Difference between revisions of "Software Integration Guide"

Latest revision as of 08:47, 3 September 2014

Overview

The software integration guide describes the procedures for unit testing of individual components and submitting them for integration. It also includes the checklist of conditions the component must satisfy - i.e. the quality assurance procedures described in Deliverable D3.3 - to qualify for inclusion in the release version of the DREAM software. If it passes all tests, it will then be moved to the DREAM release directory and subjected to a white-box systems test. This test will suppress the port I/O in the relevant placeholder system component for all the ports used by the component being integrated.

A description of the system architecture, i.e. the placeholder system components and their associated ports, is included in the System Architecture Guide for reference. This is derived from Deliverable D3.1.

Component Black-box Unit Testing

Black-box testing is a testing strategy that checks the behaviour of a software unit — in this case a component — without being concerned with what is going on inside the unit; hence the term “black- box”. Typically, it does this by providing a representative sample of input data (both valid and invalid), by describing the expected results, and then by running the component against this test data to see whether or not the expected results are achieved.

Component software developers must provide a unit test with every component submitted for integration into the DREAM release. This test comprises two parts: an XML application and a test description.

The Component Test Application

• The application file should be named after the component but with the suffix TEST, for example protoComponentTEST.xml.

• The XML application should launch the component being tested and connect it through its ports to a data source and a data sink.

• The sources and sinks can be files or driver and stub components written specifically by the developer to provide the test data.

• Source and sink data files should be located in the component's config directory and, if they are used, driver and stub components should be located in src directory so that they will be compiled and linked along with the component being tested.

• The test application file should be located in the app directory.

The Component Test Description

• Instructions on how to run the test should be included in a README.txt file, also located in the component's app directory.

• In general, these instructions should describe the nature of the test data and the expected results, and it should explain how these results validate the expected behaviour of the component. In particular, these instructions should explain how the four Cs of communication, configuration, computation, and coordination are exercised by the test.

• Validation of communication and computation functionality will typically be established by describing the (sink) output data that will be produced from the (source) input data.

• Validation of configuration functionality will typically be established by stating what changes in behaviour should occur if the values for the component parameters in the component configuration (.ini) file are altered.

• Validation of coordination functionality will typically be established by stating what changes in behaviour should occur when commands are issued interactively by the user to the component using the port named after the component itself.

System White-box Testing

White-box testing is a testing strategy that checks the behaviour of a software unit or collection of units in a (sub-)systems by exercising all the possible executions paths within that unit or system. Thus, white-box testing different fundamentally from black-box testing in that it is explicitly concerned with what is going on inside the unit.

In DREAM we will perform white-box testing on a system-level only. Components will not be subject to white-box testing when being integrated into the DREAM software release, although developers themselves are encouraged to use white-box testing before submitting the component for integration.

White-box testing will be effected by checking removing the driver and stub functions that simulate the output and input of data in the top-level system architecture, allowing that source and sink functionality to be provided instead by the component being integrated. This will establish whether or not the component in question adheres to the required data-flow protocol. Thus, this white-box test will establish the validity of the inter-component communication but not its functionality (which is tested using the black-box unit test).

Quality Assurance Procedures

Deliverable D3.3 sets out the procedures used in DREAM to validate and test software developed by the partners prior to integration into the release version of the DREAM software repository. It is, in essence, is a checklist of the mandatory standards set out in Deliverable D3.2 and software must satisfy all these checks before it can be integrated.

Developers can submit their software by transferring it to a sub-directory in the submitted branch of the subversion repository (see Figure 1 below) and by sending an email to integration@dream2020.eu with the path to the component being submitted in the subject line.

The system integration team at HIS will validate the software in the relevant sub-directory against the check-list in this deliverable, compiling the code and running the unit test application supplied with the submission. If the component satisfies all the checks and the test runs successfully, the component will be moved to the release directory and it can be then used in DREAM applications.

The complete DREAM software system will also be subject to quality assurance procedures, as described in Deliverable D3.3, including white-box structural tests, regression tests, and acceptance tests.

Files and Directories

Refer to Deliverable D3.2, Appendix A (Mandatory Standards for File Organization), for a definition of the standards on which this checklist is based.

 Files for a single component are stored in a directory named after the component with the leading letter in lowercase: <componentName>.

 This directory has three sub-directories: src, app, and config.

 The src directory contains one header file and three source files, named as follows.

 <componentName>.h

 <componentName>Main.cpp

 <componentName>Configuration.cpp

 <componentName>Computation.cpp

 The app directory contains an XML application file named after the component but with the suffix TEST: <componentName>TEST.xml.

 The app directory contains a README.txt file with instructions on how to run the test .

 The config directory contains a <componentName>.ini configuration file.

 The configuration file contains the key-value pairs that set the component parameters.

 Each key-value pair is written on a separate line.

Internal Source Code Documentation

Refer to Deliverable D3.2, Appendix B (Mandatory Standards for Internal Source Code Documentation), for a definition of the standards on which this checklist is based.

The <componentName>.h file contains a documentation comment with the following sections:

 /**

* @file <componentName>.h

 * \section lib_sec Libraries

 * \section parameters_sec Parameters

 * <b>Command-line Parameters </b>

 * <b>Configuration File Parameters </b>

 * \section portsa_sec Ports Accessed<c/ode>


 <code>* \section portsc_sec Ports Created

 * <b>Input ports</b>

 * <b>Output ports</b>

 * <b>Port types </b>

 * \section in_files_sec Input Data Files

 * \section out_data_sec Output Data Files

 * \section conf_file_sec Configuration Files

 * \section example_sec Example Instantiation of the Component

 * \author

* <forename> <surname>

All source files contain a block comment that gives the copyright notice, as follows.

/*
 * Copyright (C) 2014 DREAM Consortium
 * FP7 Project 611391 co-funded by the European Commission
 *
 * Author:  <name of author>, <author institute>
 * Email:   <preferred email address>
 * Website: www.dream20202.eu
 *
 * This program comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
 */

 <componentName>.h

 <componentName>Main.cpp

 <componentName>Configuration.cpp

 <componentName>Computation.cpp

Component Functionality

Refer to Deliverable D3.2, Appendix C (Mandatory Standards for Component Functionality), for a definition of the standards on which this checklist is based.

 <componentName>.h contains a declaration of a class derived from yarp::os::RFModule:

class <ComponentName> : public RFModule {} // first char in uppercase

 <componentName>.h contains a declaration of a class derived from either yarp::os::Thread or yarp::os::RateThread:

class <ComponentName>Thread : public Thread {} // first char in uppercase

 <componentName>Configuration.cpp contains a definition of the methods for class <ComponentName> : public RFModule {}

 <componentName>Computation.cpp contains a definition of the methods for class <ComponentName>Thread : public Thread {} or class <ComponentName>RateThread : public Thread {}

 The <ComponentName> class is instantiated as an object in <ComponentName>Main.cpp:

<ComponentName> <componentName>;

 The <ComponentName>Thread / RateThread class is instantiated as an object in the <ComponentName>::configure() method in <componentName>Configuration.cpp:

<componentName>Thread = new <ComponentName>Thread();
<componentName>Thread->start();

 A ResourceFinder class,e.g.ResourceFinder rf,is instantiated in <componentName>Main.cpp

 The component sets the default configuration filename, named after the component with a .ini extension, in <componentName>Main.cpp:

rf.setDefaultConfigFile("<componentName>.ini");

 The component sets the default path (context) in <componentName>Main.cpp:

rf.setDefaultContext("components/<componentName>/config");

 The component reads all its key-value parameters from either a <componentName>.ini configuration file or from the list of command line arguments using the ResourceFinder check() method, called from within the configure() method in <componentName>Configuration.cpp:

<parameterValue> = rf.check("<key>",                // parameter key
                         Value(<number>),           // default value
                        "Key value (int)").asInt(); // key value type

 The component reads all its key-value parameters from either a <componentName>.ini configuration file or from the list of command line arguments using the ResourceFinder check() method, called from within the configure() method in <componentName>Configuration.cpp:

<parameterValue> = rf.check("<key>",                // parameter key
                         Value(<number>),           // default value
                        "Key value (int)").asInt(); // key value type

 The component allows the port names to be set and overridden using the port name key-value parameters in the <componentName>.ini configuration file.

 All port names have a leading /.

 Input and output port names have a trailing :i or :o, respectively.

 The component allows the default name of the component to be set and overridden with the --name parameter:

moduleName            = rf.check("name",
                       Value("<componentName>"),
                       "module name (string)").asString();

setName(moduleName.c_str());

 The component allows commands to be issued on a special port with the same name as the component by overloading the respond() method in the resource finder RFModule class in <componentName>Configuration.cpp.

 The component effects all communication with other component using YARP ports.

Component Unit Testing

 A unit test application named <componentName>TEST.xml is provided in the app directory.

 The test application launches the component being tested on a YARP run servers called dream1 using the <node> </node> construct.

 The test application connects the component through its ports to a data source and a data sink (linked either to files or driver/stub components).

 If required, the data source and sink file resources are provided in the config directory.

 If required, the driver and stub components are located in src directory.

 Unit test instructions are provided in a file named README.txt in the app directory.

 The instructions explain how the communication and computation functionality are validated by describing the (sink) output data that will be produced from the (source) input data.

 The instructions explain how the configuration functionality is validated by describing what changes in behaviour will occur if the values for the component parameters in the component configuration (.ini) file are altered.

 The instructions explain how the coordination functionality is validated by describing what changes in behaviour will occur when commands are issued interactively by the user to the component using the port named after the component itself.

System Testing

White-box testing will be performed on a system-level by removing the driver and stub functions that simulate the output and input of data in the top-level system architecture, allowing that source and sink functionality to be provided instead by the component being integrated. This will establish whether or not the component in question adheres to the required data-flow protocol.

Regression testing refers to the practice of re-running all integration tests — black-box and white- box — periodically to ensure that no unintentional changes has been introduced during the ongoing development of the DREAM software release. These test check for backward compatibility, ensuring that what used to work in the past remains working. Regression tests will be carried out on all soft- ware in the DREAM release every two months.

The DREAM software will be subject periodic qualitative assessment by the DREAM psychotherapist practitioners. The specific goal of these tests will be to validate the behaviour and performance of the system against the user requirements set out in deliverables D1.1, D1.2, and D1.3. These tests will take place whenever a new version of the DREAM software release it made available to the practitioners.