User groups are groups of virtual users who share similar, though not identical, behavior. The members of user groups perform slightly different transactions with the goal of simulating real-world client behavior.
User groups are used in conjunction with parameterized user input data and profiles, for example browser types and connection speeds, to simulate typical end-user activity.
User groups are defined by the transactions that they call and the frequency at which they call those transactions. For example, you might have a user group called Searcher that performs a TLogon transaction once, a TSearch transaction five times, and a TLogoff transaction once. You might also have a user group called Updater that performs the TLogon transaction once, the TSearch transaction three times, the TUpdate transaction twice, and the TLogoff transaction once. A third user group called Inserter might perform the TLogon transaction once, the TSearch transaction once, the TInsert transaction three times, and the TLogoff transaction once. Collectively, these user groups can be used to simulate real-world client activity while maintaining load balance, meaning that transactions are distributed in such a way that all users don’t perform the same transaction at the same moment.
When multiple users have the same profile, they can be combined into a user group. The user group list contains the name of the user group, the transactions that are to be invoked by the user group, and the frequency at which the transactions are to be invoked (TransCount). User group descriptions are included in the dcluser sections of Silk Performer test scripts.