Overview - Brief Description of Feature

POSTest is a Windows application that connects to one or more terminals running InSight (or terminals running on the QVS Terminal Concentrator product).  POSTest automatically sends in keystrokes and scans in place of an actual cashier.  POSTest can manage up to 80 terminal sessions simultaneously.  It keeps track of many performance metrics including overall plu's/hr and per-terminal plu lookup response times.

Problem - What Problem Does the Feature Solve?

POSTest started as a tool used internally to stress test the QVS Terminal Concentrator product. A way was needed  to load 80 virtual terminals and do various performance and adverse condition tests.  It later was enhanced to work with InSight on real terminals in order to support testing in Java configurations.  POSTest has proven valuable as a tool to stress test controllers and analyze end-to-end data flow between terminals and controllers under volume.  This includes simulating actual store-like conditions in a lab and being able to find the root cause of store slowdown issues that are normally hard to recreate in a lab.  Finally, it has been used as a volume generator to test and analyze how well controller background tasks such as Checkout Support behave under load.

Solution - Short Description of How the Feature Works

POSTest uses InSight's Management API's or TC's RPAM API's to monitor mulitple terminals' display, i/o processor and other devices and to send in keying sequences and scans to drive transactions.  The following is a list of POSTest features that help explain how POSTest works:

• Operator configuration: POSTest assumes operators and passwords are identical and derivable from terminal numbers.  As an example, if you are going to run POSTest for terminals 50-75, operators 5050 through 5075 might be configured.  Passwords are the same as operator numbers.
• Item configuration: POSTest works with simple lookup items.  POSTest's configuration file is configured with a list of UPC's and/or SKUs as the set to be rung
• Supports fixed-len or randomized PLU lists
• Supports full sign-off and special sign-off on all or some percentage of transactions.
• Tracks Avg/Min/Max/Last plu response time for each terminal
• Tracks Avg/Last End Of Transaction time for each terminal
• Tracks overall runtime, total plu's, plu's/hr, avg EOT
• Supports configurable delay between plu's which is changable on the fly
• Supports multiple tender types although cash is used more often than not for this type of testing
• With real terminals, printing is disabled by default but can be enabled.
• Can be used to stress test printers or other peripherals
• Usually used in conjunction with a services project to get a system configured and to perform further analysis using other tools