Test harness (SOAP)

Pro WEB is supplied with a simple test harness which can be used to verify that you have installed the product correctly and to demonstrate some of the product functionality.

The test harness can be run on either Windows or UNIX. On UNIX, the main library must be accessible as a shared object. To ensure this is the case, you can register the library with the following steps (you will need to be logged in as root):

  1. Navigate to /opt.
  2. Copy libqapwccd (the main library) from the /lib directory in your installation location to /usr/lib.
  3. Run Idconfig (or your system's equivalent).

The test harness is not intended to be used as a commercial application, and only implements a sub-set of the full functionality. It enables you to demonstrate the following functionality:

  • Prompt sets
  • Address searching
  • Picklist generation
  • Picklist refinement
  • Address formatting
  • System information
  • Error handling

The test harness is not multithreaded, although the C API itself is threadsafe.

Running the test harness

If you are a Windows user, you can run the test harness from the shortcut in the Program Group which was created when you installed Pro Web.

If you are a UNIX user, you can run the test harness executable ./pwctest, located within the /apps directory.

When the test harness is running, type #Help to list all the operations available with the test harness:

The searching options are listed at the top of the dialog with the commands listed below. All commands begin with '#', and are used mostly to view and change settings. You can abbreviate commands to "#", where is the first letter of the listed command, and is not case sensitive. For example, #h will display the help system.

You should enter the command without arguments to view the associated options, or with arguments to select an option. For example, type #d to view a list of all available datasets, or #d [0-MaxIndex] to select a specific dataset.

Test harness commands

This will display all the current configuration settings being used by the test harness during a search.

Example:

Enter a command or search: **#a**
DataSet: USA
Engine : Singleline
PromptSet : Default
Search Intensity: Close
Search Timeout: 20000
Picklist flattening: False
Picklist threshold: 50
Layout: (QAS standard layout)

This will give you a list of all currently installed Datasets. If you are using multiple datasets, this can also be used to change the active dataset. To do this, first run the command #d to get a list of the installed datasets. From there, #d + the number of the dataset can be used to toggle between datasets.

Example:

DataSets available:
    0 - CAN - Canada
    1 - NZL - New Zealand
    2 - USA - United States of America

Enter command or search: **#d**
DataSet is set to CAN

Enter command or search: **#d 2**
DataSet is set to: USA

This will give you a list of the available Pro Web engines. This can also be used to change the active engine. To do this, first run the command #e to get a list of available engines. From there, #e + the number of the engine can be used to toggle between engines. The Pro Web engines are designed to be used for different methods of address capture.

Example:

Engines Available:
    0 - Singleline
    1 - Verification
    2 - Typedown
    3 - Keyfinder

Enter command or search: **#e**
Engine is set to: 0 - Singleline

Enter command or search: **#e 1**
Engine is set to: 1 - Verification

This will display the picklist flattening setting and allow you to turn flattening on or off.

What does Flattening do?
Flattening defines whether the search results will be 'flattened' to a single picklist of deliverable results, or shown as (potentially multiple) hierarchical picklists of results that can be stepped into.

Example:

Enter command or search: **#f**
Picklist flattening can be: True/1 or False/0
Picklist flattening is set to: False

Enter command or search: **#f** 1
Picklist flattening is set to: True

This will give you a list of all available options within the Test Harness.

This will display or allow you to change the searching intensity.

What does the intensity setting do?
This setting defines how hard the search engine will work to obtain a match. Higher intensity values may yield more results than lower intensity values, but will also result in longer search times. The default value of this setting is Close. The available values are:

Exact: This does not allow many mistakes in the search term, but is the fastest.
Close: This allows some mistakes in the search term, and is the default setting.
Extensive: This allows many mistakes in the search term, and will take the longest.

Example:
Search Intensity Levels:
0 - Exact
1 - Close
2 - Extensive

Enter command or search: **#i**
Search Intensity Level is to: 1 - Close

Enter command or search: **#i 0**
Search Intensity Level is set to: 0 - Exact

This will display or allow you to change the active output Layout. Layouts are created in the qawserve.ini or in the Configuration Editor. Layouts allow the final output address to return formatted in a particular way.

Example:
Layouts Available:
0 - (QAS standard layout)
1 - < Default >
2 - Database Layout
3 - Barcode

Enter command or search: #l
Layout is set to: (QAS standard layout)

Enter command or search: #l 2
Layout is set to: Database layout

This will display or allow you to change the picklist threshold. This defines the threshold that is used to decide whether results will be returned in the picklist, or whether an informational picklist result will be returned, requiring further refinement. Due to the algorithms used to return result picklists, this value is used only as an approximation. The default setting is 50 items.

Example:
Enter command or search: #m
Picklist threshold is set to: 50

Enter command or search: #m 25
Picklist threshold is set to: 25

This will display or allow you to change the active Prompt Set.

What are the Pro Web Prompt Sets?
Prompt sets are designed primarily to constrain search terms for the Single Line and Typedown engines, in order to aid users to capture addresses quickly and easily.

Prompt Sets:
Default: This prompt set is designed to be used with the Verification engine. This is an unconstrained prompt set that can accept one or many text field inputs with any address element in any field.
OneLine: This prompt set is designed to be used with the Single Line engine in hierarchical mode (ie., the Flatten engine option set to False) or the Typedown engine. This prompt set specifies a single unconstrained input line that will accept any address elements.
Generic: This prompt set is designed to be used with the Single Line engine in Flattened mode. This is a standard prompt set that can be used across multiple countries. It has four fields: "building number or name", "street", "town/city", and "postcode". This is useful in situations where the user must complete the address fields at the same time as or before specifying the country.
Optimal: This prompt set is designed to be used with the Single Line engine in Flattened mode. This prompt set defines the minimum number of fields that users must complete, in order to return the required address.
Alternate: This prompt set is designed to be used with the Single Line engine in Flattened mode. This is an extended country-specific prompt set. It is designed for cases where the user does not have the information required to fill in all fields requested in Optimal (such as when they cannot remember their postcode).

Example:
PromptSets Available:
0 - Default
1 - Oneline
2 - Generic
3 - Optimal
4 - Alternate
5 - Alternate2
6 - Alternate3

Enter command or search: #p
PromptSet is set to: 0 - Default

Enter command or search: #p 1
PromptSet is set to: 1 - Oneline

This will exit the program.

This will display DPV status of the server.

This will display the system information. For example, the Pro Web version, as well as the dataset versions and expiration dates.

This will display or change the searching timeout setting.

What does the timeout setting do?
This defines the time threshold in milliseconds after which a search will abort.

A value of 0 signifies that searches will not timeout.

The default setting is 20000 milliseconds.
The maximum value is 600000 milliseconds.

Example:
Searching timeout can be: 0 (No timeout) - 600000 (Max timeout), default 0

Enter command or search #t
Searching timeout is set to: 20000

Enter command or search: #t 10000
Searching timeout is set to: 10000

Enter command #u followed by your DPV unlock code to unlock the server.

This displays data license warnings and information.

Changing the configuration layout

The configuration layout determines the format of the returned address. The default layout is (QAS Standard Layout). You can switch to a different layout using the #Layout command.

  1. Type #layout and press Enter. A list of available layouts is displayed along with the currently set layout.
  2. To switch to a different layout, type #layout again, followed by the required layout index number, and press Enter.

Performing a simple search

To perform a Singleline search, follow these steps:

  1. Press Enter to select the default layout.

  2. Press Enter again to select the default dataset.

    Alternatively, type ? and press Enter to display a list of all datasets with their identifiers. Type the relevant code (for example, DEU for Germany, AUS for Australia) and press Enter to select the related dataset.

  3. Once you have selected a dataset, enter a search string, separating each part from the next with a comma, and press Enter. For example (if you are using the GBR dataset):

    linden gardens, london

    There are 181 possible matches, as shown by the Match Count.

  4. Type 30 and press Enter to refine the picklist and to therefore reduce the number of matches. Press Enter at any prompt to remove the refine and return the list to the way it was.

    There are now two matches displayed. Note that they are numbered from 1 to 2 in the picklist.

  5. Type #1 and press Enter to select the first picklist entry.

    The full address is returned.

Pro Web

Get started