Key Highlights in v3.0

• The new Configuration pane in the Outlook®-style toolbar provides a quick view of all the drivers that are available within the ActivATE™ environment.  Expand a driver node to expose the APIs (the Application Programmable Interface, or the public methods and properties in the driver class) that are available to use from the test program.  Right-click in the tree view to show options for adding and deleting drivers.

• Named driver configurations may be saved so that they may be quickly loaded into the ActivATE™ environment at a later time.

• Test node comparisons for PASS/FAIL determination now include Boolean, Min/Max, Max Only, Min Only, and String Compare.

• Additional sequencer options are available: branch on group, group pass/fail, break on each node.

• Test and group node descriptions may optionally be displayed in the test sequencer tree view.

• Improved text editor supports very large files without reduced performance.

• A new Start Page offers support resources and provides the user with customizable news content.

• An ActivATE™ Software Development Kit (SDK) is included with the ActivATE™ software which gives Microsoft® Visual Studio 2005® users a framework to start development of new tools and drivers.  The SDK is also compatible with the Visual Studio 2005® C# Express version, which is available as a free download from Microsoft.  Visual Studio 2003® users may continue to use the ActivATE™ Driver Wizard that was included with the 2.x versions of the ActivATE™ software as the .NET 1.1 drivers are compatible with the new version of the ActivATE™ software.

Benefits

The ActivATE™ software is designed to follow the familiar look and feel of the standard Microsoft applications, making the software intuitive and easy to use.  Examples of this are:

• To create a new test program, simply click "New Test Program" from the File menu. 

• An Outlook®-style toolbar (like the one found in Microsoft® Outlook® 2003) provides access to the driver GUIs (Graphical User Interfaces) and quick driver configuration options.

• Multiple open documents are tabbed within the main document window.

• All windows in the environment are dockable and can be moved anywhere within the main form or they can be hidden.  Arrows are provided as docking hints to help the user select the destination for the window as the window is dragged across the screen.

• Property Grid controls, as found in Microsoft® Visual Studio®, are used to provide fast, easy access to multiple properties and settings at once.

• Code-behind the test nodes.  Users organize and create test sequences graphically but still has code-behind each test node and group.

The test programs are written using VBScript, a widely-used and well-known scripting language.  This eliminates the need to learn a proprietary programming language and thus greatly reduces development time. 

All of these key benefits result in a reduced learning curve and rapid application development, allowing the customer to save time and money in personnel training and project schedules.

Future Roadmap

We are continually adding exciting new features and improving the quality of our software.  New releases of the ActivATE™ software will be posted here as they become available.  Key planned features include:

• Ability to use the VB .NET and C# programming languages to write test programs.

• Integration with Microsoft Workflow

We welcome your comments and suggestions.  Please visit the ActivATE™ forums or contact us via email.  For further information, or to download a free 90-day copy of the ActivATE™ ATE Test Platform v3.0, please visit the ActivATE™ website at www2.eads-nadefense.com/ActivATE.