Abstract:
A test system with flexible extension and maintenance functions and the associated method are disclosed. In the existing procedure of apparatus test operations, independent system structures and functional modules are employed to separate the extension and maintenance of test programs, the organization of the test procedure, and the test operation of apparatuses. Therefore, these modules become completely independent, raising the stability and extensibility of the test system. By this system and method thereof can also increase the efficiency and flexibility of the test operation.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of Invention  
           [0002]    The invention relates to an enterprise electronic operation platform. In particular, the invention pertains to a test system for performing test operations which has independent modules for extending and maintaining the program, for designing the procedure structure, and for testing the apparatus. The invention can provide a more stable, flexible and efficient test system and the associated method.  
           [0003]    2. Related Art  
           [0004]    In the wake of a modern network era where information plays an important role in economics, every enterprise more urgently wants to increase the management efficiency and to save the business running cost by having a fully electronic management operation platform inside the company. This trend seems to become a golden rule for a business to succeed today and the future. Only through an entirely electronic management operation mechanism can resources within an enterprise be shared and information be exchanged, giving the business more competitive power.  
           [0005]    The test operation is always a major problem that has long been bothering each business. As the test apparatuses often involve complicated procedures and need to be replaced, the extension of relevant test programs and the maintenance of the test procedure faces a lot of difficulty. The test operation was not noticed in the past about its posiible future development. Therefore, its flexibility and extensibility have never been taken into account when designing the system structure and funcitonal modules. A consequence is that one often needs to repeat the research and development, inevitably resulting in a big consumption of various resources in the business.  
           [0006]    It is thus an important topic to design a test system and method that have independently running hardware structures and independent operating functional modules for the enterprises to increase the efficiency and flexibility in the test operation and, in the end, to enhance their competitive power.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    In view of the foregoing, the invention provides a test system and method with flexible extension and maintenance functions. An objective of the invention is to design an independent system structure for the extension and maintenance of test programs, the design and organization of the test procedure, and the test of apparatuses. Each of these functions is modulized so that they can run independently. This achieves the objective of making the test operation more stable, flexible and efficient. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]    The invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 1 shows the system structure of the disclosed test system with flexible extension and maintenance;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the disclosed test method with flexible extension and maintenance;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the procedure organization and design according to the invention;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the apparatus testing according to the invention; and  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the operating interfaces in the invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0014]    The invention discloses a test system and method with flexible extension and maintenance functions. Through the disclosed test system  200 , different users (such as programmers, test personnel, etc) are allowed to perform operations of different functions through operating interfaces (e.g. operating interface a  40 , operating interface b  50 , operating interface c  60 , etc). Such operations include the extension and maintenance of test programs through a development interface, the organization and design of the test procedure through an editing interface, and the test operation of different apparatuses (e.g. apparatus a  10 , apparatus b  20 , apparatus c  30 , etc) through an operating interface.  
         [0015]    In the following paragraphs, we use FIG. 1 to explain the main structure and functional modules of the disclosed test system  200 . The test system  200  includes a test program database  210 , an extension and maintenance module  220 , an organizing and designing module  230 , a procedure execution module  240 , and a result display module  250 .  
         [0016]    (1) The test program database  210  stores test programs necessary for all kinds of apparatuses. All the test programs are filed according to the apparatuses they are testing and the testing contents. The storage locations and the association relations are stored in a procedure-program correspondence table in the procedure execution module  240 .  
         [0017]    (2) The extension and maintenance module  220  provide a development interface for the user to perform and/or operate new function development (including creation, modification, and deletion). The development interface provides a standard application program interface (API) and functions for the user to develop a desired test program satisfying all test operation standards.  
         [0018]    (3) The organizing and designing module  230  provides an editing interface for the user to perform editing on the test procedure (similarly including creation, modification, and deletion). The editing interface provides all executable test contents for the user to define different test contents and test procedures for different apparatuses through the drag-n-drop function.  
         [0019]    (4) The procedure execution module  240  is mainly used to store test procedures for all apparatuses. It also provides an operating interface for the user to selected a desired test procedure. In addition, the procedure execution module  240  also has a procedure-program correspondence table, which stores fields of procedure names, procedure function explanations, associated program names, and associated program locations. When a test procedure is running, the correspondence table is used to obtain the appropriate test program from the test program database  210 .  
         [0020]    In fact, the above-mentioned procedure execution module  240  allows the user to simultaneously perform many different test procedures on one apparatus. The implementation is performed through batch processing. Therefore, the user can flexibly make adjustment on the test procedure.  
         [0021]    (5) The result display module  250  shows the test results for each apparatus for the user to clearly understand the status of each apparatus.  
         [0022]    The procedure of developing a test program is explained using FIG. 2. First, the user chooses the extension and maintenance function on the disclosed test system  200  through an operating interface (e.g. operating interface a  40 , operating interface b  50 , and operating interface c  60 ) and the system generates and displays a development interface (step  310 ). The user can then select whatever functions to be developed (step  320 ). The selection menu includes: creating a program (step  330 ), modifying a program (step  340 ), and deleting a program (step  350 ). If the user selects to create a program (step  330 ), then the system generates a standard API and standard development items for the user to edit (step  331 ). Afterwards, the user can start to write the program (step  332 ). If the user chooses to modify a program (step  340 ), the system displays all test programs for the user to select and modify (step  341 ). The user then selects a desired program to modify (step  342 ). If the user selects to delete a program (step  350 ), the system displays all test programs for the user to select delete (step  351 ). The user then perform program deletion (step  352 ). After the user completes any of the development items, the system performs the test program storage and update operation (step  360 ). The system further prompts to ask the user whether he/she wants to continue with other development items (step  370 ). If the user wants to continue, the system returns to step  320 ; otherwise, the extension and maintenance task is over and the procedure ends (step  380 ).  
         [0023]    The procedure of editing a test program is explained using FIG. 3. First, the user chooses the organizing and designing function on the disclosed test system  200  through an operating interface (e.g. operating interface a  40 , operating interface b  50 , and operating interface c  60 ) and the system generates and displays an editing interface (step  410 ). The selection menu includes: creating a procedure (step  430 ), modifying a procedure (step  440 ), and deleting a procedure (step  450 ). If the user selects to create a procedure (step  430 ), then the system generates an editing interface and displays the contents of the procedure-program correspondence table (step  431 ). Afterwards, the user can start to edit the procedure (step  432 ). If the user selects to modify a procedure (step  440 ), the system displays all test procedures for the user to select and modify (step  441 ). The user then modifies the contents in the procedure (step  442 ). If the user selects to delete a procedure (step  450 ), the system displays all test procedures for the user to select and delete (step  451 ). The user then starts to delete the selected procedure (step  452 ). After the user completes any of the editing items, the system performs the test program storage and update operation (step  460 ). The system further prompts to ask the user whether he/she wants to continue with other editing items (step  470 ). If the user wants to continue, the system returns to step  420 ; otherwise, the organizing and designing task is over and the procedure ends (step  480 ).  
         [0024]    In addition to the flexible test program extension and maintenance and test procedure organization and design, the disclosed test system  200  further provides a method for performing test operations on apparatuses. With reference to FIG. 4, the method is described as follows:  
         [0025]    First, the apparatuses to be tested (e.g. apparatus a  10 , apparatus b  20 , apparatus c  30 , etc) are connected to the test system  200  (step  510 ). The user then uses the operating interface (e.g. operating interface a  40 , operating interface b  50 , operating interface c  60 , etc) generated by the system to select a test procedure to be performed (step  520 ). Accordingly, the procedure execution module  240  extracts the desired test program from the test program database  210  (step  530 ). Afterwards, the system runs in order according to the test procedure for each of the apparatuses (step  540 ). Once a test procedure is completed, the system, determines whether any unfinished test procedure exists to be performed (step  550 ). If there are unfinished jobs, the system returns to step  530  to carry subsequent test procedures. After all test procedures are done, all test results are displayed for the user&#39;s reference (step  560 ). The apparatus test operation thus finishes (step  570 ).  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 5 is a schematic view of various operating interfaces generated when different functions are selected. We take the operating interface n 60  as an example. When the user selects to perform the apparatus test operation, the invention generates a use interface n 61  in the user operating interface n 60 . When the user selects to perform the test program extension and maintenance, the invention produces a development interface n 62  in the user operating interface n 60 . If the user selects to organize and design a test procedure, the system generates an editing interface n 63  in the user&#39;s operating interface n 60 . Through dedicated interfaces of different functions, the user can quickly accomplish a desired task without difficulty.  
       EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION  
       [0027]    The disclosed test system with flexible extension and maintenance and the method thereof utilize the design of independent structures. It does not only make the test operation more efficient, but also allows the user to easily accomplish a desired job through the associated specific interface. Moreover, new test operations can be easily created using the invention to satisfy the needs of the enterprise.