to add a constant time for each request.

JMeter 101: Analyze your Test Results

To help you analyze your testing efforts, JMeter provides different types of Listeners. Listeners are JMeter components that show the results of the samples. The results can be shown in the form of a tree, tables, graphs or simply a log file.

Here are some of the listeners that I’ve tried:

1. Graph Full Results / Graph Result

2. Aggregate Graph

3. Aggregate Result

4. Summary Result

5. View Result in Table

6. View Result Tree

JMeter 101: Write your first load test script

Going through this session, assumes that you have successfully set-up JMeter distribution(latest version is 2.3.2) in your box, but if not, it’s never too late you can still check it out on my previous post – JMeter 101: Introduction.

Using the friendly GUI of Jmeter, lemme me help you explore and write your first load test script.

1. Go to “bin” folder of your JMeter distribution, double click “jmeter.bat” file

2. Simulate users by adding a Thread Group.

Add Thread Group

• Set Number of threads(users) = 5, => the number of concurrent users we want to simulate

• Set Ramp-up Period(in seconds) = 10,  => the amount of time it will take to create the threads/users

In this example, Jmeter will create a thread every 2 seconds (10/5). If ramp-up period is set to “0″ or blank, Jmeter will create all the threads immediately.

• Set Loop count = 1, => the number of times to execute the test

3. Simulate web requests by adding Sampler > HTTP Request

Add HTTP Request

• Set a descriptive HTTP request name
• Set Server name or IP = http://www.yahoo.com
• Set Path = “/”, which is Yahoo Homepage
  

4. To help us analyze the results, add the following listeners

Add Listener

• Listener > Aggregate Report
• Listener > View Result Tree

5. Save your script with .jmx extension

6. Go to Run > Start (ctrl + R)

JMeter 101: Introduction

I. What is Jmeter?

Apache JMeter is a 100% pure Java desktop application designed to load test functional behavior and measure performance. JMeter may be used to test performance both on static and dynamic resources . It can be used to simulate a heavy load on a server, network or object to test its strength or to analyze overall performance under different load types.

II. Why choose Apache Jmeter?

There are wide load testing tools to choose from. There are open source tools like Open STA, http_load, The Grinder, Siege including Jmeter. And commercial tools like LoadRunner, WebLoad etc. But why would we pick Jmeter from this list? Lemme help you decide…

1. Jmeter is FREE! – no monthly charges
2. Easy to install and use – 100% JAVA with friendly GUI
3. Feature rich

• Record from browser
• Load test data from files
• Add logic, variables and functions
• Run distributed testing from multiple machines
• Variety of protocols: Web – HTTP, HTTPS; SOAP; Database via JDBC; LDAP; JMS; Mail – POP3

III. What are the requirements of Jmeter?

1. Java Virtual Machine – JMeter requires a fully compliant JVM 1.4 or higher
2. Operating System

• Unix (Solaris, Linux, etc)
• Windows (98, NT, XP, etc)
• OpenVMS Alpha 7.3+

IV. Where to get Jmeter?

Download from http://jakarta.apache.org/site/downloads/downloads_jmeter.cgi

I choose the binary version of 2.3.2 release for my Windows XP box.

V. How to run JMeter?

1. Unzip Jmeter distribution file to desired path
2. Go to “bin” directory
3. Run Jmeter file

• Windows : double click jmeter.bat
• Mac : double click ApacheJmeter.jar
• Unix : double click jmeter.sh OR run ./jmeter from the command line

From Jmeter’s friendly GUI, we can now create, record and configure scripts for our load test.

For comprehensive tutorials visit http://jakarta.apache.org/jmeter/

Letters from a Skeptic – Correspondence 11: Why would an all-powerful God need prayer?

Moving on let’s dissect some more of their constructive debate on Christianity featuring a christian son versus an atheist father…  sounds clever adventure <wink><wink>

Correspondence 11: Why would an all-powerful God need prayer?

—
Date: December 15, 1989

Dear Greg,
…
As I said before, I don’t see that prayer ever works. Not only this but I don’t see how prayer ever could work. If God is all-good and all-powerful, and concerned about us, doesn’t He already want the best for us? And so wouldn’t he already be doing as much as He can ever do for us? So what are you asking for prayer? For Him to care more? He supposedly already cares as much as He could. Are you asking Him to do more? He’s supposedly already doing everything He can. Are you informing Him of some problem so He’ll do something about it? He supposedly already knows everything. So you can’t inform Him about anything, you can’t coax Him to do anything, and you can’t empower Him to do anything. So what the hell are you doing when you pray! The whole thing seems like a total waste of time to me.
…

Love always,
Dad

—
Date: December 28, 1989

Dear Dad,
…
Now on to your question about prayer. The main purpose of talking to God (that’s all prayer really is) has little to do with asking for things, Dad. It’s to build a faith-filled, loving relationship with our Creator and Redeemer… The main purpose of prayer is simply to be with Someone you love: to talk, to listen, or to simply “commune” with your Creator.
…
Asking for things – what’s called “petitionary payer” – is simply one minor aspect of this total relationship…

A genuine relationship, I believe, can only occur where there is personal interaction between two persons, where there is “give and take” between two parties. In other words, any genuine relationship requires that both parties are to some extent empower  over and against the other… God doesn’t want to be the only one calling the shots… So God ordains things so that we are to some degree empowered in our relationship with Him.
…
First, Dad, given the complexity of reality. I think it would be virtually impossible to “test” the effectiveness of prayers… If petitionary prayers could be conclusively “verified,” it would turn God into a sort of cosmic vending machine. Make your requests, pull the lever, and abracadabra, you have your wish granted… it takes faith to pray, and faith to see the answer to prayer.

Secondly, I’d again reiterate that, far more important than knowing the mechanics of unanswered prayer is knowing that God’s on your side even when the prayer is unanswered.
… And to communicate at all – anything! Is the beginning of a relationship with Him.

Hope to hear from you soon,
Greg

Letters from a Skeptic – Correspondence 2: Why is the world so full of suffering?

As promised, here are some exchange of opinions between Dr. Greg Boyd and his atheist father which I found tough but very enlightening:

Correspondence 2: Why is the world so full of suffering?

———-

Date: March 23, 1989

Dear Greg:

…

If God created this world and cares about it, why is there so damn much suffering in it? In your letter your answer was that God can’t be held responsible because He gave man the freedom to choose to do right or wrong. But Greg, I don’t feel that the question can be swept away so easily. When the freedom to decide to do harm results in pain and suffering to innocent people, God is simply not the “loving” God you make Him out to be!

I though about this when I read about this lunatic down here in Florida who was released from jail after seven or eight years for raping a teenage girl and then chopping off both her arms, leaving her for dead. It was his free choice to commit the crime, but what choice did the innocent girl have?… Why does God value the freedom of the criminal, but not the freedom of the victim?

…

The point is , this world doesn’t look at all like the kind of world we’d have if there were an all-powerful, all-loving God behind it. And I don’t see the freedom improves the situation much.

Well enough for now. Look forward to your letter.

Lots of love,

Dad

———-

Date: March 29, 1989

Dear Dad,

Well, Dad, I’ve got to admit that you are raising some extremely good points in your letters. You are raising the most difficult questions atheist can face. This is a good material.

It seems to me, Dad, that if God is going to give free wills to His creatures, He has to allow the possibility of them misusing that freedom, even if it means hurting others. To be significantly free is to be morally responsible to each other. What is the freedom to love or not love unless it is freedom to enrich or harm another? God structured things this way because the alternative would be to have a race of robots who can’t genuinely love – but that’s hardly worth creating, is it?

So why doesn’t God intervene every time someone is going to misuse his freedom and hurt another person? The answer, I believe, is found in the nature of freedom itself. A freedom which was prevented from being exercised whenever it was going to be misused simply wouldn’t be freedom.

…

So too, If God really gives gives us freedom, it must be, at least to a large extent, irrevocable. He must have, within limits, a “hands off” attitude towards it. God creates free people who can do as they please, not determined instruments who always end up doing what He pleases.

…

I look forward to your response

As always, with all my love,

Greg