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To be truly useful, a test suite should consist of more than a simple
collection of tests. Additional information is typically required to
help users understand how to execute the tests and how to interpret the
results. Much of this information should be provided in the test suite
documentation but some is more appropriately provided in the form of metadata
about the tests themselves. Well-defined metadata can help in:
- tracking tests during the development and review process
- filtering
tests according to a variety of criteria (for example, whether or not
they are applicable for a particular profile or optional feature)
- identifying the area of the specification that is tested by the
tests
- constructing a test harness to automatically execute the tests
- formatting test results so that they are easily understood
Most test suites provided by W3C Working Groups make use of some form
of metadata. However, the extent of metadata usage and the forms and
syntax in which metadata elements are defined varies widely from Group
to Group. This document defines a minimal set of metadata elements that
have proved useful in practice and attempts to standardize their names,
syntax, and usage. If
the use of standard metadata elements is adopted within the W3C it is
likely that standardized tools will be developed to facilitate the
tasks listed above.
Please note that these metadata elements are
simply suggestions. Additional elements may
be appropriate for your implementation. It is also likely that you will
also want to define metadata elements that are associated with the
entire test suite rather than with individual tests, and it may even
make sense to
define metadata about metadata (for example, the Dublin Core elements Date [DCES]
and Language
[DCES]
may usefully be applied to several of the elements defined below.)
This document re-uses the Dublin Core elements where it seems
appropriate. DCMI
Metadata Terms [DCMI]
gives an introduction to the use of metadata. For background
information on the test development process and additional rationale
for the the use of metadata, the QA Working Group has created a Test FAQ [TEST-FAQ].
A practical implementation of some of these principles is available in
XML Query Test Suite defined by the XML Query and XSL Working Groups.
(Their Guidelines
for Test Submission [XQUERY-TEST]
and Guidelines
for Test Execution [XQUERY-TEST]
provide explanations and examples.)