README,v 1.2 2003/12/22 01:44:38 wilson_d Exp

This is a simple application intended to test Fault Tolerant Corba.

The server implements GenericFactory as a factory that creates TestReplicas.
TestReplicas are defined in the IDL in FT_TestReplica.idl.

FT_TEST::TestReplica inherits from PullMonitorable and Checkpointable
to provide access needed by FT Corba's FaultDetector and Orb.

An FT_TEST::TestReplica contains a long counter.  Methods are defined
to set, increment, and get the value of the counter.  The counter
is also exposed as an attribute named counter.  (i.e. set(x) is
exactly equivalent to counter(x), and get() is exactly equivalent
to counter())

In addition there is a method named die that lets the client request
a server "failure" at a variety of interesting times.  See the "die"
command to find out when death can be scheduled.

The client provides a command interface to operate on the server.
Tests may be run manually by typing commands, or may be automated by
reading the commands from a file.

Commands consist of a single character followed by an optional number
(with no space between).  For example: =10 sets the value of the counter
to 10.  +5 increments the counter by 5 (thereby setting the value to 15).

The '?' commmand lists the possible commands and their options.

Additional programs:
 ft_notifier is a stub implementation of a fault notifier for testing fault detectors.
 ft_analyzer is a stub implementation of a fault analyzer for testing the fault notifier
 ft_registry is an implementation of FactoryRegistry for testing GenericFactories.

To run:
Start one or more FT_Replicas.  Use a -o <filename> to tell the replica
where to write its ior..

Start the FT_Client with -f file1<,filen>...  (i.e. a comma separated list
of replica IOR files.  To read commands from a file, use -c <command file>

The counter is persistent and will survive server failures.  It's
stored in a file named persistent.dat.

Replicas of the server may be run in separate directories to simulate
replicated stateful objects (each replica has its own distinct state), or
multiple replicas can be run in the same directory to simulate a server
with a shared state or one that executes real-world unsafe-to-repeat
action  (i.e. "fire the retro rockets" or "expose the patient to
theraputic radiation.")

Unit Tests based on this application:

 run_test_basic.pl
    tests ft_client and ft_replica, thereby answering the question,
    "who will test the tester?".

 run_test_detector.pl
    uses ft_client, ft_replica, and ft_notifier (a "stub" fault notifier)
    to test the Fault_Detector (from orbsvcs)

 run_test_notifier.pl
     uses ft_client, ft_replica, Fault_Detector and ft_analyzer (a "stub" fault analyzer)
     to test the Fault_Notifier (from orbsvcs)

 run_test_fault_consumer.pl
     uses ft_client, ft_replica, Fault_Detector, Fault_Notifier to test
     ft_fault_consumer (the implementation of a fault consumer)

 run_test_registry.pl
    uses ft_client, ft_replica, and ft_creator to test ft_registry
    (i.e. to test the implementation of PortableServer::FactoryRegistry)

 run_test_rmregistry.pl
    uses ft_client, ft_replica, and ft_creator to test the FactoryRegistery
    implementation in the ReplicationManager.


  run_test_rmnotifier.pl
    uses ft_client, ft_replica, Fault_Detector to test the connection between
    the Fault_Notifier and the ReplicationManager

  demo.pl
     tests the entire FT system.


See the internal documentation of the .pl files for more details.