h1. Building a Test Plan
A test plan describes a series of steps JMeter will execute when run. A complete test plan will consiste of one or more Thread Groups, logic conrollers, sample generating controllers, listeners, timers, assertions, and configuration elements.
h2. Adding and Removing Elements
Adding elements to a test plan can be done by right-clicking on an element in the tree, and choosing a new element from the "add" list. Alternatively, elements can be loaded from file and added by choosing the "open" option.
To remove an element, make sure the element is selected, right-click on the element, and choose the "remove" option.
h2. Loading and Saving Elements
To load an element from file, right click on the existing tree element to which you want to add the loaded element, and select the "open" option. Choose the file where your elements are saved. JMeter will load the elements into the tree.
To save tree elements, right click on an element and choose the "save" option. JMeter will save the element selected, plus all child elements beneath it. In this way, you can save test tree fragments, individual elements, or the entire test plan.
{{{The test plan file format changed with version 1.7. Versions later than 1.8 are no longer capable of reading test plans in the old format. If you need to use an old test plan, use JMeter 1.7 or 1.8 to load and re-save it in the new format.}}}
h2. Configuring Tree Elements
Any element in the test tree will present controls in JMeter's right-hand frame. These controls allow you to configure the behavior of that particular test element. What can be configured for an element depends on what type of element it is.
The Test Tree itself can be manipulated by dragging and dropping components around the test tree.
h2. Running a Test Plan
To run your test plan, choose "start" from the "run" menu item. To stop your test plan, choose "stop" from the same menu. A small box in the top right corner of JMeter turns green when JMeter is running. Another way to check if JMeter is running is to check the "run" menu. If "start" is disabled, and "stop" is enabled, JMeter is running (or at least trying to run) your test plan.