Physical On Demand Testing With Version Support

Abstract

A method for testing versions for remote manufacturing of software media from a network is described. An interface to a user is provided for creation of a physical on demand product. A product version is created for the physical on demand product that includes an electronic copy of a product and information about the product. Approval of the created product version is requested from quality assurance. A test order capability is provided to the user after approval from quality assurance such that the user may have a physical on demand product order fulfilled prior to release of the product version for general sale in a commerce engine. The delivery of the test order is processed based upon who is requesting the test order. A software system that performs the testing method described above for the creation of compact discs (CDs) or digital video discs (DVDs) containing full product files (executables, binaries, music, video, etc.) also is described.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a diagram of a physical on demand system.

FIGS. 2 and 3 shows data diagrams for a test before approve process in the physical on demand system.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of process for testing a product in the POD system.

FIGS. 5 through 28 are sample user interface pages for creating individual POD products.

FIGS. 29 through 31 are sample user interface pages for approving POD products.

Claims

1. A method for testing versions for remote manufacturing of software media from a network, comprising: providing an interface to a user for creation of a physical on demand product;creating a product version for the physical on demand product, including an electronic copy of a product and information about the product;requesting approval of the created product version from quality assurance;providing test order capability to the user after approval from quality assurance such that the user may have a physical on demand product order fulfilled prior to release of the product version for general sale in a commerce engine; andprocessing the delivery of the test order based upon who is requesting the test order.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising a step of locking the product version to prevent changes of information while pending approval from quality assurance.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising a step of providing test order capability to a tester user after approval from quality assurance such that the tester may have a physical on demand product order fulfilled prior to release of the product version for general sale in a commerce engine.

4. The method of claim 4 wherein the processing step comprises not fulfilling the test order unless the tester has requested the test order.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the processing step comprises not fulfilling the test order unless the user has requested the test order.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the processing step comprises not fulfilling the test order when the test order contains products from more than one product owner.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising a step of fulfilling the test order through a test burn process to remotely manufacture software media only after the test order was requested.

8. An apparatus for testing versions for remote manufacturing of software media from a network, comprising: a product version creation module for creating by a user a product version for the physical on demand product, including an electronic copy of a product and information about the product;an approval module for requesting approval of the created product version from quality assurance;a test order module for providing test order capability to the user after approval from quality assurance such that the user may have a physical on demand product order fulfilled prior to release of the product version for general sale in a commerce engine; anda processing module for processing the delivery of the test order based upon who is requesting the test order.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the approval module includes locking the product version to prevent changes of information while pending approval from quality assurance.

10. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the test order module includes providing test order capability to a tester user after approval from quality assurance such that the tester may have a physical on demand product order fulfilled prior to release of the product version for general sale in a commerce engine.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the processing module does not fulfill the test order unless the tester has requested the test order.

11. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the processing module does not fulfill the test order unless the user has requested the test order.

13. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the processing module does not fulfill the test order when the test order contains products from more than one product owner.

14. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the processing module fulfills the test order through a test burn process to remotely manufacture software media only after the test order was requested.