Into 2000, MKS Join Forces
Into 2000 was looking for an integrated testing capability for its Year 2000 toolset. MKS Inc.'s SDM TestSuite -- a product of Silvon Software's SDM division, which MKS recently absorbed – fit the bill. Together, they formed the Into 2000/SDM TestSuite.
“We are very familiar with Into2000, as we have been a distributor for the toolset for nearly two years,” says Bill Skowera, VP of product management at MKS. “Many customers have purchased Into2000 to work with MKS testing tools and have found them both to be highly complementary to each other.”
The I2K/SDM Test Suite includes three products: ExtractDB, TestMonitor and AutoTester. ExtractDB extracts subsets of an application database from the AS/400 to reduce the DASD requirements for testing and training. It can also bring subsets of data to a development machine from multiple remote AS/400s, providing test data sets that accurately reflect data at various operating divisions. In Year 2000 applications, ExtractDB offers date aging capabilities, allowing users to test the same data with different dates.
TestMonitor tracks all lines of code that are executed during tests so the user can determine if all changes made during the Year 2000 project were executed during the tests. AutoTester is a Windows-based product that offers test creation and maintainability, unattended test execution and automated test documentation/reporting. It will automatically test subsequent software changes to assure continued Year 2000 compliance.
MKS’s Steve Carpenter says the Into2000/SDM TestSuite will offer Into2000 customers a broader scope of Year 2000 compliance testing. “You have to show that you’ve done due diligence,” he says. “Once you’ve made changes, you have to make sure you’re not re-introducing problems.”
Skowera says Year 2000 compliance testing is very complex. “It’s not a simple matter of setting a machine to a 2000 date and running programs to see if they will work. Organizations must also think about the transition from 1999 to 2000. For example, in an accounts receivable application, the Y2K date change for an invoice must be checked three times – for the date issued, the date due and the date it is paid.”
Into 2000 and MKS plan to include File Compare in TestSuite by December. This tool compares the data in two AS/400 files to confirm that Year 2000 changes have not negatively impacted the data in the files.