## Chapter 17 — Test keys stay separate and unwritten ### Lesson map Lesson 17. Map, example, EX063. ```mermaid flowchart TD A["Synthetic points have no value"] --> B["Test keys are separate and labelled"] B --> C["The live ledger stays outside"] C --> D{"May a note write a real key?"} D -->|No| E["Leave every key unwritten"] ``` A label is a handling rule. It is not a key printed on the page. ### Logical drawing ```text in the test synthetic customers points with no value test keys, separate and clearly labelled outside the test the live ledger real customer data the vendor's other clients any written key or address ``` ### Learning outcomes After this chapter, you should be able to: 1. State how test keys are handled. 2. Keep synthetic points valueless. 3. Leave the live ledger outside the scope, and leave every key unwritten. ### 17.1 Separation is a rule about objects the page does not reveal. Chapter 2 limits the work to material that cannot hurt a customer. Testing uses synthetic customers and points with no value. Test keys are kept separate from any real keys and are clearly labelled, so nobody can mistake a practice key for a key that moves real points. The manuscript states that rule and then withholds the keys themselves. It prints no key, no wallet address, and no phone number. Writing one, even a made-up string offered as an illustration, would break the rule the chapter is trying to teach. The same boundary keeps the live ledger, real customer data, and the vendor's other clients outside the scope. Findings stay in a restricted folder. Reports describe weaknesses in general terms, without steps someone could misuse. A learner who has finished the checklist can still feel tempted to "show the key so the label makes sense." The label makes sense without the secret. Real keys remain undescribed. The private-key lesson from chapter 1 still stands in general: whoever holds a key can move the tokens at that address, and the ledger cannot tell a rightful owner from anyone else. That general fact is not a reason to exhibit a key. ### 17.2 Worked example Describe the handling. Do not produce a secret. | Object | What the file allows | Decision | |---|---|---| | Synthetic points | No value | Leave them valueless | | Test keys | Separate and clearly labelled | Leave them unwritten | | Live ledger and real customer data | Out of scope | Leave them out | | A sample key or address | Not printed | Do not add one | > **Synthetic case.** No practice secret is hidden elsewhere in the chapter. Absence is the point. ### Errors and limits A labelled test key can still be mishandled later. This file does not show a key being created, stored, or destroyed. ### Apply - **EX063 — What do you print?** The test uses synthetic points with no value, and test keys are separate from real keys and clearly labelled. The live ledger is out of scope. Which key or address do you add so a classmate can see the idea? *Rubric:* 3 = none; test keys stay separate, labelled, and unwritten; synthetic points stay valueless; the live ledger stays outside the scope;; 2 = no secret is written and the live ledger stays out;; 1 = the label only;; 0 = none. ### Continue studying — lesson 17 (chapter 17 of 20) [← Chapter 16](#ch-16) · [Course chapter index](../SUBJECTS.md) · [Chapter 18 →](#ch-18) Continue to the next authored lesson. ## Worked answers **EX063.** Test keys stay separate, labelled, and unwritten. Synthetic points stay valueless. The live ledger stays outside the scope.