ACATS 4.1 User's Guide
6.2 Event Trace Files
An event trace file includes each (interesting) event
that occurs during the compilation, binding/linking, and execution of
one or more ACATS tests.
An event trace file provides a way to present the
implementation-specific format of events to the Grading Tool in a common
format. In order for an ACATS user to use the Grading Tool, they will
need to provide a method to get an event trace file from the implementation's
processing of ACATS tests. There are a number of ways to accomplish that;
several are outlined in following subclauses. No matter what method is
selected, it should be possible to use the same options/tools for future
ACATS tests. (Developing a method to create event trace files should
be a one-time cost).
The events of an event trace file are intended to
be abstract representations of the processes of an implementation. It
should be possible to map the processes of any Ada implementation into
an event trace file.
The event trace file was selected as the method of
abstracting implementation processing in order to avoid the ACATS Grading
Tool from providing an disincentive to innovation in error handling by
Ada implementations. The files are not intended to be useful (directly)
to a human user, so their details should have little effect on the human
error handling interface for an implementation. Moreover, while the event
trace files provide values for error messages and positioning, neither
of these is required for formal grading (they're provided to making easier
for an ACATS user to figure out why a test is reported as failing). As
noted in
5.6.2, the actual text of an error
message is not used to determine pass or fail for grading purposing;
only the specified location of the error is used.