JP2007072968A - Verification method for software, verification program for software, and image forming device with the same program incorporated - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To adapt verification of software to middleware having different program layers respectively on a higher level and lower level such as a panel operation control program of an image forming device. <P>SOLUTION: The verification program for the software comprises an application program 22 for test for simulating an application program, a panel driver program 23 for test for simulating a panel driver, and a test management program 24 for managing an entire test by instructing to them, and operates an image forming device operation panel control program (a program to be tested 28) based on instruction information from a user and instruction information (test scenario data 25) from an application to verify the program. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a software verification method, a software verification program for middleware such as a panel operation control program in an image forming apparatus, and an image forming apparatus incorporating the program.

  A technique related to an automatic execution tool for automatically executing an operation check of an application program and improving the quality of software is known. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique related to a method for verifying an application program, characterized by creating a test item table based on input conditions and operating environment conditions, and automatically generating a test script based on the test item table. ing.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 discloses a technique that enables construction of inspection device software for a desired purpose without knowledge of programming. According to the present technology, in a computer system, certain inspection apparatus software is made to perform a desired operation without changing the software code by an external approach (setting, means) in response to a user request. In addition, the operation of each control unit is edited by an editor to construct a software for a desired inspection device, and the software and an information file used by this software are stored in a network server (inspection device) having a database engine. (Information server) 2 for searching and obtaining via a network.
JP 2004-280231 A JP 2003-140895 A

  However, since the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 as described above is intended to check the operation of the “application”, the middleware such as a panel operation control program whose test target is located between the device driver and the application is used. There was a problem that it was not effective. This is because the input is assumed to be one direction from the user direction, and it is difficult to verify the operation of a system that has input from both the upper layer and the lower layer, such as middleware.

  In view of the above-described problems, the present invention provides a software verification method, a software verification program, and an image forming apparatus incorporating the program, suitable for middleware verification such as a panel operation control program for an image forming apparatus. The purpose is to provide.

  The invention described in claim 1 is a software verification method for operating an image forming apparatus operation panel control program based on instruction information from a user and instruction information from an application and verifying the program.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a test application program for simulating an application program included in an image forming apparatus, a test panel driver program for simulating a panel driver included in the image forming apparatus, and the test Software verification method by executing a software verification program comprising: a test management program that issues an instruction to the application program for testing and a test management program that issues instructions to the test panel driver program and manages the entire test for verifying the image forming apparatus operation panel control program The test management program is based on test scenario data including instruction information from the user and instruction information from the application. A first step of operating the image forming apparatus operation panel control program by operating a strike panel driver program, and an operation result of the image forming apparatus operation panel control program in the first step. And the test management program compares the operation result acquired in the second step with test result reference data for determining the operation result. A software verification method according to claim 1, further comprising a third step of generating a verification result of the forming apparatus operation panel control program.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the software verification program realizes a function of changing, deleting, or adding a command for causing the computer to edit the test scenario data and to cause the image forming apparatus operation panel control program to execute. The software verification method according to claim 2, further comprising a test scenario editing program for executing the test scenario editing program.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the software verification program edits the test scenario data on a computer, groups instruction information from a user and instruction information from an application, and includes a free combination of a plurality of groups. The software verification method according to claim 2, further comprising a test scenario editing program for realizing a function of creating scenario data.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided software verification for causing a computer to execute an image forming apparatus operation panel control program based on instruction information from a user and instruction information from an application, and to realize a function of verifying the program. It is characterized as a program.

  The invention according to claim 6 is a test application program for simulating an application program included in the image forming apparatus, a test panel driver program for simulating a panel driver included in the image forming apparatus, and the test And a test management program for instructing the image forming apparatus operation panel control program and managing the entire test for instructing the image forming apparatus operation panel control program. The test management program is configured to use the test application program and the test panel program based on test scenario data including instruction information from the user and instruction information from the application. A first process for operating the image forming apparatus operation panel control program by operating an image program, and the test management program obtains an operation result of the image forming apparatus operation panel control program in the first process. By comparing the second process and the operation result acquired by the test management program in the second process with the test result reference data for determining the operation result, the operation of the image forming apparatus is performed. 6. A software verification program according to claim 5, wherein the third process for generating a verification result of the panel control program is executed.

  The invention described in claim 7 is a test scenario editing for causing a computer to edit the test scenario data and to change, delete or add a command to be executed by the image forming apparatus operation panel control program. The software verification program according to claim 6, comprising a program.

  The invention according to claim 8 is a function of editing test scenario data on a computer, grouping instruction information from a user and instruction information from an application, and creating test scenario data comprising a free combination of a plurality of groups. 7. The software verification program according to claim 6, further comprising a test scenario editing program for realizing the above.

  The invention described in claim 9 is an image forming apparatus in which the software verification program according to any one of claims 5 to 8 is incorporated.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to realize a software verification method, a software verification program, and an image forming apparatus incorporating the program, which are suitable for middleware verification such as a panel operation control program of the image forming apparatus.

  In the best mode for carrying out the present invention, an image forming apparatus operation panel control program is operated based on instruction information from a user and instruction information from an application, and the program is verified.

  Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments described below are preferable specific examples of the present invention, and thus various technically preferable limitations are given. However, the scope of the present invention is particularly limited in the following description. Unless otherwise described, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

(Embodiment 1)
First, the hardware configuration and functions of an image forming apparatus in which the software verification program of this embodiment is incorporated will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration and functions of an image forming apparatus in which the software verification program of this embodiment is incorporated.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the image forming apparatus 100 in which the software verification program of this embodiment is incorporated includes a CPU 1, an operation panel 2, a scan print engine 3, a storage device 4, a panel control unit 5, an engine control unit 6, and a disk driver. 7, a communication control unit 8, a ROM 9, a RAM 10, an NVRAM 11, a modem 12, and a host I / F 13.

  The CPU 1 controls the entire image forming apparatus 100. Under the control of the CPU 1, an operation panel 2, a scan print engine 3, a storage device 4, a panel control unit 5, an engine control unit 6, a disk driver 7, a communication control unit 8, a ROM 9, a RAM 10, an NVRAM 11, a modem 12, and A host I / F (external I / F) 13 is connected.

  The operation panel 2 and the panel control unit 5 manage an interface with the user. The scan print engine 3 and the engine control unit 6 perform reading of a paper document and printing on a transfer paper as an image data input / output unit. The storage device 4 and the disk driver 7 accumulate a large amount of image data or the like, and are used as storage locations for databases. The communication control unit 8 is connected to a network such as Ethernet (registered trademark) and enables communication with an external device.

  The ROM 9 stores program codes, fonts, and other static data. The RAM 10 is used as a temporary storage location for data. The NVRAM 11 stores nonvolatile data. The modem 12 is connected to a public line and enables communication with an external device. The host I / F 13 enables communication with devices outside the host using an interface such as Centronics or RS-232C.

  Next, the software configuration and functions of the image forming apparatus in which the software verification program of this embodiment is incorporated will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating the software configuration and functions of an image forming apparatus in which the software verification program of this embodiment is incorporated.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the image forming apparatus 100 in which the software verification program of the present embodiment is incorporated includes an application program 14, a panel control program 15, an engine control program 16, a communication control program 17, a panel driver 18, and an engine driver 19. A communication driver 20 and an operation system 21 are incorporated.

  The application program 14 manages the execution of functions such as copying, faxing, and printers. The panel control program 15 controls the operation panel 2 via the panel driver 18, transmits information from the user to the application program 14, and transmits information from the application program 14 to the user. The panel driver 18 controls the operation panel 2 via the operation system 21 according to an instruction from the panel control program 15.

  The engine control program 16 controls the scan print engine 3 via the engine driver 19, transmits information from the scan print engine 3 to the application program 14, and transmits information from the application program 14 to the scan print engine 3. The engine driver 19 controls the scanner print engine 3 via the operation system 21 according to an instruction from the engine control program 16.

  The communication control program 17 controls network communication via the communication driver 20, transmits information from the communication partner on the network to the application program 14, and transmits information from the application program 14 to the communication partner on the network. The communication driver 20 controls physical network communication via the operation system 21 according to an instruction from the communication control program 17. The operation system 21 controls a physical device based on instructions from various drivers, transmits information on the physical device to each device driver, and transmits information from each device driver to the physical device.

  Next, the software verification program of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the software verification program of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the software verification program of this embodiment is a test panel that simulates a test application program 22 that simulates the application program 14 shown in FIG. 8 and a panel driver 18 that is shown in FIG. It comprises a driver program 23 and a test management program 24 that gives instructions to them and manages the entire test. Note that the software verification program of this embodiment is stored in the ROM 9 shown in FIG.

  1 is stored in the ROM 9 shown in FIG. 7. The test scenario data 25, which is a collection of test scenarios shown in FIG. These data are used for verification of the target program 28 (panel control program 15 in this embodiment) by executing the software verification program of this embodiment. On the other hand, the test result data 27 shown in FIG. 1 is stored in the RAM 10 shown in FIG.

  Note that the software verification program of the present invention is not limited to the panel control program 15 of the present embodiment as the target program 28, but is divided into a higher level and a lower level, for example, an operation panel control program for home appliances using an LCD or CRT. It can be applied to middleware that has the following program layers.

  Next, the operation of the software verification program of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the software verification program of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, first, the test management program 24 reads the test scenario data 25 (FIG. 2: “1. Test scenario reading”). The test scenario data 25 is data including instruction information from the user and instruction information from the application.

  Next, based on the test scenario data 25, the test management program 24 sends commands issued by the test application program 22 and the test panel driver program 23 to the test target program 28 (FIG. 8: panel control program 15). It designates and instructs the test application program 22 and the test panel driver program 23 (FIG. 2: “2. Instruction, 8. Instruction”).

  Subsequently, the test application program 22 and the test panel driver program 23 that have received the above instructions each send a predetermined command designated by the test management program 24 to the test target program 28 so that the test target program 28 executes it. An instruction is issued (FIG. 2: “3. Instruction, 9. Instruction”). Then, the test target program 28 that has received instructions from the test application program 22 and the test panel driver program 23 executes a predetermined command.

  Subsequently, the test target program 28 sends a result of executing a predetermined command to each of the test application program 22 and the test panel driver program 23 (FIG. 2: “4. Results, 6. Results”). “10. Results, 12. Results”). Here, the test target program 28 continues to operate until all of the instructed predetermined commands are executed.

  Subsequently, the test application program 22 and the test panel driver program 23 that have received the command execution result from the test target program 28 respectively send the command execution result of the test target program 28 to the test management program 24. ("5. Results, 7. Results", "11. Results, 13. Results" shown in FIG. 2).

  Next, the test management program 24 receives the command execution result (“5. Result, 7. Result”, “11. Result, 13. Result” shown in FIG. 2) of the test target program 28, and receives the RAM 10 shown in FIG. To temporarily store. Thereafter, the test management program 24 reads the test result reference data 26 (FIG. 2: “14. Read result reference”), and executes the command of the test target program 28 temporarily stored in the RAM 10 shown in FIG. In comparison with the result, whether or not there is a difference between the two, and if there is a difference, the result is written as test result data 27 (FIG. 2: “15. Test result writing”).

  According to the present embodiment, the operation of the operation panel control program of the image forming apparatus can be automatically confirmed by simulating both the instruction from the user and the instruction from the application. Costs required for checking the operation of middleware such as a panel control program can be reduced. In addition, it is easy for the developer to check the operation on a daily basis, which leads to an improvement in quality.

(Embodiment 2)
The present embodiment is an application example of the first embodiment. Therefore, the description of the parts common to the first embodiment will be omitted, and only the characteristic parts of the present embodiment will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, the software verification program of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the software verification program of the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the software verification program of this embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 3, the software verification program of the present embodiment is obtained by adding a test scenario editing program 29 for editing the test scenario data 25 to the configuration of the software verification program shown in FIG. 1 of the first embodiment. It is characterized by.
Unlike the first embodiment, the test scenario data 25 and the test result reference data 26 are stored in the RAM 10 shown in FIG. 7 because their contents are changed for editing by the test scenario editing program 29.

  The test scenario editing program 29 edits the test scenario data 25 based on an instruction from the user, and commands issued by the test application program 22 to the test target program 28 and commands issued by the test panel driver program to the test target program 28 Can be changed, deleted, or added.

  Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 4, for example, the panel control program 15 included in the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment is used as the test target program 28, and the test scenario editing program 29 is executed before the software verification program of the present embodiment is executed. By operating, the test scenario data 25 can be edited, and the command for instructing execution of the target program 28 can be changed, deleted, or added (FIG. 4: 1. Test element writing).

  According to the present embodiment, since the instruction content to be simulated by the test designer can be edited, it is not necessary to recreate the test scenario data 25 from the beginning when the operation confirmation content of the test target program 28 is to be changed. Design costs can be reduced.

(Embodiment 3)
The present embodiment is an application example of the first embodiment. Therefore, description of the parts common to the first embodiment will be omitted, and only the characteristic parts of the present embodiment will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, the software verification program of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the software verification program of the present embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the software verification program of this embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the software verification program of the present embodiment has a parent test that is a collection of child test scenario data 32 that is a collection of test scenarios in the configuration of the software verification program shown in FIG. A test scenario editing program 30 for editing the scenario data 31, the parent test scenario data 31, and the child test scenario data 32 is added.

  5 is a collection of parent test scenario data 31 that is a collection of child test scenario data 32 that is a collection of test scenarios, and child test result reference data 34 that is a measure when determining a test result. Certain parent test result reference data 33 is stored in the RAM 10 shown in FIG.

  The data is used for verification of the target program 28 (panel control program 15 in the present embodiment) by executing the software verification program of the present embodiment. Further, the parent test result data 35, which is a collection of the child test result data 36 shown in FIG. 5, is stored in the RAM 10 shown in FIG.

  Unlike the first embodiment, the parent test result reference data 33, which is a set of parent test scenario data 31 and child test result reference data 34, which is a set of child test scenario data 32, is a test scenario editing program. Since the contents are changed for editing by 30, they are stored in the RAM 10 shown in FIG. 7.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, for example, the panel control program 15 of the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment is used as the test target program 28, and the test scenario editing program 30 is executed before the software verification program of the present embodiment is executed. Make it work.
The test scenario editing program 30 is based on an instruction from the user, a command that is included in the child test scenario data 32 and issued by the test application program 22 to the test target program 28, and a test panel driver program 23 that is the test target program. Change, delete, and add commands to be issued to 28 (FIG. 6: 1. test element export, 2. test element export).

  Subsequently, the test scenario editing program 30 repeats the change, deletion, and addition of the above command for 32 minutes of necessary child test scenario data (FIG. 6: 1. Test element writing, 2. Test element writing), and necessary child tests. The scenario data 32 group is obtained. Next, the test scenario editing program 30 arranges the already created individual child test scenario data 32 in order based on an instruction from the user and writes it as the parent test scenario data 31 (FIG. 6: 3. Combination of Child Scenarios) Sequential export, 4.5. Child test scenario read).

  Next, the test management program 24 reads the first child test scenario data 32 defined in the parent test scenario data (FIG. 6: 6. Read parent test scenario), and based on the test scenario data 32, the test application program 22 and the test panel driver program 23 each specify a command to be issued to the test target program 28 (FIG. 8: panel control program 15), and instruct the test application program 22 and the test panel driver program 23. (FIG. 6: “7. Instruction, 13. Instruction”).

  Subsequently, the test application program 22 and the test panel driver program 23 that have received the above instructions each send a predetermined command designated by the test management program 24 to the test target program 28 so that the test target program 28 executes it. An instruction is issued (FIG. 6: “8. Instruction, 14. Instruction”). Then, the test target program 28 that has received instructions from the test application program 22 and the test panel driver program 23 executes a predetermined command.

  Subsequently, the test target program 28 sends a result of executing a predetermined command to each of the test application program 22 and the test panel driver program 23 (FIG. 6: “9. Result, 11. Result”). “15. Results, 17. Results”). Here, the test target program 28 continues to operate until all of the instructed predetermined commands are executed.

  Subsequently, the test application program 22 and the test panel driver program 23 that have received the command execution result from the test target program 28 respectively send the command execution result of the test target program 28 to the test management program 24. ("10. Results, 12. Results", "16. Results, 18. Results" shown in FIG. 6). Next, the test management program 24 receives the command execution results (“10. result, 12. result”, “16. result, 18. result” shown in FIG. 6) of the test target program 28, and receives the RAM 10 shown in FIG. 7. To temporarily store.

  Thereafter, when the command execution of the test target program 28 by one child test scenario data 32 is completed, the test management program 24 reads the first child test result reference data 34 defined in the parent test result reference data 31 (see FIG. 6: “19. Result reference reading”), whether or not there was a difference between the two in comparison with the command execution result of the test target program 28 temporarily stored in the RAM 10 shown in FIG. In this case, the result is written as the first child test result data 36 of the parent test result data 35 (FIG. 6: “20. Test result writing”).

  The operation described above is repeated until the last child test scenario data 32 defined in the parent test scenario data 31 is executed. According to this embodiment, the instruction contents to be simulated can be grouped, and a test set in which a plurality of groups can be freely combined can be created, so that an optimal test range can be selected for each life cycle of development work. This enables more efficient quality assurance activities and contributes to the productivity improvement of the entire development project.

It is a figure for demonstrating the software verification program of 1st Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement of the software verification program of 1st Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the software verification program of 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement of the software verification program of 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the software verification program of 3rd Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement of the software verification program of 3rd Embodiment. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration and functions of an image forming apparatus in which a software verification program according to an embodiment is incorporated. FIG. 2 is a configuration block diagram for explaining a software configuration and functions of an image forming apparatus in which a software verification program of the present embodiment is incorporated.

Explanation of symbols

1 CPU
2 Operation Panel 3 Scan Print Engine 4 Storage Device 5 Panel Operation Unit 6 Engine Control Unit 7 Disk Driver 8 Communication Control Unit 9 ROM
10 RAM
11 NVRAM
12 Modem 13 Host I / F
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 14 Application program 15 Panel control program 16 Engine control program 17 Communication control program 18 Panel driver 19 Engine driver 20 Communication driver 21 Operation system 22 Test application program 23 Test panel driver program 24 Test management program 25 Test scenario data 26 Test result reference | standard Data 27 Test result data 28 Test target program 29, 30 Test scenario editing program 31 Parent test scenario data 32 Child test scenario data 33 Parent test result reference data 34 Child test result reference data 35 Parent test result data 36 Child test result data

Claims (9)

  A software verification method comprising: operating an image forming apparatus operation panel control program based on instruction information from a user and instruction information from an application, and verifying the program. An application program for testing for simulating an application program included in the image forming apparatus;
A test panel driver program for simulating a panel driver included in the image forming apparatus;
Software by executing a software verification program having a test management program for giving instructions to the test application program and the test panel driver program and managing the entire test for verifying the image forming apparatus operation panel control program A verification method,
The test management program operates the image forming apparatus by operating the test application program and the test panel driver program based on test scenario data including instruction information from the user and instruction information from the application. A first step of operating a panel control program;
A second step in which the test management program acquires an operation result of the image forming apparatus operation panel control program in the first step;
The test management program compares the operation result acquired in the second step with test result reference data for determining the operation result,
The software verification method according to claim 1, further comprising a third step of generating a verification result of the image forming apparatus operation panel control program.   The software verification program is a test scenario editing program for realizing a function of editing a test scenario data and changing, deleting, or adding a command to be executed by the image forming apparatus operation panel control program. 3. The software verification method according to claim 2, further comprising:   The software verification program realizes a function of editing test scenario data on a computer, grouping instruction information from a user and instruction information from an application, and creating test scenario data including a free combination of a plurality of groups 3. A software verification method according to claim 2, further comprising a test scenario editing program for executing the test scenario editing program.   A software verification program for causing a computer to operate an image forming apparatus operation panel control program based on instruction information from a user and instruction information from an application, and to realize a function of verifying the program. An application program for testing for simulating an application program included in the image forming apparatus;
A test panel driver program for simulating a panel driver included in the image forming apparatus;
A test management program that issues an instruction to the test application program and the test panel driver program and manages an entire test for verifying the image forming apparatus operation panel control program,
The image is obtained by causing the test management program to operate the test application program and the test panel driver program based on test scenario data including instruction information from the user and instruction information from the application. A first process for operating a forming apparatus operation panel control program;
A second process in which the test management program acquires an operation result of the image forming apparatus operation panel control program in the first process;
The test management program compares the operation result acquired in the second processing with the test result reference data for determining the operation result, thereby verifying the verification result of the image forming apparatus operation panel control program. A third process for generating
The software verification program according to claim 5 for executing   7. A test scenario editing program for causing a computer to realize a function of editing, editing, or adding a command for editing the test scenario data and causing the image forming apparatus operation panel control program to execute the program. Software verification program.   Test scenario editing for realizing a function of editing test scenario data on a computer, grouping instruction information from a user and instruction information from an application, and creating test scenario data including a free combination of a plurality of groups The software verification program according to claim 6, further comprising a program.   An image forming apparatus in which the software verification program according to claim 5 is incorporated.

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