TDL – new standardized model-based testing language

Test Description Language (TDL) is a standardized testing technology. It is developed and maintained by the European Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI) and specifically designed for creating high-level test specifications. Elvior has actively participated in the standardization process from the very beginning.

TDL is suitable for both MBT (model-based-testing) as well as manual testing and test automation workflows. Its aim is to provide means for test tool interoperability on one hand and to streamline the specification of high-level test descriptions on the other. Latest addition to the TDL standard is the mapping of TDL test descriptions to TTCN-3 test scripts, which provides a direct path from high level test specifications to executable tests.

TDL tooling is about to develop rapidly in coming years. Reference implementation and various utilities are available as open source project.

The story of TDL was recently published in the Software Quality Journal article “Test descriptions with ETSI TDL” authored by Philip Makedonski (University of Göttingen), Gusztáv Adamis (Ericsson Hungary), Martti Käärik (Elvior), Finn Kristoffersen (Cinderella ApS), Michele Carignani (ETSI), Andreas Ulrich (Siemens), Jens Grabowski (University of Göttingen).