<< Click to Display Table of Contents >> RayQC > 8.0 > User Guide > Plug-ins  External Plug-ins

RayQC is a tool for both: static and dynamic test procedure bundling, based on manually or automatically executed test steps which are organized in easily maintainable checklists. Some basic logic for system checks and manipulations come along with the RayQC application itself, as so called internal plug-ins. Each of these plug-ins has a clear public interface of functions, along with input and output parameters. With a decent amount of creativity, checklist authors can actually define collections of test steps, which perform a broad variety of automated tests by simply configuring and combining these internal plug-ins. A good share of common test logic requirements can be covered without any additional customization.

 

However, Raynet knows how flexible evaluators have to react and adjust in order to be able to meet ever changing demands on quality, performance and efficiency. Therefore, RayQC contains an interface for the integration of custom plug-in logic that extends the services provided by internal plug-ins as far as the creativity and PowerShell programming skills of checklist creators may carry them.

 

The communication between external plug-ins and RayQC has to be standardized, since all RayQC instances of a specific RayQC product version should be able to work with any external plug-in. This is not only a core demand of enterprise wide teamwork, but also helps to maintain compatibility and migration paths over several product versions with a manageable amount of workload.

 

External plug-in logic has to be written in PowerShell, and introduced to the RayQC plug-in interface by an XML based manifest file. Please refer to the upcoming sections for details on these specific files and their requirements.