IMS GLC Profiles and Conformance Program
Profiling the Specifications
The IMS Application Profile Guidelines define a process for taking one or more source specifications and refining these to create a tighter and more cohesive specification (i.e. the profile) that meets the requirements of a specific target community. Crucially, a well defined profile should be precise about what must be supported, thus offering implementers a clear and unambiguous target for them to achieve conformance.
The IMS approach to profiling has been encoded in the IMS SchemaProf Tool, which now forms an integral component for working with the IMS specifications. The SchemaProf tool produces a set of derived schemas which define the profile, along with additional constraints and rules (expressed in schematron) which implementations must observe.
With precise, machine readable definitions of these profiles available, it is now possible to offer conformance testing against these profiles. The Common Cartridge & Learning Tools Interoperability Alliance distributes the tests for Common Cartridge and other profiles relating to the content and assessment data specifications (i.e., Content Packaging, Question & Test Interoperability). Members of the alliance whose products pass testing are able to apply a conformance mark to their products.
The Profile Registry
Anyone can use the SchemaProf Tool to create a candidate profile of one or more IMS specifications. To encourage broader adoption and usage, these candidate profiles can be submitted to the IMS Profile Registry where they can be shared with the community under a royalty-free license. Profiles which gain widespread adoption and so drive greater interoperability, may be selected to become accredited profiles, in which case conformance tests and a conformance mark will be offered to aid implementers and give recognition to those who achieve conformance.
The IMS Conformance Program
The following conformance marks are available for alliance members to apply to their products upon successful completion of the associated tests. Instructions on the test procedure for LMS platforms, tools and cartridges are available from the members' area.
Available Conformance Marks
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Applied to cartridges, platforms and tools which fully implement the Common Cartridge profile specification and which successfully pass all of the required conformance tests. |
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Common Cartridge QTI v1.0 - applied to questions, assessments and question banks which comply with the Common Cartridge profile of the QTIv1.2.1 specification. |
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Common Cartridge Lite v1.0 - applied to cartridges, platforms and tools which implement the Common Cartridge profile specification, with the exception of the open authorization mechanism. |
Note: You must be a current member of the Common Cartridge & Learning Tools Interoperability Alliance in order to use the above conformance marks and then they can only be applied to products which have successfully passed the required tests.
Available Products
You can browse the available products and see which have been awarded a conformance mark in the Learning & Educational Technology Product Directory.