Tools for performance and capacity planning (Windows SharePoint Services)

Applies To: Windows SharePoint Services 3.0

Topic Last Modified: 2009-04-15

This article contains information about test tools available for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0.

In this article:

• About the Windows SharePoint Services test data load tool

• Constructing a SharePoint test data load configuration file

• Deleting SharePoint test data

About the Windows SharePoint Services test data load tool

The Windows SharePoint Services test data load tool (WSSDW.exe) is a performance testing tool that populates data for testing deployments of Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. The Windows SharePoint Services test data load tool is available as a command-line executable program that accepts an XML configuration file that specifies the objects to be populated. The Windows SharePoint Services test data load application calls a Microsoft .NET assembly (WSSDWLib.dll). WSSDWLib.dll can also be called from other applications.

When you run the Windows SharePoint Services test data load tool, the tool extracts information about how to populate the server from an XML configuration file. This file must be specified in the command as shown in the following examples.

• Populate a server   To populate a server with data, run the following command where myfile.xml is the name of your configuration file, as shown in the following example:

  wssdw.exe myfile.xml

• Delete Windows SharePoint Services test data   To delete data created by the Windows SharePoint Services test data load tool, run the same command that you used to load test data, but add a –d command-line switch before the name of your configuration file, as shown in the following example:

  wssdw.exe –d myfile.xml

• Specify a URL   If you are running the Windows SharePoint Services test data load tool on a server that has multiple virtual servers, specify the absolute URL to the site as a second argument, where myserver is the name of the specified server, as shown in the following example:

  wssdw.exe myfile.xml http://myserver

• Specify a path to plug-in assemblies   If your plug-in assemblies are not located in the same directory as the Windows SharePoint Services test data load tool, load the assemblies by specifying a path to them, as shown in the following example:

  wssdw.exe myfile.xml –p <path to directory>

• View supported tags   To view a list of tags that are supported by the Windows SharePoint Services test data load tool, run the Windows SharePoint Services test data load tool command and add the –h command-line switch, as shown in the following example:

  wssdw.exe –h

• Improve SharePoint test data load tool performance   To improve performance while loading assemblies, the Windows SharePoint Services test data load tool maintains a list of known plug-in assemblies. When you run the Windows SharePoint Services test data load tool, the tool looks for and loads these known plug-in assemblies. If your plug-in assembly is not on the list, you can direct the SharePoint test data load tool to load your assembly by using one of the following procedures.

  • Run the following command to direct the Windows SharePoint Services test data load tool to ignore the list of known plug-in assemblies and load all available assemblies, where myfile.xml is the name of your configuration file, as shown in the following example:

    wssdw.exe myfile.xml –loadall

  • Include the following file in the same directory from which you are running the Windows SharePoint Services test data load tool. Populate this file with a list of all the new plug-in assemblies you want to load, separated by newline characters, as shown in the following example:

    dwlib_knowndllstoload.txt

Constructing a Windows SharePoint Services test data load configuration file

Before you can use the Windows SharePoint Services test data load tool, you must construct an XML configuration file. The Windows SharePoint Services test data load tool will use this file to create objects on the SharePoint server that you are testing. The configuration file should be placed in the same folder as the Windows SharePoint Services test data load tool. The basic format is shown in the following example.

<WSSDWLib>
<Object parameter="value" ...>
<ChildObject parameter="value" ... />
</Object>
</WSSDWLib>

In the following example, the XML configuration file creates 10 Webs in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (subweb1 through subweb10). Each Web has 50 list items added to the list named "Announcements."

<WSSDWLib>
<Webs num="10" name="subweb" >
<ListItems num="50" list="Announcements" />
</Webs>
</WSSDWLib>

A list of the objects that are supported by the SharePoint test data load tool — along with known parameters, usage, and legal placement within the XML structure — is provided in the SharePoint Test Data Load Tool Software Development Kit (SDK) (WSSDW.chm).

Deleting SharePoint test data

The Windows SharePoint Services test data load tool supports deletion of content by using the same XML configuration file that was used to create the content. To perform this deletion, run the SharePoint test data load tool command and add the –d command-line switch to the command, as shown in the following example:

wssdw.exe –d myfile.xml

The Windows SharePoint Services test data load tool deletes XML objects recursively, deleting the XML children before it deletes the XML parent. If you want to override this behavior for a given XML node, add the following attribute to the node in the configuration file:

quickdelete="true"

Adding this attribute deletes the entire node without deleting the child nodes independently.

Download this book

This topic is included in the following downloadable book for easier reading and printing:

• Planning and architecture for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, part 2

See the full list of available books at Downloadable books for Windows SharePoint Services.