Automated application software generator

It is noted that the development of test programs used with automatic test systems is highly complex and labor-intensive, requiring a high level of engineering training and skill. An automated software tool has been developed to automate these tasks. A workstation system has been developed that interactively aids the application test programmer in composing a test program, using techniques of artificial intelligence and fifth-generation languages. The system architecture utilizes a set of rules to describe the test capabilities of a target test station and provides a corresponding set of target code generators. The kernel processor displays a sequential set of menus, showing the test writer the range of test, stimuli, and measurement possibilities, and allows appropriate selections to be made. The corresponding code generators are then invoked to create the application test program described by the menu selections. Successful results have been obtained with a subset of a full-scale automatic test system language. >