SAFS Framework Simplified

Application Maps = User-Generated Resource Mappings (NLS text and Object Mapping)
SPOM = Single Point Of Maintenance.
Test Designs = User-Generated Test Records, Test Scripts, or Test Programs.

Description:

SAFS provides an extensible, open-source, service-oriented framework for software test automation.

SAFS provides integrated and shared services for:

• Logging
• Variable/Dynamic Data
• Resource Mapping
• Test Input Parsing (Drivers)
• Test Record Execution (Engines)

SAFS Engines:

• Implement the parsing and execution of SAFS Test Records.
• Provide Pass/Fail results and logging for each Test Record.
• Libraries for several commercial and open-source automation tools already supported.
• Engines for both traditional Object-Based, and Image-Based Testing.

There are two modes of using these services:

Embedded -- single runtime process

All SAFS services--including one Java-based Driver and one Java-based execution Engine--run in a single Process.  This provides higher-performance test execution by eliminating inter-process communication delays between SAFS services, the Driver, and the test record execution Engine.

SAFS Services, additional Drivers, and additional runtime Engines normally available via STAF are NOT available outside this one Process.

STAF-Enabled -- standalone, multi-process

All SAFS services are STAF-enabled making them available to all processes and tools on the local machine and other trusted machines on the network.  Multiple test record execution Engines can be available concurrently and they do not have to be Java-based Engines.  Multiple Drivers can be running concurrently and they do not have to be Java-based Drivers.

The STAF (Software Testing Automation Framework) is used internally to provide inter-process communication and coordination among all participating tools and services.  STAF can be used by custom tools and processes to interface with the running SAFS services locally, or from other trusted machines.