About the SCO Run-Time Environment Conformance Test

The following is an excerpt from the ADL SCORM® Conformance Matrix that is covered by the SCO Run-Time Environment Conformance Test:

Sharable Content Object (SCO)
Conformance Category	Conformance Label	Requirements Summary
SCORM Run-Time Environment Conformant - Minimum	SCO-RTE1	The SCO: Can be launched by a known conformant LMS as defined in Section 3.2 of the SCORM Run-Time Environment, and Searches for and finds an API Adapter as a Document Object Model (DOM) object, and Invokes, at a minimum, the LMSInitialize() and LMSFinish() API functions as described in Section 3.3 of the SCORM Run-Time Environment, and Any additional API functions that are invoked are called correctly.
SCORM Run-Time Environment Conformant - Minimum with Some Mandatory Data Model Elements	SCO-RTE1+Mandatory	The SCO: Is "SCORM Run-Time Environment Conformant - Minimum", and Implements support for correctly getting and/or setting one or more LMS mandatory SCORM Run-Time Environment Data Model Elements. (Note LMS mandatory is defined as those data model elements that are required to be implemented by an LMS.) Note: If the SCO incorrectly implements one or more mandatory SCORM Run-Time Environment Data Model Elements, the SCO is non-conformant.
SCORM Run-Time Environment Conformant - Minimum with Some Optional Data Model Elements	SCO-RTE1+Optional	The SCO: Is "SCORM Run-Time Environment Conformant - Minimum", and Implements support for correctly getting and/or setting one or more LMS optional SCORM Run-Time Environment Data Model Elements. (Note LMS optional is defined as those data model elements that are optional for implementation by an LMS.) Note: If the SCO incorrectly implements one or more optional SCORM Run-Time environment Date Model Elements, the SCO is non-conformant.
SCORM Run-Time Environment Conformant - Minimum with Some Optional and Some Mandatory Data Model Elements	SCO-RTE1+Mandatory+Optional	The SCO: "SCORM Run-Time Environment Conformant - Minimum with Some Mandatory Data Model Elements", and "SCORM Run-Time Environment Conformant - Minimum with Some Optional Data Model Elements".

In addition to verification of the above requirements, this test module will also audit the use of the SCORM Run-Time Environment Data Model elements , and verify that the data elements are supported in the correct manner with regard to the data type rules associated with the data model elements.

Test Notes

NOTE: It is critical for Run-Time Environment API execution that the SCOs be launched from the same URL domain as the LMS (the ADL SCORM Conformance Test Suite in this case). The SCOs being tested will use some sort of scripting language (i.e. JavaScript) to locate the LMS's API Adapter, which requires the use of cross frame and/or cross-window scripting. For security reasons Microsoft Internet Explorer requires that content that performs cross frame or cross window scripting be loaded from the same domain.
See http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/Author/om/xframe_scripting_security.asp

Note: The SCO Run-Time Environment ADL SCORM Conformance Test has not been tested with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.x or Netscape 6.x.

The test can be run on a single Sharable Content Object or multiple Sharable Content Objects.

Single SCO Testing:

Enter the SCO Name, SCO Version/Release Number and SCO Vendor/Developer.
Enter a timeout period (default is 20 seconds). This is the number of seconds the ADL SCORM Conformance Test Suite will wait for an LMSInitialize(""). If the call is not made within this time, the ADL SCORM Conformance Test Suite will end the testing and the SCO will be deemed Non-Conformant. Note: If there is a possibility that the SCO may not call LMSInitialize("") in the first 20 seconds, this default value will need to be changed. No warning or error will be logged for changing this value.
Make sure the "Single SCO Test" radio button is selected
Press the "Browse" button to select the SCO to be tested.
Click on the "Launch SCO(s)" button.
Begin the learning experience presented by the SCO.
Click on the "Complete Test" button to finish testing.

Multiple SCO Testing:

Enter the SCO Name, SCO Version/Release Number and Vendor/Developer.
Enter a timeout period (default is 20 seconds). This is the number of seconds the ADL SCORM Conformance Test Suite will wait for an LMSInitialize(""). If the call is not made within this time, the ADL SCORM Conformance Test Suite will end the testing and the SCO will be deemed Non-Conformant. Note: If there is a possibility that the SCO may not call LMSInitialize("") in the first 20 seconds, this default value will need to be changed. No warning or error will be logged for changing this value.
Make sure the "Multiple SCO Test" radio button is selected.
Press the "Browse" button to select the first SCO to be tested.
Click the "Add to List" button to add the SCO to the list of SCOs
Repeat steps 4 and 5 for all SCO's to be tested
Click on the "Launch SCO(s)" button
Begin the learning experience presented by the SCO.
Click on the "Complete Test" button to finish testing. This will then cause the next SCO in the list of SCOs to be launched and tested.
Repeat steps 8 and 9 until all SCOs are tested.

Once the "Launch SCO(s)" button is pressed the Conformance Test Suite will launch the SCO to be tested.

The ADL SCORM Conformance Test Suite will then wait for a call to LMSInitialize(""). The ADL SCORM Conformance Test Suite will either wait for the call or the timeout period to expire (whichever comes first).

The ADL SCORM Conformance Test Suite will then wait for calls to any of the Run-Time Environment API functions listed above.

Once the ADL SCORM Conformance Test Suite's LMS receives a call to LMSFinish(""), the ADL SCORM Conformance Test Suite will either end (if testing a single SCO) or close the current SCO and launch the next SCO (if testing multiple SCOs). The "Complete Test" button should be pressed once the testing is complete. This will close the last remaining SCO window.

The "Abort Test" should be used if a call to LMSFinish("") is not received from the SCO being tested. The tester should wait for a period of time to see if the call will be invoked. If not, the "Abort Test" button will send a call to LMSFinish("") and end the testing marking the SCO as being Non-Conformant

At the end of a successful test the ADL SCORM Conformance Test Suite will send to the ADL SCORM Conformance Test Suite Log a set of supported features. These indicate what SCORM features a SCO supports. The SCORM features are as follows:

API Support:

Find an LMS provided API Adapter

Execution State:

LMSInitialize("")
LMSFinish("")

Data Transfer:

LMSGetValue("datamodel.group.element")
LMSSetValue("datamodel.group.element","value")
LMSCommit("")

State Management:

LMSGetLastError()
LMSGetErrorString()
LMSGetDiagnostic()

Data Model Support:

SCORM Run-Time Environment Data Model

Print Log: This link has been removed from the log frame. Note: Printing can be accomplished by right-clicking in the log frame and choosing print.

Save Log: Clicking on this link will cause a "Save As" dialog box to appear. This allows the Tester to save the ADL SCORM Conformance Test Suite Log. Note: Please, only provide a filename; The extension is fixed as ".htm".

Add Comments: Clicking on this link will cause a window to appear to allow the Tester to add comments to the ADL SCORM Conformance Test Suite Log.

	*About the ADL Sharable Content Object (SCO) Run-Time Environment Conformance Test*