GB2364145A - Automated testing of imaging systems - Google Patents

Abstract

A computer system (102) comprises a translation module (112), cooperatively coupled to an application development environment (108). The translation module (112) receives a script file from the application development environment (108) and translates instructions in the script file to executable byte codes, at least a subset of which are interpreted by an imaging system under test (104) as being generated by a user manually interfacing with an imaging system control panel (122).

Description

2364145 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATING IMAGING SYSTEM TESTING

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to imaging systems and, in particular, to a method and system for automating imaging system testing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Imaging system technology continues to advance at an ever- increasing rate Printers, plotters, copiers, facsimile machines and multi-

function machines (combinations of two or more of scanner, copier, printer, facsimile machine) are available over an expansive price range to meet the demanding needs of a wide variety of consumer The range of cost of such imaging systems varies according to type of device and the technology used.

Even within an imaging system type segment, a number of price points are found based, primarily on the technology employed and the cost of manufacture The cost of a laser printer, for example, typically depends on the speed of the print engine, the resolution of the printed image, whether it offers color prints, and the networking capability of the printer.

Another aspect of the cost of imaging systems, alluded to above, is the cost of manufacture One component of this aspect is the labor involved to produce the product Typically, imaging systems are produced, in large part, in an automated manufacturing line, wherein components are brought together and assembled to produce the finished product One limitation of such prior art manufacturing practices, however, lies in the testing of such products Most imaging systems include control and display panels, which enable a user to manually control copy quality and scanning parameters, for example To effectively test these control and display panels, prior art manufacturing techniques required an individual to participate in the testing process, pushing buttons and reading the display It will be appreciated that the use of an individual to perform such tests slows the rate of production and adds cost to the manufacture of the product It is not uncommon for particular test sequences of, for example, a scanner assembly to last eight to forty hours, i e, up to one-man week, to complete.

It is also well documented that human-based test methods are prone to error Human beings have a difficult time accurately performing repetitive tasks over long periods of time One prior art approach to reduce human error in such testing was to rotate test operators through different tasks throughout their shift While this has reduced the number of human errors encountered, it has not eliminated the problem.

This lack of automated testing also affects the accurate servicing of imaging systems Field service personnel are often called by a customer to quickly identify and remedy a problem with a system in the field Today, servicing such customer problems requires the use of a trained technician, one of greater than ordinary skill, to perform the tests necessary to identify and remedy customer problems Even though the technician is provided with extensive training, product manuals and field service guides, the ability of a technician to quickly and accurately identify the source of a problem is still too- often a function of the technician's experience servicing the product As a result, customer satisfaction drops when a service technician fails to quickly and accurately resolve product problems.

Thus, what is required is a system and method to automate the testing of imaging systems that is unencumbered by the limitations commonly associated with the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is drawn to a system and method for automating imaging system testing.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a computer system is presented comprising an application development environment and an innovative imaging system translation module, cooperatively coupled to the application development environment According to a first aspect of the invention, the translation module receives a script file from the application development environment and translates instructions in the script file to executable byte codes, at least a subset of which are interpreted by an imaging system as being created by a user manually interfacing with an imaging system control panel.

According to one aspect of the invention, the script includes one or more innovative imaging system control functions and a corresponding definitions library which translates the functions into one or more executable byte codes In addition, the translation module bundles a plurality of script files into a single downloadable resource file in which each of the scripts is individually accessible and executable According to one embodiment, each script is assigned an access code, which may be entered from the control panel to initiate execution of a particular script Once the single resource file is created, it is translated into an appropriate imaging system language wrapper and downloaded to the imaging system.

According to another aspect of the invention, an innovative imaging system is presented comprising a processing module and an interpreter module, cooperatively coupled to the processing module, to receive a resource file and interpret the byte codes as a sequence of manual key presses from a control panel and instruct the processing module to modify a configuration of the imaging system in accordance with sequence of manual key presses In this regard, the interpreter acts as a virtual control panel for the processing module, interpreting the byte codes received in a resource file and providing the command sequence to the processing module to control the imaging system accordingly.

It is to be appreciated that a computer including the innovative translation module, coupled to one or more imaging systems including the innovative interpreter module embody an innovative imaging system application development/test system The innovative system enables a developer to create and download test applications with innovative instructions that are interpreted by the imaging system as a user's manual interaction with a control panel.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig 1 is a block diagram of an imaging system application development and test system incorporating the teachings of the present invention, according to one embodiment of the present invention; Fig 2 is a block diagram of an example translator module, according to one aspect of the present invention; Fig 3 is a block diagram of an example interpreter module, according to one aspect of the present invention; Fig 4 is a flow chart of an example method for developing and downloading resource files for an imaging system, according to one embodiment of the present invention; Fig 5 is a flow chart of an example method for initiating an automated test sequence incorporating the teachings of the present invention, according to one embodiment of the present invention; Figs 6-9 are graphical representations of an imaging system control panel display depicting the automatic alteration of manual system settings, according to the teachings of the present invention; and Fig 10 illustrates a block diagram of an example storage medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions which, when executed, implement the teachings of the present invention.

The same reference numbers are used throughout the figures to reference like components and features.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Fig 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example data network 100 comprising a computer system 102 coupled to an imaging system 104 via a communication medium 106 According to one aspect of the present invention,

computer system 102 is presented comprising one or more applications 108, an operating system 1 10 and an innovative translator module 1 12 According to another aspect of the invention, imaging system 104 is presented comprising copy module 1 14, print module 1 16 and an innovative interpreter module 1 18.

As will be described in greater detail below, the innovative translator module 11 2 and interpreter module 118 enable a developer to write and execute a test application to automate what would otherwise be manual imaging system test sequences requiring user interaction with a control panel of the imaging system 104 According to yet another aspect of the invention, to be described more fully below, the developer codes the files in an innovative, user- friendly scripting language which includes a plurality of commands which are translated and interpreted by the imaging system as manual keypad entries at the control panel of the imaging system 104 In this regard, the present invention enables a developer to automate manual imaging system test applications using an innovative scripting language that includes commands that mimic manual, human interaction with the imaging system Thus, it is to be appreciated that the present invention represents a fundamental improvement in the cost and reliability of testing imaging systems.

As introduced above, imaging system 104 is depicted comprising copy module 1 14, printer module 1 16 and an innovative interpreter module 118, communicatively coupled as depicted As shown, copy module 114 includes a processing module 120, a control panel 122 and a scanner module 124 As used herein, the control panel 122 includes an input device, e g, a keypad, and a display device According to one implementation, control panel 122 is a touch sensitive display, in which the keypad is actually projected onto the display panel As will be described in more detail below, the control panel 122 enables a user to interface with and control imaging system 104 Indeed, certain features and system attributes of imaging system 104 are only controllable via keypad entries at control panel 122 thus the need for manual testing of prior art imaging systems.

In addition to the control panel 122, copy module 114 includes processing module 120 and scanner module 124 According to one implementation, the processing module 120 includes the necessary logic and memory to control the general operation of imaging system 104 In this regard, processing module 120 controls the functional elements of imaging system 104 to perform network printing, scanning and/or copying functionality It should be appreciated that while other functional elements may also include control logic, e.g, select embodiments of innovative interpreter 118, the processing module is intended to represent the general controller for imaging system 104 as a whole In this regard, processing module 120 receives and controls communications with the various modules comprising imaging system 104 as well as with external devices (e g, computer system 102) in response to commands received from control panel 122 and/or external devices (e g, computer system 102) In alternate implementations, processing module 120 is the general controller for copy module 114, and print module 116 and interpreter module 118 each have their own, dedicated, processing module or control logic.

The scanner module 124 provides the scanning functionality necessary to capture images of physical media (documents, pictures, etc) for printing or, alternatively, storing to memory.

Printer module 116 is intended to represent any of a wide variety of printing devices known in the art including, but not limited to, a print engine subassembly, a laser printer, an ink-jet printer, a plotter, and the like In one embodiment, for example, print module 116 is a network laser printer coupled to copy module 114 via a high-speed communication path (e g, an IEEE 1394 standard connection) In alternate embodiments, print module 116 is a print engine coupled to copy module 114 via a local bus Thus, although depicted as a subassembly of imaging system 104, it is to be appreciated that printer module 116 may well be remotely located yet communicatively accessible to processor module 120 of imaging system 104 to provide the printing functionality for imaging system 104.

As shown, printer module 116 includes a storage device 126.

According to one aspect of the present invention, to be described more fully below, the innovative test applications generated by the translator module 112 are downloaded to and accessible from storage device 126, according to one embodiment of the invention As used herein, storage device 126 is intended to be illustrative of any of a wide variety of storage devices/media including, but not limited to a hard disk drive, other magnetic media drives, a compact disk (CD) or digital versatile disk (DVD), an optical media drive, and the like Insofar as such devices are known, they need not be further discussed here It is to be appreciated, however, that in alternate embodiments, imaging system 104 may well access test applications from any of a plurality of storage devices, including external storage devices without deviating from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

According to one aspect of the present invention, imaging system 104 includes an innovative interpreter module 1 18, which identifies and interprets select byte codes within test applications as manual key entries at control panel 122 As alluded to above, certain features and functions of imaging system 104 are only controllable from control panel 122 (i e, manually controllable) Such limitations necessitated the need to manually test such features and functionality, thereby adding to the production time and cost associated with the manufacture of imaging system 104 As will be described in greater detail below, the innovative interpreter module 118 acts as a "virtual keypad", enabling an application developer to code instructions which are interpreted by the interpreter module 118 as manual key entries from the control panel 122, providing the instructions to processing module 120 which controls the features and functionality of imaging system 104 in accordance with the interpreted commands That is, the interpreter module 1 18 facilitates the automation of otherwise manual test sequences.

With continued reference to Fig 1, computer system 102 is depicted comprising one or more applications 108, an operating system 1 10 and an innovative translator module 1 12 incorporating the teachings of the present invention, each coupled as shown As will be described more fully below, the translator module 11 2 receives a script file comprising one or more innovative script commands that, when executed by interpreter module 118 of an imaging system, mimic a user's manual interaction with a control panel of the imaging system The scripts may well be developed in any scripting or application development environment, as the scripting language does not require any special features or functions According to one embodiment, computer system 102 includes an application development tool in applications 108 which may well be used by a developer to write a script file In an alternate embodiment, computer 102 receives a script file developed on another computer system (not shown).

According to one aspect of the invention, the scripting language includes an innovative set of commands and associated arguments designed to mimic a user's interaction with a control panel 122 to either control or obtain state information from imaging system 104 More specifically, the innovative scripting language includes a series of instructions which define key actions which may be entered by a user at control panel 122 to control various features and functions of imaging system 104, some of which are only manually controllable via the control panel 122 According to one implementation, the innovative scripting language includes the following commands:

press (Argument):: Simulate a manual control panel entry.

active (Argument) Determines whether argument is active.

get(Argument):: Retrieves state information associated with argument.

set(Argument) Sets state information defined by argument.

debug (Argument):: Debug argument sleep (Argument) Initiates a pause during argument.

The innovative combination of commands, arguments, etc of the scripting language are stored in a definitions file, which must be included (declared as an instruction) in each script written in accordance with the teachings of the present invention According to one embodiment of the invention, a defines asm file defines all allowable key actions, system variables, state constants and system functions as unique executable instructions In one embodiment, the executable instructions are positive integers (byte codes) Use of the defines asm file, or equivalents thereof, enable the developer to write the script file in a user-friendly language, without having to code the script file using the lower level byte codes.

An example list of innovative script commands, key actions, system variables, state constants, etc and their corresponding bytecodes are provided as Appendix A of this application It should be appreciated, however, that the specific commands required to replace a user's manual interaction with a control panel 122 of an imaging system 104 may well be specific to the imaging system, the imaging system type and/or the manufacturer of the imaging system Accordingly, the innovative script commands identified in Appendix A are to be regarded as but an illustrative example, and that alternate/additional scripting commands that when executed mimic a user's interaction with an imaging system control panel are anticipated within the scope and spirit of the present invention.

But for the innovative translator module 112, computer system 102, applications 108 and operating system 1 10 are intended to represent any of a number of alternative computer systems, applications and operating systems known in the art Thus, it is to be appreciated that the innovative translator module 1 12 does not require any special features or functionality that is not typically resident on any computer system.

As used herein, the translator module 112 prepares the developed script file for use by an imaging system incorporating the teachings of the' present invention, e g, imaging system 104 In this regard, translator module 112 performs one or more of three distinct functions including, compiling the script file, bundling one or more resource files into a single resource file, and wrapping the resource file in a printer-specific executable language As will be described more fully below, translator module 1 12 compiles a received script file, converting the high-level language instructions into a second, typically lower level, language which is executable by the imaging system The translator module 1 1 2 receives a script file and produces a compiled resource file of executable instructions One or more compiled resource files may then be bundled by translator module 112, to produce a single resource file representing multiple script files As will be described below, each individual resource file is uniquely accessible within the common resource file using access codes assigned to each resource file by translator module 112 during the bundling process In addition, translator module 112 wraps the bundled resource file in an imaging system specific application format Examples of such wrappers include the PCLW and PJL printer languages According to one implementation, once compiled, bundled and wrapped, the wrapper with embedded resource file is downloaded to one or more imaging system(s) ( 104) via operating system and communication medium 106.

As used herein, communication medium 106 is intended to represent any of a number of typical communication links including, but not limited to, a proprietary data bus, an industry standard data bus, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), or a global area network (e g, the Internet) In this regard, it is anticipated that a number of imaging systems endowed with the innovative interpreter module 126 may receive test applications developed on a common computer platform 102 using the innovative translator module 1 12 via communication medium 106 For ease of illustration, and not limitation, a single computer system 102 and imaging system 104 is depicted.

Having introduced the operating environment of the present invention with reference to Fig 1, Figs 2 and 3 are now referenced to further describe the elements and general operation of translator module 1 12 and interpreter module 1 18, respectively.

Fig 2 is a block diagram of an example translator module 1 12 incorporating the teachings of the present invention As shown, translator module 112 is depicted comprising control logic 202, input/output (I/0) resources 204, a translator 206, one or more script file(s) 208 and resource file(s) 210, coupled as shown Translator 206 is shown including a compiler function 212, a bundler function 214 and a wrapper function 216, each of which will be described more fully, below According to the teachings of the present invention, script file 208 is intended to represent an application script written utilizing the innovative scripting language of the present invention.

Similarly, resource file(s) 210 are intended to represent the resource files used in accordance with the script files (e g, the defines asm file) as well as one or more resource files utilized by the compiler, bundler or wrapper functions ( 212- 216) It is to be appreciated that script files and resource files are depicted as distinct functional elements for ease of explanation Such files would likely be embodied as instructions stored in a memory/storage communicatively accessible by control logic 202, perhaps via I/O interface 204 Such alternate embodiments are anticipated within the scope and spirit of the present invention.

As used herein, control logic 202 and I/O resources are intended to represent a wide variety of control logic and I/O interfaces known in the art In one embodiment, for example, control logic 202 is a processor, while I/O interface is a network interface In an alternate embodiment, control logic 202 is a programmable logic array (PLA), field programmable gate array (FPGA), or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) As used herein, control logic 202 receives script files from a development tool (for example) and selectively invokes one or more functions of translator 206 Once the appropriate functions of translator 206 have been performed, control logic 202 downloads the wrapped, bundled resource file (i e, the application image) created by translator 206 to identified imaging systems via I/O interface 206 In one embodiment, control logic 202 provides a user with a graphical user interface (GUI) to select which application images are downloaded to which imaging systems via the I/O interface 204.

As introduced above, translator 206 includes one or more of a compiler function 212, a bundler function 214 and a wrapper function 216.

According to the illustrated example embodiment, translator 206 includes all three functions, although alternate embodiments comprising more or less functional elements are anticipated within the scope of the invention When invoked by control logic 202, compiler function 21 2 receives a script file in a high-level language and translates the file into a second, lower-level language.

According to one implementation, compiler function 212 translates the script file into executable byte codes of a resource file.

Once all of the script files have been compiled to resource files, control logic invokes the bundler function 214, which associates key sequences entered at an imaging system control panel with the resource files in a one-to- one mapping That is, each of the resource file is assigned a unique key sequence, or access code, enabling each resource file to be uniquely identifiable from the control panel 122 of an imaging system 104 In addition, bundler function 214 bundles identified resource files into a single resource file.

According to one implementation, control logic 202 provides a user interface to enable a user to easily select which resource files are bundled together In an alternate implementation, control logic 202 identifies all available resource files and instructs bundler function 214 to bundle all identified resource files.

Once the resource files have been assigned unique identifiers and bundled,

control logic 202 invokes wrapper function 216 Wrapper function 216 embeds the bundled resource file in an imaging system-specific language (e g, the PCL- XL or PJL languages identified above) for download to and execution by an imaging system ( 104) When the bundled resource file is processed by wrapper, it is downloaded to identified imaging systems by control logic 202 via I/O interface 204 According to one embodiment, an imaging system command (i.e, in an appropriate imaging system language (e g, PJL) is issued by control logic 202 to the imaging systems to download the embedded (wrapped) resource file to a storage device accessible by the print module, e g, storage device 126.

In this way, translator module 11 2 takes a script file, written in an innovative user-friendly language, and generates a test application suitable for download to and execution by imaging systems incorporating the innovative interpreter module 118.

Fig 3 is a block diagram of an example interpreter module, according to one aspect of the present invention As shown, interpreter module 118 is depicted comprising control logic 302, an I/O interface 304, and interpreter 306 and memory 308, coupled as shown As above, control logic 302, 1/O interface 304 and memory 308 are each intended to represent any of a broad category of such functional elements commonly known in the art Thus,

but for their interaction with interpreter 306, they need not be described further.

When processor module 120 receives a command from control panel 122 to invoke a select resource file, the resource file is retrieved from storage device 126 and loaded into memory 308 of interpreter 118 via I/O interface 304 and control logic 302 In response, control logic 302 executes the resource file, providing instructions to processing module 120 to configure and perform a series of tests According to the teachings of the present invention, when control logic 302 encounters a command that would otherwise require human interaction with control panel 122, interpreter 306 issues a series of key sequences in lieu of the manual interface with control panel 122 In this regard, interpreter 306 is a "virtual control panel", providing an automated surrogate to control panel 122 and automating what would otherwise require manual human interaction.

Having introduced the general operation and functional architecture of the present invention, an example method of operation will be developed with reference to Figs 4 and 5 For ease of illustration, and not limitation, the operation of the present invention will be developed with continued reference to Figs 1-3.

Turning to Fig 4, a flow chart of an example method for developing an executable test application incorporating the teachings of the present invention is provided As shown, the process begins in step 402 wherein a developer writes a script file incorporating the teachings of the present invention As described above, the developer utilizes the innovative commands, key actions, system variables and state constants to mimic a user's manual interaction with control panel 122 According to one embodiment, the user includes a call to a definitions file (e g, defines asm) which associates the innovative script commands with corresponding byte codes.

In step 404, the script incorporating the teachings of the present invention is sent to translation module 1 12 As described above, translation module 112 which compiles the received script file into a lower-level language resource file Once compiled, translator 112 bundles identified resource files into a single resource file As described above, bundler function 214 associates each of the individual resource files with a unique control panel key sequence, thus enabling each of the resource files to be individually accessed at the imaging system 104 In this regard, bundler function 214 accesses a library of compiled scripts (orresource files) for bundling, step 408.

In step 410, the bundler resource file is wrapped in an imaging system specific language, and downloaded to the imaging system More specifically, translator 1 12 invokes the wrapper function 216 which creates an image file using an imaging system specific language and embeds the bundled resource file within the image file The image file is downloaded to a storage device (e g, 126) accessible by imaging system Once downloaded, control logic 202 of translator module 112 issues a command to imaging system in the imaging system specific language to unwrap the embedded resource file, thereby making the resource file available for execution from the control panel 122.

Turning to Fig 5, a flow chart of an example method for automatically testing an imaging system according to the teachings of the present invention is presented For purposes of illustration, the method of Fig 5 will be developed in the context of automatically performing a test sequence that heretofore required manual user interaction with control panel 122 to perform, e g, testing the brightness/contrast copy controls of a MOPIERTM imaging system, commonly available from Hewlett-Packard Company For ease of explanation, the automatic modification to the brightness/contrast settings of imaging system 104 will be referenced in Figs 6-9.

With reference to Fig 5, the method begins with receipt by processing module 120 of a key sequence entered at control panel 122 to initiate a test sequence, step 502 As described above, the key sequence is an access code uniquely assigned to one of the bundled resource files containing the test sequence sought.

In response, processing module 120 issues a command to print module 11 6 to retrieve the identified resource file (i e, containing the brightness/contrast test script), step 504 In step 506, a print module 116 determines whether the requested resource file is available on storage medium 126 If the resource file is not available, processing module 120 notifies the user, via a display on control panel 122, that the requested resource file is not available It is anticipated in alternate embodiments that processing module 120 would first access alternate storage media communicatively coupled via, say, communication medium 106 before providing the notification of step 514.

Moreover, in alternate embodiments, processing module 120 may well provide the user with a list of available resource files via the display of control panel 122, enabling the user to make an alternate selection.

If, in step 506, the resource file is available, it is retrieved and downloaded to the appropriate imaging system module, step 508 In this case, the brightness/contrast controls are associated with the functionality of scanner module 124 and, thus, the resource file is downloaded to the scanner module in step 508.

In step 510, the resource file is loaded into memory for execution.

In step 512, interpreter module 118 begins execution of the resource file,

interpreting select byte codes as key sequences entered at control panel, until an end key sequence is identified That is, interpreter module 1 18 executes the test sequence contained within the resource file, testing alternate variations of brightness and control settings to test the quality and reliability of the scanner module 124 Once the test sequence of the resource file is completed, the process ends.

Turning, briefly, to Figs 6-9, the display of control panel 122 during the automated test sequence is graphically illustrated With reference to Fig 6, the display panel associated with the copy quality function 602 is presented, wherein the brightness 604, contrast 606 and image selection 608 controls are presented as configured by interpreter module 1 18 executing the brightness/contrast resource file.

Fig 7 illustrates a subsequent step of the test application, wherein interpreter module 1 18 automatically selects a brightness of " 1 " and a contrast of " 5 ", and initiating a print job with these settings.

In Fig 8, interpreter module 118 has modified the brightness control 604 to the " 4 " position, while the contrast control 606 is set to the " 2 " position, as interpreter module initiates a print job with these settings.

In Fig 9, interpreter module 118 modifies the brightness and contrast controls 604 and 606 to test the " 2 " and " 4 " position, respectively, and initiates another print job.

Once all of the print jobs are complete, a user may still be required to review the print jobs to qualitatively review the test results However, it should be appreciated that this can be an off-line job, and the user is not required to sit at the imaging system 104, interactively selecting system settings in this regard, the innovative scripting language, translator module and interpreter module effectively reduce the cost of manufacturing and testing imaging systems incorporating the teachings of the present invention.

Fig 10 illustrates a storage medium/device having stored thereon a plurality of executable instructions including instructions to implement the teachings of the present invention, according to yet another embodiment of the present invention In general, Fig 10 illustrates a storage medium/device 1000 having stored thereon a plurality of instructions including at least a subset of which that, when executed by a host system (i e, either a computer system 102 or imaging system 104), implement one or more of the innovative translator module 112 or the interpreter module 118 of the present invention.

As used herein, storage medium 1000 is intended to represent any 1 5 of a number of storage devices and/or storage media known to those skilled in the art such as, for example, volatile memory devices, non-volatile memory devices, magnetic storage media, optical storage media, and the like Similarly, the executable instructions are intended to reflect any of a number of software languages known in the art such as, for example, C + +, Visual Basic, Java TM, and the like Moreover, it is to be appreciated that the storage medium/device 1000 need not be co-located with the imaging system 104 or computer system 102 Rather, storage medium/device 1000 may well reside within a remote server communicatively coupled to and accessible by an imaging system or computer system to implement the teachings of the present invention.

Accordingly, the software implementation of Fig 10 is to be regarded as illustrative, as alternate storage media and software embodiments are anticipated within the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Accordingly, the invention has been described in language more or less specific as to structural and methodical features It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the specific features described, since the means herein disclosed comprise preferred forms of putting the invention into effect Although the teachings of the present invention have been described within the context of an imaging system, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the teachings of the present invention may well be practiced in a myriad of electronic devices without deviating from the spirit and scope of the present invention The invention is, therefore, claimed in any of its forms or modifications within the proper scope of the appended claims appropriately interpreted in accordance with the doctrine of equivalents.

APPENDIX A defines subset asm # Key actions These are used as arguments to the press() function.

e Start Button = 96; e Stop = 97; e Reset = 98; e Clear = 99; e Asterisk Key = 100; e Pound Key = 101; e Context Help = 102; e Paper = 103; e Reduce Enlarge = 104; e Two Sided N Up = 105; e Output Staple = 106; e Copy Quality = 107; e More Features Down = 108; e More Features Up = 109; e Book Copy = 110; e Job Binding e 111; e Configuration = 112; e About = 113; e Paper Size Up = 114; e Paper Size Down = 115; e Paper Tray Up 116; e Paper Tray Down = 117; e Manual Mode = 118; e Shrink To Fit = 119; e Increase Percent = 120; e Decrease Percent = 121; e Original Size Up 122; e Original Size Down = 123; e Copy Size Up = 124; e Copy Size Down = 125; e Two Sided Up = 126; e Two Sided Down = 127; e Flip Pages Up = 128; e N Up Up 2 129; e N Up Down = 130; e Print Page Borders = 131; e Outbin Up = 132; e Outbin Down = 133; e Staple Mode = 134; e Collate Mode = 135; e Decrease Brightness = 136; e Increase Brightness = 137; e Decrease Contrast = 138; e Increase Contrast = 139; e Copy Mode Up = 140; e Copy Mode Down = 141; e Book Copy Mode = 142; 18 APPENDIX A defines subset asm e Job Binding Mode = 143; e Audible Feedback = 144; e Yes Button = 145; e No Button = 146; e Interrupt Button = 147; e Home Button = 148; e Help OK Button = 150; t System variables These are used as arguments to the get() and set() functions.

e Percent = 201; e Key Down Time = 202; e Between Keys Time = 203; e DM State = 204; e Status Msg = 205; $ State constants These are returned from get(e DM State) e DM Ready = O; e DM Copying 1; e DM Copying Pages 2; e DM User Prompt = 3; e DM Accepting Jobs m 4; e DM Scnr Error = 5; e D Prn Attendance = 6; e DM Powersave = 7; e DM Service Error = 8; e DM Initializing 9; # System functions.

press = 401; active = 402; get 403; set = 404; debug 405; sleep 406;

Claims (1)

1. What is claimed is:

   1 1 A computer system ( 102) comprising:

   2 an application development environment ( 108); and 3 a translator module ( 112), coupled to the application development 4 environment ( 108), to receive a script file from the application development environment and translate instructions in the script file to a resource file of 6 executable byte codes, at least a subset of which are interpreted by an imaging 7 system ( 104) as being generated by manual user interaction with a control panel 8 ( 122) of the imaging system ( 104).

   1 2 A computer system ( 102) according to claim 1, wherein the 2 translator module ( 1 12) selectively invokes a bundler function ( 214), to uniquely 3 associate each of one or more resource files with a control panel ( 122) key 4 sequence.

   1 3 A computer system ( 102) according to claim 1, wherein the 2 translator module ( 112) selectively invokes a bundler function ( 214) to bundle 3 two or more translated resource files into a single resource file.

   1 4 A computer system ( 102) according to claim 3, wherein the 2 bundler function ( 214) uniquely associates a control panel ( 122) key sequence 3 with each of the two resource files, wherein each of the two resource files 4 remain individually accessible.

   1 5 A computer system ( 102) according to claim 1, wherein the 2 translator module ( 112) further comprises a wrapper function ( 216), to embed 3 the resource file in an image file written in an imaging systemspecific language.

   1 6 A computer system ( 102) according to claim 5, wherein the 2 wrapper function ( 216) downloads the image file to communicatively coupled 3 imaging systems ( 104).

   1 7 A storage medium ( 1000) having stored thereon a plurality 2 of executable instructions ( 1002) which, when executed by a host computer 3 system, implement the translator module ( 1 12) of claim 1.

   1 8 An imaging system test system ( 100) comprising an 2 imaging system communicatively ( 104) coupled to a computer system ( 102) 3 according to claim 1.

   1 9 An imaging system test system ( 100) according to claim 8, 2 wherein the imaging system ( 104) comprises:

   3 a processor module ( 120) to receive the resource file; and 4 an interpreter module ( 118), coupled to the processor module ( 120), to execute the byte codes of the resource file, wherein select byte codes 6 are interpreted as manual interaction with the imaging system control panel 7 ( 122).