Summary of the provisions of Quality Assurance and Quality Control for the STAR Experiment

Online QA (near real-time data from the event pool)

• Plots of hardware/electronics performance
  • Histogram generation framework and browsing tools are provided
  • Shift crew assigned to analyze
  • Plots are archived and available via web
  • Data can be re-checked
  • Yearly re-assessment of plot contents during run preparation meetings and via pre-run email request by the QA coordinator
• Visualization of data
  • Event Display (GUI running at the control room)
• DB data validity checks

FastOffline QA (full reconstruction within hours of acquisition)

• Histogram framework, browsing, reporting, and archiving tools are provided
  • QA shift crew assigned to analyze and report
  • Similar yearly re-assessment of plot contents as Online QA plots
• Data and histograms on disk for ~2 weeks and then archived to HPSS
  • Available to anyone
  • Variety of macros provided for customized studies (some available from histogram browser, e.g. integrate over runs)
• Archived reports always available
  • Report browser provided

Reconstruction Code QA

• Standardized test suite of numerous reconstruction chains in DEV library performed nightly
  • Analyzed by S&C team
  • Browser provided
  • Results kept at migration to NEW library
• Standardized histogram suite recorded at library tagging (2008+)
  • Analyzed by S&C team
  • Test suite grows with newly identified problem
  • Discussions of analysis and new issues at S&C meetings
• Test productions before full productions (overlaps with Production QA below)
  • Provided for calibration and PWG experts to analyze (intended to be a requirement of the PWGs, see Production cycles and QA procedure under Proposal for Run IV)
  • Available to anyone for a scheduled 2 weeks prior to commencing production
  • Discussions of analysis and new issues at S&C meetings

Production QA

• All aspects of FastOffline QA also provided for Production QA (same tools)
  • Data and histograms are archived together (i.e. iff data, then histograms)
  • Same yearly re-assessment of plot contents as FastOffline QA plots (same plots)
  • Formerly analyzed during runs by persons on QA shift crew (2000-2005)
  • No current assignment of shift crew to analyze (2006+)
• Visualization of data
  • Event Display: GUI, CLI, and visualization engine provided
• See "Test productions before full production" under Reconstruction Code QA above (overlaps with Production QA)
• Resulting data from productions are on disk and archived
  
  • Available to anyone (i.e. PWGs should take interest in monitoring the results)

Embedding QA

• Standardized test suite of plots of baseline gross features of data
  • Analyzed by Embedding team
• Provision for PWG specific (custom) QA analysis (2008+)