GAT Component Digest

Located on the TTK menu tab, a user can create a signature digest file for the software on a known EGM that can later be used to verify the software signatures on another EGM to make sure the second EGM is running the same software (or at least is able to generate the same signatures).

The digest lets the user select Verify Components, which launches a new object that contains a listing of all components in the selected EGM, as were reported by the EGM during the start-up algorithm. Verify Components performs a validation on each selected component (or all of them) using the provided values. There’s even an Automate feature that will have the RGS automatically process all unverified algorithms for all components in the EGM.

Where Seeds, Salts or Offsets are supported for an algorithm, RGS automatically provides a value (displayed as columns in a table). As each successful verification result is returned, they are marked for the user to select if desired and added to the digest file of known-good software as reported by the control EGM.

 GAT Component Verification

In GAT Component Verification the RGS randomly selects an algorithm for each component from the set of combinations that are common between the EGM under test and the GAT Component Digest File. For each verification, the stored Salt, Seed and /or Offset for the selected algorithm of each component is sent to the test EGM in the gat.doVerification command. The EGM is then expected to return the same result that is stored in the selected Component Digest File. As each result is returned by the EGM, a table is updated with the result of the verification. The results can then be exported to an Excel report, if needed.

In this blog spot, over the last few weeks, I’ve been reviewing the RGS Tester Toolkit (TTK) features and functions in an effort to let everyone else know what RGS Power Users have already figured out – This add-on is a must-have. I hope you’ve enjoyed this walk through and you can see that at RadBlue we design with our customers in mind.

Would you like to test drive RGS TTK? Contact us about a temporary evaluation license of this great add-on at support@radblue.com. 

Response Manager

Response Manager is found on a tab just like the other tools in the TTK layout. This feature gives the user that ability to design and control the response/reply interaction of G2S commands to and from the EGM.

Response Manager enables a user to create a response configuration. That configuration can be one or more custom responses predefined to be used when a specific G2S command is received from the EGM. The configuration options include the ability to create the text of the message, the specific command it is sent in response to and the definition of a pattern in which to use the response. For example, only use the customized text one time out of the next 4 times the target command is sent.

A response action definition is also allowed. The response action can be no action at all, a custom command sent, a predefined application error or even a customized application error.

Although the goal of Response Manager is customization, the RadBlue developers didn’t spare usability or leave the user out alone in the tool. The Response Manager comes with a standard response configuration and also an alternative, so that anyone new to the tool can hit the ground running by reviewing the set up in the pre-loaded example.

Developers and testers alike know that “happy path” development isn’t enough. Alternate outcome, edge cases, and failure response development and testing is required to ensure production-worthy products. Using Response Manager for these applications makes things so much easier. And, once created, these response configurations can be used repeatedly when they are set as the default or used on the fly only when needed in RGS.

Need to know more?  Check out the Tester Toolkit User Guide.

Would you like a test drive? Contact us about a temporary evaluation license of this great add-on at support@radblue.com.

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.

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.

What are Startup Algorithms? Startup Algorithms define which G2S commands are sent when an EGM establishes communication with RGS for the first time. These G2S commands are required to establish and maintain that EGM/Host conversation.

While it’s true that a standard RGS (without Tester Toolkit) comes with the ability to turn on and off G2S commands in the standard Startup Algorithm, that’s where it ends. The Tester Toolkit module extends that functionality by allowing the user to define the commands, attributes, change sequencing of commands, even group commands to send together as one, or run the algorithm one command at a time using the “step through” feature.

Tester Toolkit comes fully loaded with four “canned” Startup Algorithms. The out-of-the-box default Startup Algorithm enables the tool to be useful without manual set-up. The other options can be substituted without any changes for the standard default algorithm, if desired, as well. Or, they can easily be used as a template for creating modified algorithms that can be saved for future use under a name and description of the user’s choosing. Swapping between them on the fly is easy and quick. There’s even a feature to set an alternate algorithm to be used all the time, even persisting through future RGS versions.

In short, Startup Algorithms are a highly customizable feature of the RGS Tester Tookit.

Want to know more? Check out the Tester Toolkit User Guide found here.

Want to try it yourself? Contact us today about a temporary evaluation license at support@radblue.com.

G2S is our world and, because of the nature of the work we do at RadBlue, we use our own tools every day. This optional feature set is, in a word, POWERFUL. RGS enables a user to easily customize the G2S commands that are sent to the EGM. It boasts on-demand G2S host response customization – not to mention creation and execution of macros and scripts to more fully explore your G2S EGM.

Tester Toolkit can:

• customize which G2S commands, in which order, are sent to an EGM when it establishes a connection through Startup Algorithms.
• help you create an event subscription, meter subscription or macro for use in a custom script, using Tester Toolkit Components.
• enhance the customized components, or macro you built, by using them in an executable Custom Script.
• provide the ability to not only change what G2S commands that are sent to an EGM, but how those responses are sent. Response Manager is unbeatable for failure point, error definition and alternate path testing.
• assist in sample GAT software verification. Brand new in RGS 38 with Tester Toolkit – GAT Management Control is available. This feature uses a GAT Component Digest to perform GAT Verification for connected EGMs.

Want to know more? GREAT! Stay tuned to this blog spot while we walk through these incredible features one by one. Designed to be quick, bite-sized chunks that are easily digestible, with the personal hope that more users will find and use these life-saving tools. (Okay, that was a little over-the-top. But they really are great.)

Can’t wait? Need more now? Check out the Tester Toolkit User Guide found in our online RadBlue Document Library.

Everyday I learn something new about RadBlue tools that make using them easier and easier. I’ve always thought they were user-friendly – even when I didn’t work here. (Yep, I was a customer first.)

As a usability-obsessed user, I believe that usability should always be the goal. Let me focus on the work I’m doing and NOT the vehicle I’m using to do it. (Hopping off the soapbox now.)

This week I learned that many RadBlue tools have right-click menu options that are not readily called out. Of course, each tool sports the standard copy/paste/screen selection features – those are pretty standard.

One of the coolest features I have already talked about in a previous blog post – the column auto re-size feature in the Message Transcript (and, in fact, most table displays throughout the tools). But did you know that when you select a row in the Message Transcript, and then right-click, you can export the selected data to a G2T file that can be imported into RAS for analysis?

Here’s a few more right-click things to try:

• On the SmartEGM layout in RST, right-click on the Player Display to set the player message duration and to see the last 50 messages.

• Easily manage EGMs in RLT with right-click options that allow you to edit EGM details,  start or stop Tiger scripts or reset all EGM settings in just a couple clicks.

• Use the right-click options on the CVT Test Session screen for file tree navigation.

• Use the right-click options on the CVT Test Results panel for file tree navigation and display expansion, editing comments in test results and exporting test case data out to a nice neat file.

I’m sure there’s more. But I’m still learning!

Do you have a right-click favorite not talked about here? Let me know about it!

The start-up algorithm is the list of commands that get sent when RGS receives a commsOnline command from an EGM to initiate G2S communications. The list of commands is automatically filtered by the devices present in the EGM’s descriptorList. In the standard RGS, you can include or exclude G2S commands in the fixed start-up algorithm list, which is useful if your EGM doesn’t support one or more of the commands in the list, but you cannot reorder any of the commands or change any settings within any of the commands.

In the Tester Toolkit, the Start-up Algorithm editor is enhanced to provide you with complete control over the order of commands and their contents, to customize the algorithm as needed to simulate any host.You can also save a copy of the modified algorithm, making it easy to switch between different versions to meet various test environments.

Why would you need that much flexibility, you ask? Let’s take a look.

Whether you are an EGM developer coding against a particular host, a tester trying to improve integration with a specific vendor or trying to troubleshoot an issue in the field, being able to recreate the start-up algorithm accurately can save countless hours in tracking down issues. In any case, the process efficiencies and product improvements spell big savings.

If you are pre-testing EGMs before moving them to the slot floor, not only can you find issues before they happen in a live environment, you’ll have the information you need to better communicate issues back to the vendor. This means faster issue resolution and easier installs.

Creating custom algorithms in RGS is easy with a simple drag-and-drop interface.

Once you’ve created a custom algorithm, just make it the active RGS start-up algorithm and start communications with the EGM. You can choose to run the algorithm to the end or to step through the algorithm, which lets you choose when to send each command or to skip commands altogether.

For more information on the Tester Toolkit, head over to the RGS product page. If you’d like to try it out, just let us know.

n our website. In this release, we’ve made several improvements and corrections to RGS and RST, including:

• a new Set Option Change component in the RGS Tester Toolkit lets you export and edit the optionConfig.setOptionChange command from the Message Transcript, and then insert it into any custom script.
• the ability to add multiple components to the gat.doVerification command through the command interface.
• the ability to save command attribute and Time to Live values on the Send Command layout for each EGM when connecting to mulitple EGMs through RGS.
• enhancements to the Message Transcript in RST so you can now:
  • view all events sent and received by RST through a new Event Report View.
  • quickly find all errors, which are now colored-coded in red.
  • link to the g2sAck message, corresponding request-response pair command or to the associated SOAP message from the message details screen of any command in the transcript.

In addition, RSS now requires a 2012 license as well as Java SE Update 29.