[EAS] CAP Test (test vs. exercise in CAP)

[Ed Czarnecki]

Hi Dave (part II):

A CAP message contains a required (status) element that instructs the
user/device how to handle an alert message.  The (status) may be coded as
"Actual", "Test", or "Exercise".  The IPAWS and ECIG CAP EAS guidelines
instruct that a valid CAP-to-EAS translation must see a CAP message with a
(status) of "Actual" if it is intended to be processed (logged, go to
air....).  That is strict IPAWS CAP to EAS translation.  You should keep
this option checked.

The other two test modes relax that (status) parameter.  You should keep
those two options unchecked at this time.   

The CAP (status) code values are: 

“Actual” - Actionable by all targeted recipients - processed for EAS 
“Exercise”- Actionable only by designated exercise participants; exercise
identifier should appear in <note>  (think about National Level Exercise or
something like that here).  
“System” - For messages that support alert network internal functions. 
“Test” - Technical testing only, all recipients disregard 
“Draft” – A preliminary template or draft, not actionable in its current
form.

Just to detour into the details of the ECIG discussions on creating the
implementation guide, there was the need to distinguish between an EAS Test
(RMT or RWT) and the separate CAP Test Status.  An RWT or RMT needs to have
a CAP status of "Actual" to be properly translated/processed as EAS (logged,
forwarded, etc..).  A CAP status of "Test" or "Exercise" tells the
user/device to handle the message differently.

Edward Czarnecki, Ph.D. 
Senior Director – Strategy, Development & Regulatory Affairs  |  Monroe
Electronics Inc.  |  Digital Alert Systems
email ed.czarnecki at monroe-electronics.com | www.monroe-electronics.com
| www.digitalalertsystems.com 

-----Original Message-----
From: eas-bounces at radiolists.net [mailto:eas-bounces at radiolists.net] On
Behalf Of Dave Turnmire

I also didn't get any alerts for Idaho.  Is that because they didn't get
sent?  Or were they flagged differently this time?  There was some
discussion after the earlier RWTs about whether to code the RWTs as "actual"
or something else... such as test or exercise.  Did that change?  Perhaps
that is the issue on my end.

Perhaps someone from Monroe could clarify... my DASDEC has two "test mode"
check boxes (currently unchecked), one says "Process Test CAP Messages as
Actual" and the other is similar except for "Exercise" CAP messages.  Can we
get some clarification on what exactly "process" means in this context?  I'd
still like to have a test or exercise message show up in my log
(otherwise... how do I know I "passed" the test?).  As long as it doesn't
get forwarded, I'm happy.  But my DASDEC didn't even get the messages that
David Mulford indicated he got for Guam, etc.  After I configured FIPS code
filtering last week, I was still seeing the other alerts in the "Ops Log"...
just listed as "blocked".  But I haven't seen ANY IPAWS alerts this week,
even in the Ops Log.  Just wondering if that might be a side affect of
changing the coding on the alerts to "test" or "Exercise".

Speaking of which... what is the difference between "test" and "Exercise"?

Thanks

Dave

On 12/12/2011 12:44 PM, Mulford, David wrote:
> Wayne,
> I got several alerts but not any for Virginia.
>
> My DASDEC box reports the following:
>
> Sun Dec 11 20:05:00 2011 EST - RWT from IPAWS OPEN CAP EAS Feed 
> Configuration Test Message
> - Guam (066000) Northern Mariana Islands (069000)
> ZCZC-CIV-RWT-066000-069000+0100-3460105-IPAWSCAP-
>
> Mon Dec 12 10:05:00 2011 EST - RWT from IPAWS OPEN CAP EAS Feed 
> Configuration Test Message
> - Puerto Rico (072000) Virgin Islands Of The United States (078000)
>
> ZCZC-CIV-RWT-072000-078000+0100-3461505-IPAWSCAP-
>
> Mon Dec 12 14:05:00 2011 EST - RWT from IPAWS OPEN CAP EAS Feed 
> Configuration Test Message
> - California (006000) Nevada (032000) Washington (053000)
> ZCZC-CIV-RWT-006000-032000-014000-053000+0100-3461905-IPAWSCAP-
>
> My box did not pick up any IPAWS/CAP tests for the Eastern, Central or 
> Mountain timezones.
> Several things may have happened IMHO - FEMA's servers were overtaxed, 
> my EAS box wouldn't poll/connect due to network issues on my end 
> and/or was configured incorrectly, FEMA didn't issue a test message 
> for my timezone at 11AM EST.
>
> Mr. David Mulford
> Engineer WRKE-LP Salem VA.
>

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