Shield Compatible third party motor driver I recently purchased an Arduino UNO along with some other hardware. At the time of purchase, I didn't know about Arduino's motor shield and so I purchased a two channel stepper motor driver (2A per channel) that was said to be "Shield Compatible". I recently received my hardware and have been following the introductory tutorials since I'm completely new to the Arduino platform. Things are going well but I didn't receive any documentation with the motor driver. There is a datasheet provided on the vendor's website but it is beyond my current level of competency.

My question: since the driver is said to be "Shield Compatible", does this mean that I can assume that I can interface with it the same way as an authentic Arduino shield. In other words, can I follow the motor shield tutorial on Arduino's website without any risk of damaging hardware and expect the driver I purchased to function properly.

The product that I purchased can be seen here: http://www.robotshop.com/ca/en/dual-bipolar-stepper-motor-controller-arduino.html
You should do you own research as the path followed here did not result in the identically pictured nor identically model numbered item.

You indicated you are using a certain Arduino motor driver board.  On that page there is an "made by" or "by" reference to an OEM.  On the OEM's web page there is a "Dual Bipolar Stepper Motor Shield for Arduino" but the part number and the picture do not (exactly) match your original link.  Regardless, there is what they are calling a "WIKI page" for this (slightly) different motor shield.  I scanned this page and the example code.  I don't see where any device driver is mentioned.  And I don't think the code will compile by its self.

In general, I suggest people who are starting out with Arduino's to stick with well known hardware and software.  Even then I have had problems with newly released hardware.  Also check if drivers and SDKs have been updated each time you start a project.

Another approach you might entertain is to follow a path starting with the chip used on your shield.  It appears to use two DRV8825.  (But I cannot be sure as pictures and model numbers do not (exactly) match.) Here is a discussion on the a well known Arduino web site where people are talking about boards with this chip on it.