TestPlant updates industry-leading robotic test tool, eggPlant, with optical character recognition (OCR) and support for Mac OS X Lion

Leading GUI and screen test automation tool adds greater efficiency and additional intelligent features in v11

London, UK and Boulder, CO, USA - 25 July, 2011 - TestPlant, the developer of robotic test tool product eggPlant, has announced the release of its most advanced revision to date - eggPlant v11.


eggPlant is a powerful test tool that creates a visual depiction of GUIs and screens, enabling software test engineers to automate the testing of screens through ‘search and compare. This technique is entirely non-invasive - a unique and invaluable feature for testers in industries such as defense, security, media and medical devices.

The new version of eggPlant adds a number of new features that will enhance the ease and efficiency of automation testing. These include a fully integrated Optical Character Recognition (OCR) engine driven by ABBYY, the leader in commercial OCR; SenseTalk scripting improvements and script search enhancements and full support for Mac OS X Lion.

George Mackintosh, chief executive for TestPlant said: "Software development and testing is an extremely important, challenging and highly specialist field that can be aided significantly by adding intelligent automation wherever possible. However, test automation in itself isnt an infallible solution to the many pain-points experienced by software test engineers. That is why we developed the first version of eggPlant, an intelligent robotic visual test tool that looks at and tests screens in a similar way to an expert human eye. And that is also why we continue to revise and improve eggPlant with smart features such as OCR and native Mac OS X Lion support that meet the exacting demands of the software testing industry and make the lives of the engineers we value so highly that little bit easier."

All existing eggPlant users will be able to upgrade within their existing contracts, with the OCR engine automatically installed without the need for any reconfiguration. The new OCR feature in particular has been added in direct response to heavy demand from eggPlants existing 500-strong user community.

TestPlants extensive beta testing has seen dramatic results for OCR across industries, including:

Defense - Better cross-platform and secure end-to-end testing of mission critical systems.
Mobile - Validating text across platforms is now easier and faster
Finance - Better data driven testing of trading, forex apps and online banking
Retail - Testing point of sale terminals. BI and ERP systems becomes easier
Media and Gaming - Better text recognition in Flash applications
Healthcare - Enhanced text recognition on healthcare devices
eggPlant v11 will be available in August 2011 on Windows, Mac and Linux platforms.

Notes to users:

Requests for pre-released versions

If you have an urgent need and would like to get a pre-release version, please contact support@testplant.com

Mac OS X Lion support

eggPlant v11 for Mac fully supports Mac OS X Lion. Mac OS X Lion made some significant changes to the operating system that affected eggPlant but we have worked hard in making sure that there is continuity for customers.eggPlant v11 has completed Beta testing and is available in August 2011, but if you require a pre-release version, please contact us on support@testplant.com.

About TestPlant

TestPlant is an international software business with an established customer base of leading IT and media corporations and defense and security organizations using eggPlant, the worlds leading GUI automated test software tool. TestPlant is headquartered in The City of London and it has a considerable presence in North America, with an office in Washington DC and a development center in Boulder, Colorado. The business is backed by Seraphim Capital with funds coming from investors in London, Edinburgh and Washington DC. The company is chaired by Jon Richards with founder George Mackintosh as Chief Executive. TestPlant is now the fastest growing small medium-sized enterprise (SME) in this sector with year on year sales growth exceeding 100%. Its achievements have been recognized by the British Venture Capital Association and in the London Export Awards.

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