Glossary · System coordination, integration and orchestration
Interface test
Also known as: interface testing, integration interface test
German: Schnittstellentest
In software and systems engineering, an interface test is a test that verifies that two systems or components interact across their interface as defined, including data content, formats, timing, handshakes and behavior under error conditions.
- System integration
In one sentence
An interface test verifies that two systems interact across their interface as defined, including data, timing, handshakes and error behavior.
Example
Before site delivery, the machine builder tests the MES interface with a simulator that sends valid, invalid and delayed order messages and checks each response.
How it applies
- Verification: Derive interface test cases from the Interface definition: each signal or message, each handshake step, each error code. Include boundary values and communication loss.
- Commissioning: Test with simulators before site delivery, then with the real partner system. Record the versions of both sides as part of the test record.
- Documentation: Interface test specifications and reports are evidence for acceptance and later changes. Where tests reveal ambiguities in the interface definition, fix the definition, not only the implementation.
Interface test vs. end-to-end test
An interface test checks one interface between two parties. An End-to-end test checks a complete workflow across several interfaces. Passing all interface tests does not guarantee that the whole workflow works, and vice versa.