Interoperability Test Bed software 1.17.0 Switch to the latest release

Version 1.17.0 of the Interoperability Test Bed software, based on the GITB CWA specifications, is now released. 

This release focuses primarily on the GITB Test Description Language (TDL) and the capabilities of the test bed’s test execution engine. The GITB TDL is extended with several new processing and messaging capabilities that simplify common operations and working with data transformations and templates. In addition, scriptlets, the GITB TDL construct for reusing test steps across test cases and test suites, are now made more flexible by allowing texts and actors to be dynamically set according to their usage context. Finally, the expression language used by GITB TDL steps for simple processing is now upgraded to the latest XPath version leading to expression simplifications and multiple new use cases becoming available.

Apart from the new GITB TDL features, changes in the test bed software include performance improvements, more extensive test suite validation, and most importantly new REST API operations to deploy and undeploy test suites. The new test suite management operations complement the previously available test session operations to further facilitate using the test bed in continuous integration processes for test development.

This new version is online in the Interoperability Test Bed service hosted by DIGIT but is also available for you to setup as a standalone instance. If a standalone instance best matches your needs, the following supporting resources are available:

• The Test Bed's installation guide (for development and production use).
• The Test Bed's user guide.
• The source code of the test bed software.
• The EUPL-based licence attached to the direct use of the source code.

If you are updating from a previous version, please follow the Test Bed's update guide.

Release Notes - Version 1.17.0

The following list summarises the issues included in this release, classified as bugs, improvements and new features. For more details click the issue key links (requires access to the test bed's issue tracker).

Bug

• [ITB-1200] - Assign step set to append for a map variable should create (and append) to a list
• [ITB-1241] - Map variables cannot be directly assigned to other maps or steps' map inputs

New Feature

• [ITB-91] - Switch TDL expression language from XPath 1.0 to XPath 3.0
• [ITB-484] - Embedded processing handler to display to the user provided inputs
• [ITB-970] - Embedded processing handler for XSTL-based XML transformations
• [ITB-1028] - Embedded processing handler to process a template with specific placeholder inputs
• [ITB-1053] - Embedded processing handler to use Freemarker templates for template processing
• [ITB-1060] - Allow messaging steps' actors to be set dynamically within scriptlets
• [ITB-1194] - Allow test suites to be uploaded and removed via the Test Bed's REST API (to support CI/CD processes)
• [ITB-1198] - Embedded messaging handler for simulated exchanges between actors
• [ITB-1202] - Allow test step descriptions to be set dynamically within scriptlets
• [ITB-1205] - Allow the titles of test steps that have child steps to be set dynamically within scriptlets
• [ITB-1206] - Allow the title of the popup of user interaction steps to be set dynamically
• [ITB-1207] - Allow interaction step actors to be set dynamically within scriptlets

Improvement

• [ITB-885] - Make messaging transactions optional
• [ITB-1186] - Provide Open API documentation for the Test Bed's REST API
• [ITB-1201] - Support collapsing and expanding of data presented in test step reports
• [ITB-1203] - Handle all messaging for embedded messaging handlers with non-blocking IO
• [ITB-1208] - Prevent during test suite validation scriptlets that call themselves (directly or indirectly)
• [ITB-1209] - During test suite validation check that scriptlets called by test cases have correct actor references
• [ITB-1213] - Allow connection properties to be defined for non-transactional process steps
• [ITB-1232] - Support POST requests for querying test session status via the REST API