Evolving the ETSI Test Description Language

Increasing software and system complexity due to the inte- gration of more and more diverse sub-systems presents new testing chal- lenges. Standardisation and certification requirements in certain domains such as telecommunication, automotive, aerospace, and health-care con- tribute further challenges for testing systems operating in these domains. Consequently, there is a need for suitable methodologies, processes, lan- guages, and tools to address these testing challenges. To address some of these challenges, the Test Description Language (TDL) has been devel- oped at the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) over the past three years. TDL bridges the gap between declarative test purpose specifications and imperative test case specifications by offering a standardised language for the specification of test descriptions. TDL originally started as a standardised meta-model, which was subsequently enriched with a standardised graphical syntax, exchange format, and a UML profile. A reference implementation of TDL has been developed to serve as a common platform to accelerate the adoption of TDL and lower the barrier to entry for both end-users and tool-vendors. This article tells the story of the evolution of TDL from its conception.