Test descriptions with ETSI TDL

Abstract

To address the need for abstract, high-level test descriptions that can be shared among different stakeholders, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) commissioned the design of the Test Description Language (TDL). TDL is designed as a domain-specific language for testing, consisting of a standardised abstract syntax (meta-model) and concrete syntaxes for textual specification, graphical design, and model exchange between tools. Its main purpose is to support a test methodology that is followed in the standardisation work for software-intense systems at ETSI and is applicable in industrial projects as well. TDL enables the formal specification of both test objectives derived from system requirements and test descriptions refining the test objectives. The latter serve as blueprint for the implementation of executable tests. A standardised mapping of TDL specifications to test scripts in the standardised test execution language TTCN-3 widens the reach of TDL to ensure compatibility and consistency of generated executable tests. An open-source toolset has been developed as a common platform to accelerate the adoption of TDL and lower the barrier to entry for users and tool vendors. Reports from pilot applications within three ETSI standardisation groups demonstrate the practicality of the chosen approach.