Operation Modes
===============

.. _modes:

.. toctree::
   :caption: Operation Modes

.. index:: Operation Modes Documentation

Producing micro-credentials artefacts with d-gree is possible for test or reference purposes apart from production. The following paragraphs explain the differences.

Test Certificates
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Test badges are limited in their validity for 24 hours via expiry date. This date is also appearing on the generated HTML representation. Moreover, the confirmation document lists in red font that this is only a test credential. Finally, all file names are prefixed with test-.

Test certificates are only useful during development or pilots, and cannot be assumed to stay around. For the purpose of staying clean, d-gree ships with a maintenance script to remove any test certificates.

Reference Certificates
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Technically, reference certificates share most characteristics with test certificates, although their confirmation documents mark being a reference in blue and they are prefixed with ref-. Beyond that, they are issued for a specific virtual identity with no particular grade.

Reference certificates are produced once per achievement and, in the case of electronic signatures, are used as reference document for the pre-signing. Moreover, like production documents, they are practically never deleted. Lecturers and other authorised parties can obtain the produced artefacts to get an understanding of how they will appear to students. It is customary to extend the notification message for the reference certificate with more information about the names of the recipients of the production certificates, and further links to track statistics.

Production Certificates
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All other artefacts relate to production certificates. These are practically never deleted, although they can be marked as revoked, as explained in :ref:`workflows`. Links to such certificates are only given to the rightful recipients.