The NIST DMIS Test Suite 2.1.5 for DMIS version 5.1 is available. The test suite contains executable parsers for full DMIS (Dimensional Measuring Interface Standard) and three subsets of DMIS (called conformance classes). The three conformance classes are the three levels of the Prismatic Application Profile. Parsers are included for Linux, SunOS, and MS Windows operating systems. The Test Suite also includes hundreds of DMIS test files. The most recent version of the Test Suite (not the earlier versions) contains C++ source code that can reduce significantly the amount of work needed to build a software system that generates or consumes DMIS input files. A Users Manual and a System Builders Manual are included in the Test Suite. NIST is the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Several versions of the test suite are available at that site. The most recent one is the NIST DMIS Test Suite 2.1.5 for DMIS version 5.1. Since the test suite is over 100 Mb, you may want to look at the users manual before deciding whether to download it. The manual may be downloaded separately from the same site.
If you want to check that a DMIS file (or a set of DMIS files) conforms strictly to the DMIS spec, use one of the parsers in the Test Suite. The test suite contains executable parsers for full DMIS and three subsets of DMIS (called conformance classes). The three conformance classes are the three levels of the Prismatic Application Profile. There is a separate parser for each conformance class. Parsers are included for Linux, SunOS, and MS Windows operating systems.
When you run a single DMIS file through a parser, it tells you if there are any errors, giving you the line number, the text of the line up to the error, and a description of each error. The parser also gives warnings about likely errors. Parsing a large DMIS file takes less than a second. When the entire file has been parsed, the total number of errors and warnings is printed. If you run a batch of DMIS files through a parser, it will check each file and then print the number of times each DMIS command was used (and the names of DMIS commands in the conformance class that were not used).
If you want some DMIS test files, you can find hundreds of them in the Test Suite. There is a separate set of test files for full DMIS and each of the three conformance classes. The test files can be useful if you want check that a DMIS system you have or are considering buying can read real DMIS. The test files will also be useful if you are developing a DMIS system and want to check that it works correctly. If you are just getting started with DMIS and want some examples of DMIS input files, get the Test Suite.
The C++ source code for the parsers is included in the Test Suite, so if you want to compile them for some operating system not included in the Test Suite and you have a C++ compiler for it, you can do that.
If you are building a DMIS file generator or consumer from scratch in C++, the most recent version of the Test Suite (not the earlier versions) contains source code that you can use to reduce significantly the amount of work you have to do. For full DMIS and each of the three conformance classes, the code includes:
• a set of C++ classes for representing DMIS,
• a parser that will read in a DMIS input file and save it for processing in terms of instances of the classes,
• a printer that will print a DMIS input file from a representation in terms of the classes, and
• an application programming interface (API) with which:
o a single function call will read a DMIS input file,
o a single function call will write a DMIS input file, and
o any data member of any class may be obtained or set.
In addition, there is a System Builders Manual designed to make it easier to use the source code. The manual describes the C++ classes that represent DMIS and gives three tutorial examples of using the code.
NIST is the National Institute of Standards and Technology, an arm of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The Test Suite was built as part of NIST’s effort to boost U.S. industry by promoting metrology standards interoperability.
