[oslc-core] Test Suites for OSLC Specifications

[Arthur Ryman]

I'd like to start a discussion on how we should handle test suites. Test 
suites are very valuable for improving the quality of specs and for 
guiding implementers. Organizations like the W3C require test suites. For 
example, RDF has a test suite [1]

Currently there are no test suites at OSLC. The Eclipse Lyo project has 
proposed to create test cases, which is a great step forward. However, we 
should make a clear distinction between test cases that are 
implementation-neutral versus test cases that are for a given 
implementation. In particular, the organization that owns the 
specification should also own the implementation-neutral test cases for 
it.

In the case of RDF, the test suite consists of a set of RDF documents that 
cover as many of the features as possible. Both valid and invalid 
documents should be in the test suite. The meaning of valid RDF/XML 
documents is expressed by giving the corresponding set of RDF triples 
expresses in the much simpler N-triples syntax. 

For OSLC specs, we should provide test cases that give both valid and 
invalid resources formats, and for HTTP protocol interactions, the 
expected request and response pairs.

The Eclipse Lyo project should use these OSLC test suites to validate its 
implementation. Implementers like Lyo should be encouraged to contribute 
implementation-neutral test cases to the OSLC test suites.

[1] http://www.w3.org/TR/rdf-testcases/

Regards, 
___________________________________________________________________________ 

Arthur Ryman 

DE, PPM & Reporting Chief Architect
IBM Software, Rational 
Toronto Lab | +1-905-413-3077 (office) | +1-416-939-5063 (mobile)