Need Assistance Load Testing a JSF/Seam Application with JMeter

Hello All

I am "attempting" to load test a JSF/Seam/IceFaces application with JMeter but I have not had any success whatsoever. I have used the HTTP Proxy Server option to record my moves, which involve logging in and then immediately back out. When I attempt to "play back" the script, nothing seems to work at all. I either get JBoss errors or nothing at all. I have read many posts about how to use JMeter to test JSF, including:

http://kalgtech.blogspot.com/2009/10/load-testing-seam-application-using.html
http://www.informit.com/guides/content.aspx?g=java&seqNum=272
http://wiki.apache.org/myfaces/PerformanceTestingWithJMeter

But none of the options/tweaks they have suggested has helped. I have successfully used JMeter to test a non-Java web application, so I know I have the general "gist" of what to do. Has anybody had any success with this particular combination?

Thanks for reading, have a good day.

"No Salt", Welcome to JavaRanch.
Please check your private messages regarding an important administrative matter.

Without knowing more it's impossible to help.

Tell me what you need ... I'll supply it.

TellTheDetails, ItDoesntWorkIsUseless

What's happening? What's not happening? Error messages? Anything would help at this point :)

Well ... as it turns out, the problem is, apparently, with our application. I loaded up the Seam 2.2 hotel booking application and was able to script and play-back with absolutely no problem. The weird thing is that the thing that works on the booking application does not work on ours. In looking at the help guide here:

http://wiki.apache.org/myfaces/PerformanceTestingWithJMeter

It says to account for the View State by establishing a RegEx and passing in a new ID with the jsfViewState variable. With the hotel booking application this works perfectly, ${jsfViewState} gets translated to a valid j_id# with no issue. However, with our application, what gets passed in the POST is literally "${jsfViewState}". It is the most maddening thing ever because I have made the exact same modification to both recorded thread groups but one works and the other does not.

I'll try to work through this again tomorrow with fresh eyes and hopefully I will be able to work something out. This is especially difficult as I don't really have any Java experience at all. Most of my development experience is 'C', Perl, and PHP. Eventually I'll have to post some more here on CodeRanch to ask where to get started.