At the heart of smartImager is the concept of compatibility. smartImager utilizes compatibility tests and compatibility groups to assist it in making decisions throughout the deployment process. Every setting, option, and configuration that smartImager can utilize during a deployment can have a compatiblity test or group assigned to it. The evaluation of these tests and groups allows smartImager to select the best choice.

A compatiblity test is a programatic test that smartImager runs which evaluates to True or False result. A compatiblity test has a type, item, property, operator, comparison and weight. A compatibility test can be of the following types of tests:

• File, Folder
• Registry Key, Value
• WMI
• Environment Variable
• Program Exit Code, Program Output
• Token

Depending on the type of compatibility test, one or more of the other values must be set for the compatibility test to be complete.

For example, for a compatibility test that is of a type WMI the item must be set to the WMI Class Name, and the property set to the WMI Class Property. However for a compatiblity test of type Token, only the item has to be set to the name of the Token ID. 

The weight of the compatibility test (Default: 1), helps smartImager determine how important various compatibility tests are to one another. The higher a compatibility score (evaluation of all tests and groups) is, the more likely smartImager is to use that option during deployment.

smartImager can use a single compatibilty test or can use a compatiblity group. A compatiblity group as the name suggests is simply a grouping of compatibility tests that all must evaluate to True for the compatiblity group to be considered True. If one or more compatibility tests in the group evaluate to False, the group is as a whole considered False and is not counted towards the compatiblity score.

Finally, each setting that you can apply a compatiblity to allows you to specify multiple compatiblity tests or groups that dictate the total compatiblity of that item. This list of compatibilities is evaluated in an OR fashion, meaning all of the tests or groups that evaluate to true are counted towards the compatiblity score. Those tests or groups that fail do not count towards the score, however they do not hurt it either.

Compatibility tests and groups are a powerful feature of smartImager that give it the information it needs to make the best decisions during the imaging process.