Environmental Testing

Abstract

Some offices may wish to operate Capable 21C in a different environment that has not been formally tested or endorsed by Capable Software Pty Ltd.  Whilst this is unsupported by Capable Software Pty Ltd, this knowledgebase article describes some tests that can provide an office a level of confidence that Capable 21C will operate in alternative environments.

Underlying challenge

There are several core functions of Capable 21C that should be tested.  These are detailed in the resolution section below.

Resolution

Capable 21C has a number of settings that are shared across an entire network, and other settings that are specific to each workstation.  In addition, Capable 21C stores these 'local' settings in multiple places.  The following tests will indicate whether an unsupported environment is likely to have the capacity to operate Capable 21C.

Starting Capable 21C
The most fundamental test is to open Capable 21C on two workstations one after the other.  No errors should be reported by either workstation.  Errors may be reported if the two workstations are started exactly simultaneously - particularly if the two workstations have different performance characteristics.

Testing Printing
Each workstation should be able to have its own printers defined, and should be able to print to each of its defined printers.  Go to Setup|Setup Printers on each workstation and nominate different printers.  Ensure that changing printers on one workstation does not affect the behaviour of another workstation.  Ensure that each kind of stationery can be printed.  Note that documents produced using Microsoft Word (tm) use the Windows Default Printer.

Testing Workstation Specific Settings
Capable 21C uses a range of workstation specific settings.  The easiest to test are as follows:

1. Go to Setup|Settings.
2. Go to the Workflow tab.
3. Change one of the settings that has a blue background (eg applies to this PC only).
4. Click Apply and then Close.
5. Go to another workstation, and examine the same tab.
6. The setting should not have changed.

Testing Record Locking
Each workstation should have the ability to establish record locks to prevent concurrent update to patient/client data.  To test this:

1. Start Capable 21C on any workstation
2. Examine the contents of the folder where the database resides.  A file having the same name as the workstation (and a .lf file extension) should have been created shortly after Capable 21C started on that workstation.
3. Return to the workstation that was started, and open a patient/client file using Patient Information and Editing.
4. Go to another workstation, start Capable 21C and attempt to open the same patient/client file using Patient Information and Editing.
5. A warning message should appear indicating that the original workstation has the file locked.

Testing File Locking
Some activities within Capable 21C can only be performed when one workstation has exclusive access to the database (eg no other workstation is operating Capable 21C).  To test this:

1. Start Capable 21C on two workstations.
2. Go to either workstation and choose Tools|Repair Capable Database
3. An error message should report that the repair cannot be performed while another copy of Capable 21C has the database open.

Live Update Test
Capable 21C uses a complex algorithm to ensure that each workstation in a multi-workstation environment is updated when any one workstation is updated.  To ensure that ongoing updates can be applied, a Live Update should be performed on at least one workstation.  Note that Capable 21C should be closed on all other workstations before attempting the Live Update.  After performing that Live Update, Capable 21C should be restarted on that workstation, and then Capable 21C should be restarted on another workstation.  If the second workstation has automatically updated, or offers an immediate update (which should be checked), then this test is successful.

Detailed Information

Successful completion of the tests detailed above do not provide any guarantee that Capable 21C will operate flawlessly in any particular environment.  They are only intended to provide an indication that Capable 21C has the ability to operate in that environment.

Copyright 2008 Capable Software Pty Ltd

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