Readme.htm

NIST CGM ATA Interpreter Test Suite, Release 3.0

Updated August 2001 Update August 2001

NIST CGM ATA Interpreter Test Suite, Release 2.0

October 1997

The conformance test suite provided here is released by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA. The test suite bears no warranty, either expressed or implied. NIST does not assume legal liability or responsibility for use of a test suite or the results of such use.

How to use this document

This README.htm file contains the instructions and components when executing the NIST CGM Interpreter Test Suite.

Contents

Test Suite Components and Installation
Test Suite Overview and Execution
Upgrade information pertinent to Release 2.0
Remark on Monochrome Devices
Support

Test Suite Components and Installation

The NIST CGM Test Service is announcing Release 2.0 of the NIST CGM ATA Test Suite. The files test confomance to the ATA Grexchange 2100 specification, version 2.3. The files can be accessed via the NIST web site at http://www.nist.gov/itl/div897/ctg/cgm_form.htm.

The test suite contains a total of 201 test cases. There are three components per test case:

1. the CGM test file,
2. the operator script in html format containing the evaluation criteria, and
3. a matching reference picture represented by a GIF file.

The operator script, cgm files, and the reference pictures can be downloaded separately or as one tar file containing all three components. The CGM test files, operator script, and reference pictures are available in two formats:

• UNIX compressed tar file, and
• MS-DOS compressed zip file.

The operator script is in html format. To facilitate execution of the test suite, the html file can be used in a tiled window display along with the reference pictures. If you cannot access the files, please contact NIST to make other arrangements.

The reference pictures have been captured and saved in GIF format, which once unzipped can be viewed using your web browser or loaded into any graphics software application that imports the GIF file format. The following GIF files have been captured at higher magnifications for improved viewing:

An overview of test suite execution:

1. open a cgm file;
2. read each question regarding the test case in the operator script, carefully reviewing the criteria and rate the answer on a pass/fail basis;
3. compare the implementation's output with the expected output contained in the reference picture;
4. make any notations regarding hatch gap width, line ends and joins, and edge caps and joins when necessary.

Each file and reference picture contains a test case identification string. This string provides the name of the test case, the colour conformance class (monochrome or colour), and the Test Suite's release number.

The operator script is a set of detailed descriptions of the reference pictures and corresponding CGMs. The components of the operator script for each test case are:

• file name,
• brief statement of test case purpose and elements explicitly tested, and
• set of checkpoints for verification by the operator.

The operator is provided with a set of reference pictures to be used for guidance. Each test case complements a reference picture. The script and pictures should be followed by an operator, i.e. the tester, when running the test suite. Hardware capabilities may limit the device independence of a CGM, which may in turn affect the appearance of the picture. Implementation dependencies are permitted by the standard (e.g. appearance of open endpoints of line elements) and therefore may also produce various output. There are three reference files (ref-rtxt, ref-txtaln, and ref-cap) cited in the operator script with GIF file extensions. Check these files for additional informaiton on the rednering of restricted text, text alignment, and line or edge caps and joins. Overall, the output of a CGM test case is workstation independent and so should produce the sample picture. In addition, there should be no extraneous marks or text upon execution of the tests.

Updates to Release 2.0 (8/97)

Execute SCLMOD01 prior to all other test cases. The ATA 2100 specification, version 2.3, states that all files shall be metric; and therefore, mapped to a particular size set by the Scale Mode element. Therefore, SCLMOD01 file is used as a calibration file and shall meet the evaluation criteria and produce the intended reference picture before continuing with the test suite. The remainder of the test cases may be executed in random order; however, all test cases must be executed for purposes of validation.

There are 3 degenerate cases; a polyline with coincident coordinates, a filled-area polygon with zero radius, and several filled-area polygons with coincident points. Although you may not have the capability to interpret these files, handling degeneracies is required by the profile.

Further additions include; a large cell array, three schematic drawings, a file containing overlapping polygon sets, a test for Optical Character Recognition test, and the inclusion of linetypes 6-15. The linetypes are defined in the ISO Register of Graphical Items.

Additional Notes:

ASFTST06 The 'all individual' line is a dashed line. The line cap parameter may affect the appearance of the line.

ASFTST10 The 'all individual' rectangle has a dashed edge. The line cap parameter may affect the appearance of the edge.

CELARY06 The reference picture is smaller than the properly sized picture (approximately 14.8" x 11.6"), and is rotated 90-degrees in order to optimize paper use. Implementations are not required to rotate the picture. Implementations should be capable of rendering this metric CGM at the correct scale. However, if for example only 8.5 x 11 paper is the available, then due to ambiguity in the profile the following behaviors would be acceptable:

• supress METRIC (as an option or informing the user) and mapped to a size that will fit the physical device, OR
• print the whole picutre at scale by tiling it.

CHRSET01 In the reference picture, the glyphs for character codes 170 and 186, (ordfeminine and ordmasculine respectively) should have an underscore. When the ordfeminine and ordmasculine characters are used as superscripts, the underscore is omitted. Thus, both renderings (i.e., with or without the underscore) will be acceptable, but omitting the underscore will be noted in the Test Report.

Also, due to differences in fonts, there may be a slight variation of glyphs.

Remark on Monochrome Devices

Because the CGM Standard provides only a RGB (red, green, blue) colour model, for monochrome devices all colour values (red, green, blue intensities) have to be mapped to a grey scale by the implementation. This mapping is not defined in the standard and is therefore device dependent. So whenever the test script specifies any graphical output to appear in a specific colour (e.g. a red polyline) the tester should have this mapping in mind. Update Augaust 2001

Update August 2001

The following tests are being modified due to errors in either the test file, reference picture, or operator script. Please use with caution.

intstl06-Reference picture is incorrect. The pattern size vectors should be down&left.

prtreg01-Operator script is incorrect the picture should appear as a yellow hatched donut (hole in the center)

pattbl02-reference picture is incorrect.

specmd04-reference picture is incorrect.

specmd05-reference picture is incorrect.

Support

For assistance or questions, contact: