9.0 Testing Policies with the Policy Simulator

The Policy Simulator allows you to test and debug a single policy or a group of policies contained in a policy set without implementing the policy in the Identity Vault. It also provides a graphical editor to create XDS Input documents. With these features, you can test the policies without affecting the production environment or the connected system.

For more information about common tasks with the Policy Simulator, see the following sections:

The Policy Simulator uses XML. The eDirectory™ document type definition file (nds.dtd) defines the schema of the XML documents that the Metadirectory engine can process. XML documents that do not conform to this schema generate errors. To verify whether the document conforms to the nds.dtd and to find information about why errors are occurring, see the NDS DTD in the Identity Manager 3.6 DTD Reference.

If the policy uses a mapping table object or ECMAScript object, the Policy Simulator tests these objects when the policy is tested. It also allows you to test included policies and referenced GCVs.

The Policy Simulator cannot simulate the initial policy sets from application drivers such as SOAP and Delimited text. These drivers use comma-separated files or text files as input, and the XML or XDS is derived from policies in the policy chain. Currently, the Policy Simulator only accepts valid XML or XDS as input. Additional functionality is being considered for future releases.