SOAtest, Virtualize, and CTP 2024.2

This release includes the following enhancements.

Release date: October 29, 2024

AI Assistant

A new AI Assistant is available in SOAtest and Virtualize. Users can ask questions in natural language and the AI Assistant will answer based on product documentation and integration with an external LLM provider. New and existing users can learn the product and get unstuck more quickly using the AI Assistant. Existing users can access the AI Assistant by navigating in the desktop to Parasoft > Show View > AI Assistant. See The AI Assistant for more information.

Support for Additional LLM Providers

The LLM integration support in SOAtest and Virtualize has been expanded beyond OpenAI and Azure OpenAI to include any LLM provider that provides chat completions and embedding endpoints that are compatible with OpenAI. This allows users enhanced privacy by integrating with locally deployed models instead of cloud-based models. See LLM Integration for more information.

Better Team Collaboration through New File Format

Test (.tst), virtual asset (.pva), and provisioning asset (.pvn) files can now be saved in YAML format. Files are now much more readable and can easily be merged when multiple users make changes to a file at the same time through source control. Unnecessary data was removed, and files were optimized to support merging. New workspaces will save files in YAML format by default; workspaces created in earlier versions of the product can be configured to use the new YAML format by changing the default file format in the Misc preferences.

The XML and compressed XML file formats are now deprecated and will be removed in a future release. Existing workspaces that were configured to use either format by default will continue to use that format unless the setting is changed in the Misc preferences. The binary file format has been removed; files that were previously saved in this format will now be saved to whatever format is set as default in the Misc preferences.

Run Tests in a Single Test Execution in Parallel Mode

The SOAtest Server can now execute TST files in parallel through the REST API, significantly shortening the execution times of jobs that it is serving. Only available on WAR installations, not supported on desktop installations.

GraphQL Improvements

You can now configure a responder with a GraphQL SDL document where the Form JSON view would automatically constrain to the SDL.See Message Responder Overview and GraphQL Message Responder for more information. In addition, you can use custom scalars in your GraphQL SDL. Custom scalars are defined in Additional Preference Settings. See GraphQL Message Responder or Form GraphQL for more information about usage.

Additional Updates

• SOAtest and Virtualize now ship with Eclipse 2024-09 and Java 21.
• PCAP Parser extension updated with ability to create a traffic file that captures fixed-length binary data. See PCAP Parser 1.1 for more information.
• Added support for EDIFACT versions D19B, D20A, D20B, D21A, D21B, and D22A for the EDI Client and EDI Responder. See EDI Support Details for more information.
• XML and compressed XML formats for project files have been deprecated. Binary format for project files has been removed.
• Builds are now automatically archived in DTP when creating an environment baseline for test impact analysis in CTP.
• The Open API/Swagger Validator can now validate against Open API version 3.1.
• Masked values can now be hidden in the Write File Tool at runtime and in the Header Data Bank UI.
  • Note: Write File Tools created in 2024.2 have this new option ("Hide masked variable values") enabled by default for enhanced privacy of data. This means that the content of the file will be changed if any content within the file matches the values of any masked variables. If file contents should not be changed, disable this option.
• Summary-name accessibility rule added to the Web Accessibility Scan tool.

• Script Served from Malicious Domain (polyfill) rule added to supported Penetration Testing Rules.

Breaking Changes

• Project files saved with SOAtest & Virtualize 2024.2 cannot be opened by SOAtest & Virtualize 2024.1 or earlier. This is different than most releases, where files saved in a newer version of the product can still be opened in previous versions of the product if no new features were enabled in the saved files (see Forward Compatibility). To ensure a smooth update process, server installations should be updated first followed by an update of all desktop installations at the same time as much as possible.
• Binary file format for project files has been removed. When existing binary files are updated, they will be saved in the current default file format specified in the Misc preferences.
• Tomcat 9 is no longer supported. Tomcat 10.1 is now required for the following (note: Tomcat 11 is not yet supported):
  • SOAtest and Virtualize Server WAR deployment
  • Load Test Continuum
  • CTP

• Diff tools in JSON mode that previously passed may now fail if the control text is not valid JSON.
• CTP now requires Java 17 or higher.

Resolved PRs and FRs

* Resolved in 2024.2.1