Ascert Knowledgebase

What Java versions does VersaTest support

Fri, 05 Feb 2021 01:14:31 -0800

As of the date of this article, which corresponds with VersaTest/AS v1.14.0, the minimum Java version required to run VersaTest is Java 8, which is the version used to build VersaTest.

Users should, be aware that only the Java LTS (Long Term Support) versions continue to receive updates once the next version of Java version is released. For this reason, VersaTest is only bundled with Java LTS versions, and we would recommend that live VersaTest installations are always based on LTS versions unless specific Java features or fixes require otherwise. As of now the Java LTS versions are:

Java 8
Java 11

The next LTS release is expected to be Java 17, which currently has a target release of September 2021.

Internally, we regularly use and test against more recent versions of Java, and the most recent which is known to be usable with VersaTest 1.14.0 is Java 14. Due to Java release cadence, Java 14 is no longer a current release and there are known issues with Java 15 (the current release) due to the removal of the built-in Javascript runtime. These are being worked on as of the date of this article

Does the browser web UI support Google Chrome?

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:13:48 -0700

Our initial trials have shown that the VersaTest/AS web UI runs well under Chrome, and seems significantly faster and more responsive than on other browsers. We believe this is down to the Javascript optimisation work done by Google, and the obvious alignment of Google Web Toolkit (GWT) with Google's browser work.

We plan to support Chrome alongside Internet Explorer and Firefox in the final product versions of the web UI, although pre-release or early adopter versions will be tested first under Internet Explorer whilst this remains the main browser found on enterprise desktops.

What is VPRO-G?

Mon, 27 Feb 2006 17:29:08 -0800

VPRO-G is the original product name for the NSK Guardian version of VersaTest. It was changed to VersaTest in the 1990's in order to have a more meaningful brand name.

How often are new versions of VersaTest released?

Mon, 27 Feb 2006 17:29:08 -0800

We don't adhere to a regular timed release schedule, so the number and timing of releases is variable.

We're constantly striving to improve our tools and our philosophy is to provide releases as soon as enhancements or fixes are available.

Does every VersaTest user require a separate license?

Mon, 27 Feb 2006 17:29:08 -0800

No. VersaTest is licensed on a per-server basis. You can have as many client users as you like.

Can I develop my own DFS Drivers?

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 06:12:33 -0700

Yes

Ascert's policy for VersaTest has, and will always be, that it is an open platform that user's can script to meet their own testing and simulation needs.

To further enhance this position, Ascert will shortly be releasing a Driver Development Kit (DDK for short) to open the world of DFS driver development to users and partners. The DDK will be an optional add-on for VersaTest Automator users. The DDK will include the documentation and tools necessary for user's to develop their own drivers.

Contact your Ascert representative or agent for further information and pricing on the DDK.

What is "FPS"?

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 09:46:53 -0700

The UK Faster Payments System is an initiative to speed up UK internet, phone and standing order payments.

Immediate Payments Ltd will be delivering this service in November 2007, more details of which can be found on the IPL website and the consortium partner websites:

The FPS Driver is a pre packaged VersaTest driver supporting the FPS ISO 8583 message set used by the Central Infrastructure (CI) switch provided by LINK. The driver is dual role and can be configured to simulate either FPS Members generating message traffic into the CI, or as a CI simulator generating message traffic to a member system.

The FPS Driver can be used as a standalone driver within a full copy of VersaTest or alternatively can be integrated into a larger test automation environment using Ascert's VersaTest Automation Server, including test case definition and execution from within a Mercury Quality Center environment.

What is the FPS Member Simulator?

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 09:43:42 -0700

LINK and Immediate Payments Ltd have contracted Ascert to provide a low-cost Member Simulator to make available to all FPS Members, providing a pre-packaged solution for Self Certification and also other more general functional testing needs of members preparing their in-house systems for connection to the LINK Central Infrastructure (CI) switch.

The FPS Member Simulator is a complete package, containing:

a packaged FPS Member Simulator driver
pre-build Self Certification test cases supplied by LINK
various pre-configured sample "test environments" for the different types of FPS connection and session options, plus back-to-back environments for demo and training purposes
a limited-use OEM version of VersaTest to run under the Windows, licensed just for execution of the FPS Member Simulator

In additon to the test cases provided, the FPS Member Simulator supports the complete FPS ISO 8583 message set and allows any combination of valid and invalid messaging scenarios to be defined and executed.

For users wishing to go beyond what is available in the low-cost standard simulator, various upgrade options are available:

add-on options for stress test projects
upgrades to full VersaTest copies
other operating system and platform options
integration with VersaTest Automation Server and Mercury Quality Center for more advanced test case management and automation

What is the LIS5 Driver?

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 04:30:43 -0700

LIS5 is the Link Switch Service Interchange Standard, a UK Payments Switch for transactions originating from ATMs and mobile telephones.

The LIS5 Switch is maintained by VocaLink.

See www.vocalink.com for more details.

The LIS5 Driver is comprised of pre-packaged VersaTest driver scripts built on Ascert's Driver Framework Standard (DFS), a component of the larger Ascert VersaTest Automation Server (VersaTest/AS) solution.

By following the VersaTest Automation Server model, the LIS5 Driver provides very fine-grained test definition, and a high level of test automation and validation. The exact format and contents of messages to be exchanged and verified can be defined and modified entirely through data and configuration files. This enables test analysts to create test cases and scenarios without needing to understand VersaTest's underlying scripting language (VTALK) or modify the LIS5 Driver script itself.

There are currently two versions of the LIS5 driver available supporting either the LIS5-2007 or LIS5-2008 releases of the LIS5 interchange.

The LIS5 driver can be used to simulate either LIS5 acquirers, LIS5 issuers or the LIS5 switch depending on what system(s) is/are under test.

The standard LIS5 Driver package is supplied with a back-to-back demonstration environment (lis5_demo_b2b). Bespoke environments can be supplied by separate arrangement.

How do I report an Issue to Ascert

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:47:42 -0800

If you encounter problems or have suggestions as to how we can improve our products and services then please use the Issue Manager to raise an Issue with us. This requires you to logon to our website, for which you must have a user ID which requires going through a registration process.

From the Issue Manager you can create new Issues, check the status of other Issues you or your colleagues at your organization have raised, and provide additional information to Ascert, as requested by our staff. You can also add file attachments to any Issue you raise, though large attachments must be uploaded separately via our Upload Manager, before being attached to the Issue.

When you create an Issue, you will be designated as the Contact for Ascert to correspond with in order to address the Issue. This may be changed to any other person at your organization who has an ID on our website. You may also subscribe to other issues for which you are not the designated contact. As the Contact or a Subscriber, you will receive an email notification if Ascert require additional information from you and when non-trivial changes to the Issue occur.

An Issue has a Status associated with it, which can be one of the following:

Waiting for Client	Ascert are requesting more information from you
Waiting for Ascert	You are waiting on a response from Ascert
On hold by Ascert	Ascert have responded to the Issue, but further progress on the issue is blocked so the issue cannot be closed. Normally this would be when customers suggest new features, since that would require review and prioritization by Ascert's product management.
Closed	The Issue has been closed, either because the issue was resolved or abandoned. If appropriate, issues can be re-opened once closed.

Registered Users at Ascert.com

Tue, 13 May 2014 09:29:02 -0700

In order to download software and documentation, raise support issues, post to the forums and browse the customer areas of this knowledgebase, you need to have a suitable login to this website.

It is suggested that all customer, partner and distributor staff who use Ascert tools in their roles are registered at the Ascert website as a matter of course. Registration is a simple process and can be done here.

The process is quick and need not involve manual intervention by Ascert if you have all the required information to register Contact the team within your organization responsible for managing the Ascert software for this. If you do not know who this is, you will need, at a minimum, to have an email address that is part of a valid customer, partner or distributor domain in order to register.

Why am I locked out of the website?

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:02:53 -0800

The access controls for the website are based on failed authentication attempts from a particular IP address. If you think you're being incorrectly locked out it could be because:

a) It may not be you causing it but someone on the same private network as you (ie behind the same NATing firewall)

b) It may not be caused by your browser but by some other program trying to access our website, such as an RSS client, or VersaTest/AS when it refreshes the state of the Driver Library.

The lockouts will reset automatically after a short period, or you can contact Ascert Support.

Do you have any RSS feeds on the website?

Thu, 16 May 2019 18:30:29 -0700

Yes, we have several.

You can create a customized RSS feed that monitors the downloads area of our website. To create the feed, drill down into the downloads area to obtain the level of listing you require, then copy the URL provided by the RSS feed button displayed at the top right of the page.

Note the URL is custom to you. If you want to provide your credentials manually and securely to your feed reader, you can remove and trash the "uid=..." param from the URL and specify your credentials (username and password) directly to your feed reader as documented by that program.

Note also that the information contained in the basic feed is compliant with RSS standards. However by adding the additional text "&itemdetail=1" to the end of your URL more information will be provided in XML format within the feed, including filename, version and release information.

You can also obtain an RSS feed for our forums. Search our Forum Help section for further information.

I want to download an old file version - where can I find it?

Mon, 27 Feb 2006 17:29:08 -0800

By default, the website only shows the most recent version of a file. You can change this as follows:

You can view all the file versions of all the downloads by changng the selection in the dropdown box at the top of the screen to show all download versions,
You can view the file versions for a particular download by clicking on the version number. If there are other versions available they will all be shown.

If you need a version of a file that is no longer on our website, then please send an email to Technical Support.

Where can I find an FTP client to upload files to my NSK server?

Mon, 27 Feb 2006 17:29:08 -0800

Ascert have a free FTP client that handles the unique attributes of an HP NonStop server. Feel free to download a copy from our downloads area and share it with your colleagues.

Why can't I find the file I want to download?

Mon, 27 Feb 2006 17:29:08 -0800

Access to most of our product downloads requires you to login to our website. Until you login the files are not visible.

If you don't have a login ID on our website then you can register here.

Why does my dowload filename have a comma and number on the end, such as ",100"?

Mon, 27 Feb 2006 17:29:08 -0800

This is probably because the file is a binary file that is intended to be placed on an HP NonStop Server. The number after the comma represents the NSK filecode for the file. Example filenames are:

REL8INST,100 ZINSTALL,100

If, after downloading the file to your PC, you FTP it to your NSK server, then the filecode of the file on the server will be set automatically. If you use another method to upload it to your NSK server then you must manually set the filecode using a FUP command, such as:

FUP ALTER ZINSTALL, CODE 100

What do these numbers in parentheses mean against the sub-categories?

Fri, 31 Mar 2006 11:54:32 -0800

The numbers indicate how many articles are available for you to view in that sub-category, and all its child categories. The actual number of articles viewable depends on whether or not you are logged on.

How do I add a comment to a Knowledgebase article?

Mon, 27 Feb 2006 17:29:08 -0800

Any registered user of our website can add a comment to a Knowledgebase article, however you must be logged in.

What if I can't find an answer in the Knowledgebase?

Fri, 31 Mar 2006 11:48:45 -0800

Firstly, make sure that you are logged in to the support website to ensure you are seeing all the articles.

If you still can't find what you're looking for, please help us to improve our Knowledgebase by sending an email to Technical Support.

How does the Knowledgebase search function work?

Mon, 27 Feb 2006 17:29:08 -0800

The search function performs a free text search of the Knowledgebase. It searches the current displayed category and all its subcategories.

The default search algorithm regards any sequence of true word characters (letters, digits, and underscores) as a word. That sequence may also contain apostrophes ('), but not more than one in a row. This means that aaa'bbb is regarded as one word, but aaa''bbb is regarded as two words. Apostrophes at the beginning or the end of a word are stripped by the FULLTEXT parser; 'aaa'bbb' would be parsed as aaa'bbb.

The parser determines where words start and end by looking for certain delimiter characters; for example, " " (space), "," (comma), and "." (period).

Some words are ignored in full-text searches:

Any word that is too short is ignored. The minimum length of words that are found is three characters.
Words in the stopword list are ignored. A stopword is a word such as "the" or "some" that is so common that it is considered to have zero semantic value.

Every correct word in the collection and in the query is weighted according to its significance in the collection or query. Consequently, a word that is present in many documents has a lower weight (and may even have a zero weight), because it has lower semantic value in this particular collection. Conversely, if the word is rare, it receives a higher weight. The weights of the words are combined to compute the relevance of the row.

Words that are present in at least 50% of the rows are effectively treated as stopwords. This is because a word that matches half of the rows in a table is less likely to locate relevant documents. In fact, it most likely finds plenty of irrelevant documents.