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This topic provides information about how to use Selenic as part of the Parasoft Application Coverage workflow. For complete information about using the Application Coverage solution, refer to the Collecting Coverage for Web Applications guide. In this section:

Introduction

The Parasoft Application Coverage solution enables you to measure application code coverage while executing tests against your running applications. You can collect coverage from a single running application or from an application that is made up of multiple backend services (you can collect coverage from all of them during execution of the same test cases). This enables you to gauge the effectiveness of your existing test suite, determine where additional tests need to be added, and more efficiently execute tests as the application evolves. You can collect application coverage by utilizing the coverage agent shipped with Selenic for Java, which allows you to monitor the application as tests are being performed.

Application coverage is obtained by collecting and uploading static and dynamic coverage data to DTP for viewing.

Static coverage data is a description of all source code that is available in your application.
- Static coverage files can be created by using Jtest to analyze the project's source code (the preferred method) or using the coverage tool shipped with Selenic to analyze the application binaries.
- Static coverage files are uploaded to DTP by the tool that created them (that is, Jtest or the coverage tool).
Dynamic (runtime) data is coverage data that is collected by the coverage agents as tests execute. It measures which code is covered as tests execute.
- Runtime coverage data is collected and uploaded to DTP by Selenic.
Data is merged on DTP automatically.

The following steps describe the Application Coverage workflow with Selenic:

Generating the static coverage file. When you have access to the application source code, the static coverage file should be generated by Jtest in .xml or .data format as this method comes with several advantages over the alternative. You can also generate the static coverage file by analyzing the application binaries using the coverage tool shipped with Selenic when you do not have access to the application source code. See Generating the Static Coverage File below for more information.
Attaching the coverage agent to the application under test (AUT). The coverage agent ships with Selenic and allows you to monitor the code being executed when the AUT is running.
Configuring Selenic to connect to the coverage agent and collect runtime coverage.
Executing tests with Selenic as part of an automated process.
Creating a Coverage Report and Uploading the Data to DTP.
Reviewing the application coverage on DTP in the Coverage Explorer.

Coverage reports that are uploaded to DTP need to be sent to DTP 2023.1 or later. Earlier versions of DTP will not properly process coverage reports produced by Selenic.

Generating the Static Coverage File

If you have access to the application source code, you should generate the static coverage file using Jtest in .xml or .data format if at all possible. Doing it this way has several advantages, including containing metadata about user classes, methods, and lines, as well as supporting showing source code annotated with coverage data when viewing coverage results in DTP. It also improves Test Impact Analysis, as static coverage generated this way provides for more precise analysis so tests will only be flagged as impacted if they traverse any methods that have been changed. While you can use TIA with static coverage generated from application binaries, TIA results will be broader (since analysis is done at the level of classes) and some tests may be flagged as being impacted when they don't need to be. See Jtest user guide at docs.parasoft.com for more information on generating static coverage files with those tools.

You can also generate the static coverage file using the coverage tool shipped with Selenic, though it lacks the advantages of using the source code described above. To do so, you need to run the tool independently of Selenic, passing the binary, filter, license, and other properties when you do (see the sample license properties file below). An example using the Jtest coverage tool (jtestcov) against Parabank is shown below:

java -jar jtestcov.jar -selenic -app c:/<PATH_TO_APPLICATION>/parabank.war -include com/parasoft/parabank/** -settings c:/<PATH_TO_LICENSE_FILE>/license.properties

The -selenic flag is used by the coverage tools to pass your Selenic license, which is needed when you run the coverage tool independently of Selenic as in the example above. You can see all available commands and options by running: java -jar jtestcov.jar help

# === LICENSE ===
 
# === END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT ===
# Set to true to accept the Parasoft End User License Agreement (EULA).
# Please review the EULA.txt file included in the product installation directory.
parasoft.eula.accepted=true

# === NETWORK LICENSE ===
# Enables network license - be sure to configure DTP server settings.
selenic.license.use_network=true
selenic.license.network.edition=custom_edition
selenic.license.custom_edition_features=Automation, Publish to DTP, Test Impact Analysis 

# === DTP SERVER SETTINGS ===
 
# Specifies URL of the DTP server in the form https://host[:port][/context-path]
#dtp.url=https://localhost:8443
 
# Specifies user name for DTP server authentication.
#dtp.user=admin
 
# Specifies password for DTP server authentication - use java -jar selenic_analyzer.jar -encodepass <PASSWORD> to encrypt the password, if needed.
#dtp.password=admin
 
# Specifies name of the DTP project - this setting is optional.
#dtp.project=[DTP Project Name]
 
# === DTP REPORTING ===
 
# Enables reporting test results to DTP server - be sure to configure DTP server settings.
#report.dtp.publish=true
 
# Specifies a build identifier used to label results. It may be unique for each build
# but may also label more than one test sessions that were executed during a specified build.
#build.id=${dtp_project}-yyyy-MM-dd
 
# Specifies a tag which represents an unique identifier for the run, used to distinguish it from similar runs.
# It could be constructed as minimal combination of following variables that will make it unique or specified manually.
# e.g. ${config_name}-${project_module}-${scontrol_branch}-${exec_env}
#session.tag=[tag]
 
# Specifies a set of tags that will be used to create coverage images in DTP server.
# Coverage images allow you to track different types of coverage, such as coverage for unit, functional, manual tests and others.
# There is a set of predefined tags that will be automatically recognized by DTP, see the examples below.
# You can also specify other tags that will be used to create coverage images.
#report.coverage.images=${dtp_project}
#report.coverage.images=${dtp_project};${dtp_project}_Unit Test
#report.coverage.images=${dtp_project};${dtp_project}_Functional Test
#report.coverage.images=${dtp_project};${dtp_project}_Manual Test
 
# === CONSOLE VERBOSITY LEVEL ===
# Increases console verbosity level to high.
#console.verbosity.level=high

Configuring the Application Under Test for Coverage

Before you start collecting coverage with Selenic, you need to configure the application under test (AUT) using Parasoft Jtest. The process is outlined below; for more detailed instructions, see the Jtest user guide at docs.parasoft.com. Ensure that your Selenic and JTest versions are in sync to avoid unexpected issues.

(Optional) Customize the coverage agent by configuring the coverage agent options. This step is required if you are collecting coverage information for multiple users that are simultaneously interacting with the AUT.
Attach the coverage agent to the AUT.

Configuring the Coverage Agent

Application servers usually contain more than one application. Additionally, common server classes or application libraries do not need to be instrumented. The agent only needs to collect coverage for application source code. Instrumenting all classes would be too time consuming. For this reason, properly setting the scope of the coverage agent is very important. There is a coverage agent for Jtest.

Jtest Coverage Agent

You can configure the Jtest coverage agent by modifying the properties in the agent.properties and passing the properties to the -javaagent argument. The agent supports several parameters (see Coverage Agent Parameters), but configuring the default settings is suitable for most cases:

jtest.agent.serverEnabled=true
jtest.agent.includes=com/myapp/data,com/myapp/common/**
jtest.agent.excludes=com/myapp/transport/*,com/myapp/autogen/**

Coverage Agent Parameters

The following table describes all properties that can be set for the agent:

`jtest.agent.runtimeData`	Specifies a location on the application server for the agent to store the coverage data it collects at runtime. The following example will create files in the in `C:/tmp/myapp/` directory with `runtime_`’ as the name prefix: `'C:/tmp/myapp/runtime'`
`jtest.agent.includes`	A comma-separated list of patterns that specify classes to be instrumented. The following wildcards are supported: `` matches zero or more characters `` matches multiple directory levels In the following example, all classes from the `com.myapp.data` package and all classes from package and subpackages that start with `com.myapp.common` will be instrumented: `com/myapp/data/,com/myapp/common/**`
`jtest.agent.excludes`	A comma-separated list of patterns that specify classes to be excluded from instrumentation. The following wildcards are supported: `` matches zero or more characters `` matches multiple directory levels In the following example, all classes from the `com.myapp.transport` package and all classes from package and subpackages that start with `com.myapp.autogen` will be excluded from instrumentation: `com/myapp/transport/,com/myapp/autogen/**`
`jtest.agent.autostart`	Enables/disables automatic runtime data collection. The default is `true`.
`jtest.agent.port`	Sets up agent communication port. The default is `8050`.
`jtest.agent.debug`	Enables/disables verbose output to console. The default is `false`.
`jtest.agent.enableMultiuserCoverage`	Enables/disables collecting web application coverage for multiple users. The default is `false.`
`jtest.agent.autoloadMultiuserLibs`	Enables/disables automatic loading of multiuser libraries (OpenTelemetry javaagent) when `jtest.agent.enableMultiuserCoverage` is set to true. The default value is `true`.
`jtest.agent.serverEnabled`	Activates the agent.
`jtest.agent.enableJacoco`	Enables the agent to collect coverage using the JaCoCo engine. The default is `false.`

When the properties are configured, add a -javaagent argument when starting your application server to attach the agent and include the agent configuration file:

-javaagent:'/path/to/agent.jar'=settings='/path/to/agent.properties',runtimeData='/path/to/runtime_coverage'

In the following example, the agent is attached to a Tomcat server with a JAVA_OPTS variable at the beginning of the catalina.sh (Linux) or catalina.bat (Windows) scripts:

if [ "$1" = "start" -o "$1" = "run" ]; then
JAVA_OPTS='-javaagent:"/home/TIA/test_impact_analysis/integration/coverage/agent.jar"=settings="/home/TIA/test_impact_analysis/integration/coverage/agent.properties",runtimeData="/home/TIA/coverage_storage"'
fi

if "%1"=="stop" goto skip_instrumentation
set JAVA_OPTS=-javaagent:"C:\TIA\test_impact_analysis\integration\coverage\agent.jar"=settings="C:\TIA\test_impact_analysis\integration\coverage\agent.properties",runtimeData="C:\TIA\coverage_storage"
:skip_instrumentation

Start the application and verify that the agent is ready by opening <host>:8050/status in your browser. You should see a JSON object that contains test, runtime_coverage, and testCase properties, for example:

{"test":null,"session":"runtime_coverage_20191008_1537_0","testCase":null}

You can also check the directory you specified with the runtimeData property (/home/TIA/coverage_storage in the example above). The directory should contain a set of static coverage data files. The files are generated when the agent is started.

Additional Steps for Multiuser Mode

If you are enabling multiuser coverage and multiple users are simultaneously accessing the same web application, the coverage data they collect may be mixed. To prevent this, there are a few additional steps:

Your tests need to inject the following HTTP header:
baggage: test-operator-id=<USER>
Be sure that both jtest.agent.enableMultiuserCoverage and jtest.agent.autoloadMultiuserLibs are enabled (see Jtest Coverage Agent).

Also bear in mind that in multiuser mode:

When jtest.agent.enableMultiuserCoverage is enabled, jtest-otel-ext.jar and opentelemetry-javaagent.jar will be automatically loaded from the agent.jar directory.
The "default" user (the user who has not specified their ID) may collect extra coverage information from other users who are accessing the same web application.
Coverage collected for multithreaded applications may, in some cases, not be assigned to individual users. This is related to OpenTelemetry limitations regarding context sharing between threads.
Collecting coverage with the Jacoco engine is not supported.
Coverage data collected for web application initialization is not assigned to a specific user, but to the "default" user.

Configuring Selenic to Collect and Upload Coverage

With the proper configuration, Selenic will collect application coverage during test execution. To do so, configure a Selenic settings file (see Configuring Settings) with the following options, as appropriate:

build.id: Set to the build ID with which to correlate coverage results. If you want to merge Selenic coverage results with results from other types of testing—such as unit testing and manual testing of the same application—they must all use the same build ID. The build ID set here must match the build ID set for Jtest when collecting the static and dynamic coverage files and uploading the coverage data.
dtp.project: This value must match the dtp.project value set for Jtest when collecting the static and dynamic coverage files.
report.dtp.publish: Set to true to enable publishing test result data to DTP.
application.coverage.enabled: Set to true. This enables application coverage.
application.coverage.agent.url: Specify the URL where the application under test and coverage agent are hosted. Include the protocol (HTTP/HTTPS) and port number of the agent. Separate multiple entries with a semi-colon ( ; ). For example: http\://<Agent Host>\:8050;http\://<Agent Host>\:9050.
application.coverage.user.id: Optional. Specify a user ID so that coverage results can be associated with a specific user. A user ID should only be specified when the coverage agent is configured to run in multi-user mode. See jtest.agent.enableMultiuserCoverage below.
application.coverage.dtp.publish: Set to true to upload coverage reports to DTP or false to not upload coverage reports to DTP. If you have configured multiple coverage agents, their coverage reports will be merged into a single coverage report for DTP. Defaults to the value of report.dtp.publish (see Configuring Settings) or to true if -publish is passed to seleniccli.
application.coverage.binaries: Optional. Specify the URL or local file that contains binaries of the application under test (AUT). You can specify the path to a folder or a .war, .jar, .zip, or .ear file. Not needed if the static coverage file is uploaded to DTP separately. Do not use if application.coverage.static.file has been specified.
application.coverage.binaries.exclude: Optional but recommended. Specify a comma-separated pattern of application binaries to exclude during AUT scanning. If neither this nor application.coverage.binaries.include is configured, analysis of binaries will take longer and analyze more of the application than needed. In many cases, there is no need to measure code coverage of third-party library code, so it is preferable to limit code coverage to project code using this setting. Do not use if application.coverage.static.file has been specified. By default, all binaries are accepted. For example, application.coverage.binaries.exclude=jakarta/**,java/**,javax/**,org/apache/**,org/springframework/**
application.coverage.binaries.include: Optional but recommended. If neither this nor application.coverage.binaries.exclude is configured, analysis of binaries will take longer and analyze more of the application than needed. In many cases, there is no need to measure code coverage of third-party library code, so it is preferable to limit code coverage to project code using this setting. Specify a comma-separated pattern of application binaries to include during AUT scanning. Do not use if application.coverage.static.file has been specified. By default, all binaries are accepted. For example, application.coverage.binaries.include=com/myapp/data/*,com/myapp/common/**
application.coverage.static.file: Optional. Specify the path to the static coverage file generated with Jtest in the .xml or .data format, or by the Selenic coverage tool that analyzed the application binaries. Not needed if the static coverage file is uploaded to DTP separately. Do not use if application.coverage.binaries has been specified.
application.coverage.images: Specify a set of tags that are used to create coverage images in DTP. A coverage image is a unique identifier for aggregating coverage data from runs with the same build ID. Separate multiple entries with a semi-colon ( ; ). For details, see the Parasoft DTP user guide. For example: ${dtp_project};${dtp_project}_Functional Test.

Executing Tests to Collect and Upload Coverage

Run your tests in command line mode using Selenic agent and analyzer settings file you have configured (see Configuring Selenic to Collect and Upload Coverage). This step should be part of an automated process. Coverage data will be collected as tests execute. A coverage report can be created and, if publishing to DTP has been enabled, uploaded to DTP using the coverage tool shipped with Selenic.

Reviewing Coverage in DTP

Go to DTP and open the Coverage Explorer to review the application coverage achieved by your Selenic tests. For details on using the Coverage Explorer, see the Parasoft DTP user guide at https://docs.parasoft.com.