Radical Blue Gaming » custom scripting

Tester Toolkit Spotlight: Components – A deeper dive into Custom Scripting

Maile Keliikoa — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 05:03:34 +0000

I’ve already told you about the amazing features of RGS Custom Scripting. I think anyone using our RGS tool would agree that being able to run repeatable customized scripts would be a huge benefit of this add-on. Just like the Ginsu knives on TV, there’s actually more! In today’s blog, I want to highlight the Components tab of Tester Toolkit.

Up front, let me say that the Components tab, located on the Tester Toolkit layout, is where a user can configure event subscriptions, meter subscriptions and macros. Did you know that was possible?

This area is also where the CommConfig.setCommChange and optionConfig.setOptionChange components are found. These can be used in custom scripts and startup algorithms. There’s also Load Display Media Content, a component used to define media content for the mediaDisplay.loadContent command found here.

What are Components? Well, I think of them as building blocks. Here’s the 10-cent tour:

Event Subscriptions

Event Subscription configuration creates event subscription files that can be used in the startup algorithm or added to custom scripts. Changes to event subscription files dynamically update anywhere they are used. For example, if you insert an event subscription file into a custom script (through the setEventSub command), and then make changes to it, the script is automatically updated.

Note that RGS only sends events that are supported by the EGM, including custom events. If the EGM does not support a particular event, it is discarded before the setEventSub command is sent.

Meter Subscriptions
Meter Subscriptions define which EGM meters (currency, device, game denomination and wager) to receive and the reporting interval (end-of-day and periodic). You can select whether to include meter definitions in meter reports.

Set Comm Change Component

The commConfig.setCommChange command configuration can be used on the Available Set Comm Change Files list on the Set Comm Change component. Once saved to the list, the file is available for use in custom scripting. This file can be modified or deleted as well.

Set Option Change Component

The Set Option Change component allows the user to edit the optionConfig.setOptionChange commands, and then include them in custom scripts as desired.

Media Display Load Content Component

The Media Display Load Content component lets the user define media content for use with the mediaDisplay.loadContent command in Custom Scripting. There are options to add and edit media display files.

Macros

Macros let the user create pre-configured, multi-command host operation scripts (for example, the downloading and installation of a package). Each macro created can then be used in a custom script. By default, all macros created are automatically added to the Custom Scripting list of commands available to use. All default and newly created macros are saved to an RGS directory.

Global Device Variable Templates

When a command is added to a custom script there is an option to select the device that the command is executed against. By default, each command goes to all devices; however, by using a Global Device Variable template the device settings can be defined as the user wishes by adding a modified template to a custom script.

There’s a lot here. WE understand. Want to learn more or see some detail about these amazing components? Read about them here in the Tester Toolkit User Guide.

Do you want Tester Toolkit for RGS? Contact us about an evaluation license of this great add-on at support@radblue.com.

Tester Toolkit Spotlight – Custom Scripting

Maile Keliikoa — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 05:03:07 +0000

Customize it!

Many of our customers requested a way to send G2S commands on-demand from our RGS host simulator to the EGMs they were working with. We’re really good at providing solutions, so – Voila! – Custom Scripting was born.

What is Custom Scripting, you ask? This Tester Toolkit feature enables a user to create and send completely customized, executable scripts from the RGS. The scripts can contain G2S commands, script verbs, user prompts and other complex commands. Custom Scripting in RGS utilizes a very user-friendly graphical interface for test engineers, or any other user, to develop and run these commands.

What can you do with Custom Scripting? Just about anything that you can think of. How about creating a snapshot of the meters on an EGM, pausing the script to input paper money, coin money, tickets or even WAT balances to the EGM, playing games, then taking another snapshot of the meters and telling the RGS to perform the meter analysis and provide the data to you!

Additional features include, but are not limited to, running other script verbs, stopping the script to wait for a specific event, running a macro, adding device variables, inserting event subscriptions, setting active EGM denominations, performing meter or event snapshots, calling other custom scripts to run, and even sending raw or customized G2S commands from RGS.

All scripts, once built, can be saved, modified, called by other custom scripts and run on-demand. Although it’s not possible to run more than one custom script at a time, script commands can be repeated within a script as many times as desired.

The RGS Tester Toolkit helps new users hit the ground running by pre-loading the feature with three completed, modifiable custom scripts to get started. New scripts can easily be added, saved from a change to a canned script or added from scratch. Custom Scripts can be complex or simple, customized to the ultimate need of the user.

Ready to get started? You can check out the Tester Toolkit User Guide here.

OR try it yourself today! Contact us about an evaluation license at support@radblue.com.

Power User’s Toolbox: Automated testing meets G2S EGMs

sam — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:21:01 +0000

One of the difficulties of an industry that uses multiple proprietary messaging protocols is the dirth of good test tools specific to each protocol. In-house solutions are often not all they’re cracked up to be,

and even when they work well, they can be difficult to keep up-to-date. The only alternative, then, has been labor-intensive testing procedures that require lots of gum and shoestring to get the results you want. Depending on what you’re testing, setting up the conditions for the test can take much longer than the test itself.

Now, using the G2S protocol standard, there is an off-the-shelf solution that automates many of the procedures that you previously had to perform manually. Custom Scripting, a feature of the Tester Toolkit module for the RadBlue G2S Scope (RGS), lets you run custom G2S scripts against your EGMs and easily see the results. Once a custom script is created, it can be easily exported for repeated use by other testers. No MacGyvering here. Just powerful G2S technology hiding under an easy-to-use interface.

Who uses Custom Scripting?

G2S product assurance, regulatory and integration testers
G2S test script developers

How does Custom Scripting work?

Custom Scripting lets you use G2S commands and script verbs (script-specific functions) to create multiple G2S scripts that you can run as needed and share with other testers. Event Subscription templates, macros and variables let you set up content in advance and use it over and over. You can even grab the optionConfig.setOptionChange information from the RGS transcript to add to a custom script, which allows you to toggle the values in a set of configuration parameters.

To build a script, simply drag-and-drop commands and script verbs into the Custom Script Commands list. You can then customize each verb as needed. In addition to supporting all G2S commands through version 1.1.0, you can use script verbs to:

take data model “snapshots” at a specific point in the script or when specific events are received
compare changes between two snapshots
run a script within a script
prompt the tester to perform a task before the script continues
perform an analysis of of two snapshots to ensure that any meter updates are in balance with all other related meters reported by the EGM
send a custom G2S command that RGS automatically wraps with the standard G2S class and message elements
run scripts continuously for extended or overnight tests

Once you’re done creating a script, you can run it from the Custom Scripting tab, editing any runtime variables and options before it begins. The script viewer shows you each command and script verb in the script you’re running, and you can watch the script as it runs in real-time.

Want to learn more about Custom Scripting? Request an RGS student license with the Tester Toolkit.

Click to enlarge graphic.