Welcome
Welcome to the documentation for HCL AppScan Standard version 10.4.0
Getting started
This section provides a short tour of basic product features and procedures, including using the wizard to set up a scan.
- Overview
- What's new
  This section describes new AppScan Standard product features and enhancements in this release, as well as deprecations and anticipated changes, where relevant.
- System requirements
  A summary of the minimum hardware and software required for the machine that runs AppScan Standard.
- Installing
  The installation wizard guides you through the fast and simple process.
- License
  This section describes for the trial and paid versions of AppScan Standard.
- How an automatic scan works
  This topic explains the difference between the "stages" and "phases" of a scan.
- Web application vs. web API
  This topic explains the different methods available for exploring sites, before AppScan tests them.
- Basic workflow
  A diagram showing a simple AppScan workflow using the scan configuration wizard.
- Home screen
  Describes the options available from the home screen that opens when you load AppScan.
- Tour of the main screens
  Describes the components of the AppScan main screen (Issues view), and all menus and toolbars.
- Tutorial
  This simple tutorial goes through the steps of configuring a simple application scan using the Scan Configuration wizard, running the scan, and reviewing the results.
- Sample files
  The sample files can help give you a feel for using AppScan and what scan results look like.
Configuration
You configure a scan by choosing settings that best describe your application, and the kind of testing you want.
Manual exploring
Manual exploring enables you to explore specific parts of your application, filling in fields and forms as you go. This can be a way of ensuring that particular areas of the site are covered, and that AppScan has the information needed to complete forms correctly.
Scanning
Learn how to start a scan, and what happens during the scan; how to manually manipulate the Explore stage, and how to export the results of a scan.
Data
Data view is populated with information about the structure of the site during the Explore stage of the scan.
Issues
Issues view provides access to the results of a scan. You can view results at a high level or select specific tests or objects and access more details. These details include how to fix, requests/responses, and differences between the test variants that resulted in issues. You can manipulate the severity of issues, resend tests (with or without modifications), and create reports based on Issues.
Reports
This section describes how to generate reports from the scan results.
Tools
This section explains how to use additional tools provided with HCL AppScan Standard.
Integrations
This section describes integrations of other applications with AppScan Standard:
Best practices
This section contains some best practices and use cases for advanced users.
FAQ & Troubleshooting
CLI
This section describes the syntax and options available using the Command line interface.
References
Menus and toolbar summaries, and glossary

Web application vs. web API

This topic explains the different methods available for exploring sites, before AppScan tests them.

A site is scanned by first exploring it, and then, based on the data gathered, testing it. "Explore data" can be gathered using one or more different Explore methods. In all cases, once the Explore data is gathered AppScan is used to create and send tests to the site during the Test stage.

Exploring web applications (sites with a user interface)

For many applications it is sufficient to supply AppScan with the start URL and authentication credentials for it to be able to test the site.
Manual Explore: If necessary you can manually explore the site through AppScan,in order to get access to areas that can only be reached through specific user input.
Multi-Step Operations: For pages that can be reached only by first accessing other pages in a specific order, you can record a multi-step operation for AppScan to use.

While the Configuration Wizard lets you configure and start your scan in a few steps, for complex sites the Configuration Dialog Box lets you fine-tune and customize many more settings.

Exploring web APIs

AppScan offers three ways to do this.

You can set up AppScan as a recording proxy for the device (such as a mobile phone or simulator) you use to explore the service. That way AppScan can analyze the Explore data collected, and send appropriate tests. You can also use AppScan to record traffic using external tool, such as a web API functional tester. See Using an external client.
If you have prerecorded a Postman Collection of requests to the API as part of your DevOps, you can import it to be used as the Explore stage of the scan. AppScan will analyze and use the collection to test the site. See Scan using a Postman Collection.
If you have Open API description files (JSON or YAML) for your web service, you can use the Web API Wizard extension to configure a scan, and the multi-step sequences needed to use the service. AppScan will then automatically scan it.

In all cases, once you have supplied AppScan with Explore data, it can proceed to automatically test the site and present the scan results for review and triage.