Defect Prevention and Detection in Software for Automated Test Equipment

This paper describes a test application development tool designed with a high degree of defect prevention and detection built-in. While this tool is specific to a particular tester, the PT3800, the approach that it uses may be employed for other ATE. The PT3800 tester is the successor of a more than 20 year-old tester, the PT3300. The development of the PT3800 provided an opportunity to improve the test application development experience. The result was the creation of a test application development tool known as the PT3800 AM creation, revision and archiving tool, or PACRAT (AM refers to automated media, specifically test application source code). This paper details the built-in defect prevention and detection techniques employed by PACRAT.