The ACVC is designed to demonstrate the conformity of an Ada implementation with the standard. The ACVC is distributed as a collection of test programs, support programs that facilitate processing the tests, and an ACVC user's guide that explains the criteria for evaluating the results. The transition period will end 1 April 1997 with the release of ACVC 2.1, which will become the only test suite for Ada validation. For Ada 95 compilers, compliance is measured only within the limits of the collection of test programs contained in the ACVC for the core language and specialized needs annexes. Although most Ada implementations tested during the transition period will exceed the passing requirements, matrices displaying the test result profiles for Core Ada 95 Test Categories and Special Needs Annexes are shown, for each compiler validated, both on a separate sheet of paper attached to the validation certificate and in the Validation Summary Report.
Exhibit A shows a list of the test categories and a short description for each.
System Programming, Real-Time Systems, Distributed Systems, Information Systems, Numerics, and Safety and Security. Tests allocated to these annexes are processed only when the vendor claims support. These tests focus on support expected from Ada for features of Ada 83 that have been updated to be compatible with revised rules. Each test has been allocated into exactly one of several test subsets, based upon a general categorization of Ada features used in the test. These features include protected objects, modifications to task types, select statements, and delay alternatives.