Installation
I was easily able to download and use the system. The UserGuide provided is quite straightforward and it was a simple task to get the system running. I was able to immediately run all of the queries through the commands of the form
java -jar myisern.jar
Loading the project into eclipse, however, was not quite as easy. Once imported, I got many errors from the build path. Since this always happens, I knew what environment variables to load to get the system working. The DevelopersGuide, however, does not clearly outline the required variables to import the system into eclipse. Overall it was rather easy to get all aspects of the system installed and running properly.
Code Format and Conventions
When I first looked at the source code for this project, I was rather surprised and pleased by the small number of classes and only one package. Some versions of this system can quickly become monstrously large. Most of the code fit the conventions rather well, however I did see some areas with some minor documentation and naming issues:
| File | Lines | Violation | Comments |
| TestMyIsernXmlLoader.java | 18 | N/A | Author and comment unedited since example |
| PrinterData.java | 120,140,160,... | EJS-33 | Whitespace or moving comments may make reading easier |
| MyIsernPrinter.java | 16 | EJS-7 | White space needed between methods |
Test Cases
The test cases are, overall, rather extensive. The basic functionality of almost every unit is separately tested well, though I was confused to find all the tests in the same file (except for one that was in MyIsernXml.java). The majority of the testing seemed to be of the parser "MyIsernPrinter" class.
Black Box
Many of the units were tested for their specific I/O. For example, various input strings were tested on the MyIsernPrinter class and the return code was tested. However, specific end-to-end I/O black box tests were somewhat lacking. From a black box perspective, a test of the I/O relationship over the entire system can be useful.
White Box
Quite a lot of white box testing was done in this system. Emma shows the coverage to be over 90%. All the modules were tested for many different values. The details of the TablePrinter and MyIsernPrinter classes were especially well tested. However, from a white box perspective, exception testing was missing.
Testing for exceptions can be very important when analyzing the structure of the system. Rather than having the tests just throw the exception away, it can be helpful to test when an exception should be thrown and when they should not be.
Break Da Buggah
This system was quite difficult to break. I behaved quite well with nearly any input. Most of the problems I was able to find were simply unclear error messages and unexpected features.
For example, when running the system with no arguments a rather nice (though unexpected) thing occurs. Windows appear containing the contents of each table. While this functionality is nice, the documentation is rather unspecific about it and the requirements do not mention it. Some of the error messages are also quite unspecific and general.
After lots of trying, I did manage to get the system to behave unexpectedly. When running the following query:
-listOrganizations -collaborationLevelEquals 99999999999999999999
The following is output:
Print job was not successful
A check for values over the maximum integer size could fix this problem.
Summary and Lessons Learned
Overall this system is quite simple and concise. It handles many unexpected values rather well, delivers the data correctly, and even has some nice additional features. However, there are some places where the structure could be improved. Some of the functionality is rather rigidly implemented that may make future enhancement of the system difficult. For example, the class used to parse the command line may be very difficult to later expand. It uses a rather complex "code" type of system with many if statements that may be problematic in future development.
From this system I learned about the JFrame utility, which seems like a really nice tool for displaying various objects to the user. I think it may come in handy in future projects. I also saw some places where my own system could be improved, for example the handling of very unexpected input values.
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