Today,
Assessment Studio is a generically appliable software solution, containing
several phases for the automated quality-check. Its focus is on the usage in
the motor industry and related technical industries, as aeronautics /
astronautics, solar energy technology or medical technology. With Assessment
Studio, it becomes possible to automate comprehensive reviews across tools and
to implement the reporting duty by automatically
generated check-protocols. Detect potential weaknesses early in your process and
avoid errors, before they are revealed by testing.
Two roles are supported in the
process of reviewing: Users, who exclusively check data and users, who desire
to set guidelines or implement them. Therefore, Assessment Studio supports two
groups of users:
-
Checker (assessor) is an user,
who runs the guideline-check. A checker can be an engineer, working for a
supplier of the motor industry, who creates MATLAB/Simulink-models, e.g.,
and regularly checks his models with set modeling-guidelines. A checker
can also be a quality representative of an OEM, who inspects the created
MATLAB/Simulink-models of the supplier. In the coirse of that, the checker
demands a tool with clear functions for executing guidelines and
generating reports.
- Developer is a person, who
implements automated guideline-catalogs for the checkers. For that, the
developer has to deal with the implementation of guidelines, e.g. with the
language, that describes the guideline, assessable by computer. A developing
environment with comprehensive functions for creating and editing guidelines,
makes work more convenient.
By
checks at ones work-station (compliance at the desk), an user is able to load
current compliance-requirements from a guideline-server, and to directly
execute them in his program-environment on his data and documents. The
guideline-server provides digitalized rules in current versions for
departments/enterprises. By that, a first escalation-level is instantly
integrated in the developing process, which assists the employee with automated
checks and corrections, if needed. Only if this employee releases the data, it
is stored in the database (product-management system, e.g.) or on a central
file-server, conceivably already checked with versioning.
The Assessment Studio Server
versions can check a multitude of data, on a schedlued basis, and are
especially designed for the analytic application in enterprises. During a
check, they allow a graphic assessment and further analytic functions of
measured indicators, for a later assessment or audit. By that, preventive
measures are realized (requirements from higher CMMI-levels), that are based on
data, calculations, as well as the use of historic check-data.
Assessment
Studio supports Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server Editions
(32-Bit and 64-Bit). In order to check data, which is located on UNIX-servers,
Assessment Studio does not have to be installed on those servers – via remote
access, the data can be adressed technically and checked, even on UNIX or
certain DB-systems.
Any
guideline, that allows no latitude of interpretation, can be automated. If a
digit of a part is mandatory, the data – comparable to a phone number – is
subject to a standardized format, or if bi-directional traceability is demanded
– it can be automated. Other guidelines, which are not very specific and demand
decisions of an human being, can be automated partially, also. By that, the
human is relieved and gains time for essential tasks.
With
the Assessment Studio developer Edition, one can easily create hierarchically
structured check-catalogs and run individual guidelines as programmed rules in
the languages of LINQ, C#, M-script, DXL-script, etc. Guidelines can also be
referenced more than once, so that a selection is available for each following
check-catalog. Additionally, guideline-libraries can be built – thus,
developing of guidelines becomes more convenient.
Assessment
Studio generally checks any XML-data and databases via ODBC-interfaces. The
export into this format is supported by nearly every tool on the market, or
saves its data in this format, already. This includes formats of Microsoft
Office products, IBM Rational products, up to special modeling tools (e.g.
ASCET, CATIA, CTE, Enterprise Architect, PreeVision, MATLAB/Simulink/Stateflow,
and many more). Files of the tools can be checked individually, as well as
reciprocally. Data from the different tools (documents, models or
test-specifications) can be automatically checked, compared and analysed by the
cross-tool check in regards to conformity and correctness. Check-protocols of
Assessment Studio allow employees a quick identification of error-sources and
enables managers to verify the own performance of the developing process.
Yes!
Match Technologies has already created a multitude of guideline-catalogs for
developing-tools, from which very enterprise- or process-specifiic catalogs can
be derived, as well. For MAAB-guidelines and MISRA-guidelines on a
modeling-level, we also offer complete sets of catalogs.
Assessment
Studio features an open plug-in concept, which allows the tight integration
into your developing-tool. This we call Tool-Adapter. Match Technologies also
creates special adapters for your tool chain. Adapters, that are available
already, include tools of Microsoft Office products, IBM Rational products, up
to special modeling-tools, (e.g. ASCET, Enterprise Architect, MATLAB/Simulink,
and many more) for example.
The
tight integration into your IT-environment (e.g. tool chain) is realized by tool-adapters. They allow the inter-action with the individual developing-tools
for tracing and correcting errors within the tool. This option is called
“online-check”, for the error can be displayed in your tool. In addition,
Assessment Studio also supports the so-called “offline-check”, by which
data/documents/models can be checked without expensive licenses for
developing-tools.
Yes!
Assessment Studio, as the only testing-tool on the market, allows the
abstraction of program-specific format of the data. By that, one can formulate
and check data, comprehensively. The abstraction into a program-independent
data-model even allows the representation of own process-logical information,
that is not represented in the individual programs (tools).
Generally,
Assessment Studio supports various language-standards, such as LINQ, C#,
M-script, DXL-script. LINQ is a method, developed by Microsoft, which is a
programming- and access-model for XML or for data-based file-formats and
–forms. With LINQ, retrieving and changing data is possible, via a
abstraction-layer, which realizes access and operation on data, regardless of a
certain data-source. Especially the transformation of data and structure of
data is supported, also. It is a language, that is integrated in the
.NET-framework, by which one is able to embed SQL-similar retrievals in a
declarative language in a test-code. With the selected test-language it is
important, that it offers a sufficient power and performance for the conduct of
the test on the one hand, and supports the structural data-format of XML
perfectly.
Assessment
Studio Quality Dashboard is a web-based project-cockpit for engineering, which,
via dynamically updated scorecards, enables every user to monitor and to
analyse a running project in regards to quality and quantity through the
assessment of reviews. Furthermore, one can gather metrics, which are crucial
for success, and goals at a glance.
The
Assessment Studio Enterprise Edition ensures, that with centrally-stored
operational data, the structured data is at all stages – development / tests /
archiving – a subject of consistent and accurate processing. Through
time-control, the server is capable of assessing multiple, heterogeneous data
and is especially suitable for the analytic usage in the enterprise. With Quality
Dashboard, the server or the clients in the network, also allow a graphic
evaluation and extended function for analysing measured data (contrast of
assessments, timelines, analysis of unwanted reproduction of errors) for a
later assessment or audit. By that, preventive measures are made possible
(requirements of higher SpiCE-levels), that are based on measured data,
calculations, and the inclusion of historic test-data.
A
Quality Dashboard is a web-based user-interface, running in a internet browser.
Users, that are used to working with Microsoft Word, Visio, Excel or other
Microsoft products, are able to run reviews via Assessment Studio right away,
and publish them in the Quality Dashboard. But also for modeling-tools as
CATIA, MATLAB/Simulink, Enterprise Architect or ASCET-MD, model-tests are
archived and evaluated centrally. The Quality Dashboard features fundamental
functions for the editing and supply of review-results and
engineering-guidelines in the team. Persons, processes and information about
data, as well as guidelines are perfectly linked to each other.
A
Dashboard enables all users among a collaborative project-team, to evaluate,
edit, discuss and use data-reviews and quality-information together, according
to their respective rights. It is displayed schematically as charts, as well as
a table, simple formulars or individual formulars, that are created
specifically. Wiki, blogs and news-forums are comprehensively available in the
team for a borderless exchange of information.
With
Quality Dashboard, tested data of a review can be made available to everyone on
the team world-wide and in a very short time. Other persons responsible, will
then assess the data statistically. Without programming, new tables, columns
and evaluations can be added. From providing simplest charts all the way to
displaying entire engineering-processes, quality-reports can be configured
quickly and cheap.