The KaRL Automated Testing Suite

So, we've submitted our first paper highlighting the KaRL Automated Testing Suite (KATS) to GPCE 2011, and the features of the toolset have really blossomed in the past month. KATS is a suite of tools that automate distributed deployment and testing in a cross platform way. This means that you can use KATS on a hybrid test bed with Windows and POSIX machines, and each of the machines will work together to accomplish distributed, automated testing.

The core of the KATS system is the KaRL reasoning engine, which provides the testing suite with a distributed knowledge and reasoning engine based on the anonymous publish/subscribe paradigm. The infrastructure is consequently host-agnostic, resulting in the ability to move tests between hosts without much difficulty. Tests can be started via cron jobs, and they will barrier and synchronize if needed.

One of the more interesting parts to the KATS system is the Generic Modeling Environment (GME) paradigm for visually modeling tests. You can read more about how to obtain and use KATS and its GME paradigm at the following links.

Links:

• Installation Guide for Linux and Windows
• Tutorial for modeling KATS tests in the KATS GME paradigm
• Advanced KaRL Automated Testing Suite (KATS) features

We're currently using KATS to model and execute distributed tests for smart phones and C++ services connected to and running on various host platforms. You can find out more at the links above.