Re: [tag-discuss] the role of an XML mark-up for TAs

[david_marston@us.ibm.com]

JD>...So the design of a TA mark-up may vary depending on these [goals].
>Also, the grouping of TAs in larger entities (e.g. conformance
>profiles or levels) is another aspect of the mark-up, that is more or
>less important to address depending on above options.

I think that test case metadata cites the TAs. Test suite execution is
driven by test case metadata, so with TAs in there, you can make the
test harness exercise particular TAs. The test case metadata also has
profiles, levels, or other Dimensions of Variability (DoV) noted, but
TAs probably need them also. I am suggesting that one test case cites
more than one TA regarding setup of the premise, and possibly more than
one TA as a test target, so a test case arises from the interaction of
several related TAs.

I want to submit a Goal 4, higher up than the 1-3 from Jacques.
4. Test case creation driver - TAs can be loaded en masse into a tool
that will produce design elements of each test case needed, which will
be the test case metadata and some specifics of the content of the
test case. I picture this as being analogous to a tool that takes a
grammar expressed in BNF and produces valid instances of the grammar.
This is where the interaction of TAs is really put to good use.

Between (3) and (4), we should also be able to address the coverage
afforded by a test suite. It might not be airtight, but the TAs and
test case metadata should be able to be combined into a picture of
how well the test suite covers either (1) any single TA or (2) the
set of all testable situations that can be derived as interactions
among the TAs. Again, I think that coverage is not a direct goal, but
rather something that is enabled by aspiring to the other goals.
.................David Marston