Alces

A Tool for Testing JDF Software

http://elk.itn.liu.se/alces

Claes Buckwalter

Linköping University Sunday, November 6, 2005 Strasbourg

Alces

• Alces plays the role of a Manager and is used for testing the JDF compliance of a Worker, such as a RIP, a printing press, a binding machine, etc.

• Java application • CIP4 open source license • Two flavors – Interactive Alces — GUI – Automated Alces — command-line interface

Interoperability Conformance Specifications

• The JDF Specification defines the format and semantics of data exchanged between JDF-enabled systems • The ICSs define requirements on the behavior of JDF-enabled systems • Conformance requirements depend on – Product role: Manager or Worker – Product sector: prepress, digital printing, postpress, etc – Product complexity: three levels of complexity,

Conformance Levels 1–3

Testing a Worker

• Alces is a Manager—it implements the

Manager Interface

• The system under test is a Worker—it implements the Worker Interface

Alces

(Manager) JDF/JMF JDF/JMF System under test (Worker)

Testing a Worker

• Probe the Worker with JMF/JDF input • Verify that the outputted JMF/JDF is valid • Verify that the functionality defined by the ICSs the Worker claims conformance with is supported

JMF/JDF JMF/JDF

Black box testing

Worker

Other output (ignored)

Interactive Alces

• Graphical user interface • Automatic discovery of supported JMF messages • Submit JDF job tickets • Queue view • Send automatically generated JMF messages • Send hand-coded JMF messages • Receives Signal messages (subscriptions) • Receives Acknowledge messages (asynchronous Responses) • CheckJDF-validation of all sent and received JMF • Pluggable custom tests • View all messages sent and received

Automated Alces

• Command-line interface • Automatically sends all JMF/JDF/MIME files in a specified directory • Receives Signal messages (subscriptions) • Receives Acknowledge messages (asynchronous Responses) • CheckJDF-validation of all JMF messages sent and received • Pluggable custom test • Generates a test report in XML-format (including style sheet for viewing in XSLT-capable web browser)

Use Cases

• Learning and understanding JMF messaging • Troubleshooting • Product testing • Automated build testing • Product certification?

More Information

• Project homepage: http://elk.itn.liu.se/alces – Source and binary distributions – Documentation • Current project team – Claes Buckwalter, Linköping University – Marco Kornrumpf, arvato systems • Related papers – A Tool for Testing Compliance with CIP4’s Interoperability Conformance Specifications, DPP2005 Proceedings – Alces—A Tool for Testing JDF Compliance, Printing Future Days Proceedings

Thank you for listening

Claes Buckwalter [email protected]