Appendix to Open Group White Paper: Certifying that Applications Work With LDAP
30 March 2000
Microsoft run a "Certified for Windows" application certification scheme. This is a logo-based scheme. To qualify for the Certified for Windows logo, an application must be tested by VeriTest for compliance with the Application Specification for Windows 2000. Applications may carry the "Certified for Microsoft Windows" logo, once they have passed compliance testing and have executed a logo license agreement with Microsoft. The logo will indicate the version(s) of Windows for which the product is certified. There are logos for desktop applications, for server applications, and for client-server applications.
As of February 22, upwards of 20 applications appear to have been certified.
Information provided for certified applications includes Product Name, Product Description, (Human) Languages Tested, Report Date, Tests Passed (split into various different categories), and System Configuration on which tests were run.
Pricing varies by platform and application complexity, from around $5K to around $37K for the core tests with more in special circumstances or for languages other than English. (There is a 40% discount before July 31.) Testing takes from 8 to upwards of 20 business days. In addition, the applicant organization should expect to provide 2-5 days of a technician's time to help get the tests under way.
Additionally to the core tests, Active Directory Schema Extension testing is available on server platforms (presumably for Directory-Enabled Applications) at from $3700 to $7400 and taking 2-4 business days.
Novell operate a "Yes, Tested and Approved" certification scheme for applications, and have extended it with a specific "Directory-Enabled" scheme. The schemes are logo-based, with the "Directory-Enabled" scheme having its own individual logo.
The acceptance procedure involves testing by the Novell Authorized Testing Centers (NATCs). The applicant organization is required to submit test scripts and if appropriate test software. It is also strongly advised to pre-test.
Novell provide a number of checklists for applicants. It is not clear how far they are required to do everything on these lists but if they do so conscientiously then their pre-testing is both extensive and rigorous. There is a checklist for applications that access NDS via LDAP. This includes a number of general test procedures that application developers should carry out, and then formally certify that they have passed. The following is an example.
Examine
the source code and verify that the product is not dependant on any proprietary
LDAP extensions or controls. [More specifically, the product does not make any
LDAP extension calls or use controls that are non-approved or are not compliant
with LDAP v3 specifications.]
Pass:_____ Fail:_____
Comments/Exceptions:
Prices listed by the test labs range from $600 for Client or Java product testing to $4,800 for Network Server/Print Server testing. The price quoted for testing a "Directory-Enabled" client application by THE Quality Group is $600, with an estimated work time of 2 days.