Press Release: Medsphere Releases Code for Development Testing Automation Framework
‘Strongwind’ Enhances Software Quality, Supports Open Source Community
ALISO VIEJO, California, October 30, 2007 – Medsphere Systems Corporation
today announced the release of code for a user interface test automation
framework that enables developers to create automated quality assurance
scripts to test features of user interface applications. Dubbed Strongwind,
this new tool developed by Medsphere engineers has improved the process of
testing updates and enhancements of Medsphere’s OpenVista electronic health
record (EHR), a commercial version of the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs’ VistA solution. Medsphere is now making the testing platform
available under the GNU General Public License (GPL) to assist third-party
developers in delivering quality applications.
Strongwind tests applications created using GTK+, the toolkit used by the
OpenVista Clinical Information System (CIS) and all GNOME applications.
Medsphere developers modeled the framework after dogtail
(http://people.redhat.com/zcerza/dogtail/), a GUI test tool and automation
framework developed by Red Hat.
“Creating and maintaining a library of tests, then automatically barraging
every single build of our applications, provides a more efficient testing
environment for OpenVista. Our releases are now higher in quality without
requiring additional development and quality assurance resources,” said Ben
Mehling, Medsphere’s Director of Engineering and Development. “We are
releasing the Strongwind code to help other Open Source software projects
inexpensively improve quality by adapting Strongwind to their applications.”
Strongwind encourages developers to assemble a library of commonly used
tasks for a particular application that is then used to quickly create a
large number of test scripts. The script library is useful in testing
applications like OpenVista CIS because it encapsulates commonly used tasks
in one location, eliminating duplicated effort when writing scripts.
Additionally, Strongwind scripts automatically generate a human-readable log
that contains the action, expected result, and a screen shot of each step,
further minimizing necessary test development effort.
“Medsphere is organized around the Open Source philosophy and committed to
being an active, contributing member of the Open Source community,” said
Medsphere CEO Michael J. Doyle. “I understand that just saying we are
committed to Open Source means very little to the broader community. The
release of Strongwind reflects a commitment to strengthening our
relationship with the Open Source community and advancing the Open Source
cause.”
The initial release of Strongwind, version 0.9, is available for download at
medsphere.org/projects/strongwind.
About Medsphere Systems Corporation
As the Open Source source for healthcare, Medsphere is revolutionizing the
industry by delivering commercially supported software based on the U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs’ proven VistA electronic health record (EHR).
Medsphere offers healthcare a comprehensive solution in OpenVista�, a
portfolio of products and professional services for hospitals, clinics, and
integrated delivery networks. The company addresses the capital constraints
of the healthcare industry through an innovative subscription-based pricing
model. Medsphere’s experienced team of healthcare technology professionals
and unique suite of implementation tools deliver a fluid transition to a
comprehensive healthcare information technology solution. Founded in 2002,
Medsphere is backed financially by Azure Capital Partners, Thomas Weisel
Venture Partners, and the Wasatch Venture Fund. For more information, visit
http://www.medsphere.com.