AUTOMATED TESTING OF OPC SERVERS

CERN relies on OPC Server implementations from 3rd party device vendors to provide a software interface to their respective hardware. Each time a vendor releases a new OPC Server version it is regression tested internally to verify that existing functionality has not been inadvertently broken during the process of adding new features. In addition bugs and problems must be communicated to the vendors in a reliable and portable way. This presentation covers the automated test approach used at CERN to cover both cases: Scripts are written in a domain specific language specifically created for describing OPC tests and executed by a custom software engine driving the OPC Server implementation.