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Subject: RE: [tag-discuss] Re: Test case metadata is not in scope (was: Re: Reasons to wait...)


 

David:

 

That sounds good.

Are we talking of gathering all this in a kind of "memorandum of understanding" document, authored by people on this list, that provides some background to potential TC members, and that may be referred to by the charter? (hope this can stay informal enough to avoid involving legal depts....)

 

A few comments in line <JD>

 

Cheers,

Jacques

 

-----Original Message-----
From: david_marston@us.ibm.com [mailto:david_marston@us.ibm.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 2:00 PM
To: tag-discuss@lists.oasis-open.org
Subject: [tag-discuss] Re: Test case metadata is not in scope (was: Re: Reasons to wait...)

 

In an attempt to avoid obfuscating, I will start over in presenting the

environment surrounding the proposal to have a TC set a standard for Test

Assertions (TAs).

 

I. Specs are written by documentation-type people.

 

<JD> as you say later, these are more "roles" that people play. Suggest to replace " documentation-type people" with "domain experts".</JD>

 

They write prose, and

much of it (from OASIS, W3C, et al., at least) is loaded with testable

sentences. Some specs, such as XPath, also have numbered and individually

ID'd "productions" in a formal grammar. Spec writers would be the logical

group to write TAs, which are a more formal version of the testable

sentences they currently write. They await some standards for TAs.

 

<JD> testable sentences  -?-> testable requirements </JD>

 

II. Test cases are written by software-quality-assurance-type people.

 

<JD> Suggest to replace "software-quality-assurance-type people" with "quality-assurance specialists" or the like (avoid "type")</JD>

 

Some

of them also use test case metadata, either in portable standalone files

(e.g., XQuery Test Suite) or managed by a tool such Rational TestManager.

These people are the ones who write test case metadata, and they are doing

so without standards.

 

<JD> do we mean: "These people are the ones who need test case metadata, and in the absence of standards they usually write their own." </JD>

 

 

But they would benefit if there were standards for

test case metadata, at least setting a floor.

 

A good summary of the state of the art for test case metadata as used in

portable test suites is at

http://www.w3.org/TR/2005/NOTE-test-metadata-20050914/

Note in particular one item of data for each test case is the SpecRef; see

section 2.6 for details. The SpecRef would point to the TAs used in the

test case, if they existed. The SpecRef is distinct from the Purpose

(section 2.3) and Description (section 2.4) fields of the metadata.

Depending on the form that the standardized TAs take, they may become

associated with Preconditions (2.7), Inputs (2.8), and/or ExpectedResults

(2.9).

 

III. Code is written by software developers. They will use specs, test

cases, TAs, and whatever else they can get as they attempt to write

bug-free code that behaves as the specs dictate. There are several

commercial software tool suppliers and projects like Eclipse that attempt

to make these people as productive as possible by providing Integrated

Development Environments (IDEs) and the like. If there were a standard for

TAs that defined them in a way that enabled a set of TAs to be poured into

an IDE, and if that helped the developers to be more productive, great

appreciation would be heaped upon those who set the TA standard.

 

In summary, TAs flow from Group I to Groups II and III. Group II would use

TAs in conjunction with test case metadata. An individual can be a member

of more than one group; the groups define "roles" rather than, say,

personality traits.

.................David Marston

 

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