Instructed by:

Ofir Erel

Performed by:

Adam LeviMarina Skarbovsky

A Designer for Generating Complex Equipment Tests

Create a GUI designer for generating complex unit tests from existing ones, which will enable: Loading assemblies that contain unit-test

classes and displaying them to the user. Choosing test-cases from the loaded list and

using them as building blocks for new tests. Specifying the execution flow of the

constructed test: Execution order between inner test cases. Serial / Parallel execution of test cases. Delays between concurrently executed tests .

Setting test parameters for tests that require them.

Project Objectives

Compiling the new test into one (or both) of the following:

A DLL that is test case – so that the constructed test can be reused as a building block in future tests.

A DLL that is Test Fixture that wraps the test case – so that the constructed test can be run via Nunit.

Saving the tests for future usage. Loading previously saved tests.

Project Objectives (cont.)

Microsoft’s .Net WinForms API was used to create the GUI. We also used several free open-source GUI components to simplify

the development of the docking GUI, options forms and more. Reflection was used to enable: Identifying the test classes in a loaded assembly. Analyzing test parameter types. Generate new test cases and assemblies from the compounded tests.

Object serialization was used to enable: Saving/loading tests for future use.

Saving an instance of a test-case’ parameter to be used when executing a generated test-case

Multithreading was used to enable creating tests with concurrency.

Microsoft's XSD Object Generator was used for the creation of classes from XML Schemas.

The Generator was used mostly at the start of the project, and later was abandoned due to the XSD Object Generator limitations.

Methodology

UI: Supports all the required functionality such as

loading assemblies, building and compiling new tests, editing test parameters and properties, etc...

Additional windows including the Grid-Output and the Options form were added to provide a better experience for the user (although they were not required by KLA-Tencor).

A “Complete package” – includes keyboard shortcuts for useful operations, tool bar, icons and more.

All of the UI was built with Microsoft’s Visual Studio “In mind” with the help of Weifen Luo's DockSample, to make usage more intuitive to the “common” user.

Relatively long operations such as compilation and loads are executed in separate threads to avoid UI freezes.

Achievements

The Properties Window A special window that enables the user to edit

properties of different objects. Similar to the Properties window in Visual Studio.

The window wraps a PropertyGrid object A component that is part of the .Net framework

Provides support for displaying and editing all data types used by KLA-Tencor.

Our use of the PropertyGrid makes it easy for KLA-Tencor to extend it’s support for additional data types.

The PropertyGrid is widely used and is a well documented component.

Achievements (cont.)

Compilation of new assemblies Compilation of new assemblies is done with minimal

‘machine-generated’ code. It is far easier to debug human written code. Adding additional features to the application will require

minimal (if any) interventions in the assembly-creation process.

Generating complex code might be slow. Most of the generated test is actually an XML file

that is embedded inside the generated assembly. XML is human readable

Several assemblies are embedded in the generated assembly to reduce dependencies

Enables us to create a “One Package” assembly.

Achievements (cont.)

Saving/Loading A test is saved as an XML file

The user can easily read and understand the generated file, if needed.

Installer An installer was made using the free

“Bytessence InstallMaker”. Documentation provided Users’ guide Developers’ guide

An auto-generated code documentation Generated Using Microsoft's “SandCastle” generator. Has the familiar MSDN “Look and feel”.

Achievements (cont.)

A word on the compilation process…

When building a large system, good design is very important.Well worth the time investment.

Using existing (free) source-code can save a lot of time and work.

Integration with the target system is crucial even after the application went through thorough testing.

The course is a good way to expose students to new technologies, gain some hands on experience with “real” software projects, get familiar with a project’s life-cycle and learn how to conduct oneself in a team.

Conclusions