The Lab · Testing
Test tools and report problems
Testing is the useful part. A tool only becomes reliable when engineers run it on work that resembles their own and say plainly where it went wrong. You do not need to be an expert in the tool to be useful — the things that confuse a new user are exactly what needs fixing.
Open for testing
ATLAS
Available for testingA structural analysis environment that keeps the model, the analysis and the reasoning in one place, so the numbers can be traced back to the decisions behind them.
Register to join structured testing. Testers get a defined set of models to run and a simple route to report what does and does not behave as expected.
Before you rely on anything it produces
- ATLAS is a learning and analysis environment, not a design-code package.
- It is not validated for every engineering use and must not be relied on for safety-critical decisions.
What testing involves
- 01
Register and sign in
An account lets feedback be tied to a version of a tool, and lets someone come back to you about it.
- 02
Run the scope the tool defines
Each tool states what has been checked. Testing inside that scope confirms it; testing outside it finds the edges.
- 03
Say what happened
What you did, what you expected, what happened instead. A model that behaves oddly is more useful than a general impression.
- 04
Post it in the Forum
Testing notes, defects and usability feedback go to the Tool Testing community, so other testers can see them.
What these tools are not
Nothing in the Lab is a design-code package, and nothing here is verified for every engineering use. Do not rely on a Lab tool for a safety-critical decision. Check its output the way you would check any analysis you did not do yourself.
Each tool page lists what has been tested, what has not, and the known limitations. Read that before you use it, not after.