Patent ID: 7836431

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of executing tests, the method comprising: receiving a container test expressed in a database management system (DBMS) procedural language, wherein the container test comprises a plurality of test names of a corresponding plurality of tests; automatically preparing and executing an initial database query to invoke an initial interface procedure defined in the container test; automatically using an output of the initial interface procedure to create an array of the plurality of test names; automatically creating, for each test name in the array, an object to invoke a method to run the corresponding test, thereby resulting in a plurality of objects corresponding to the plurality of test names; automatically using a first object in the plurality of objects to run a first test in the corresponding plurality of tests, by executing a first database query to invoke a first method to run the first test; automatically preparing and executing an additional database query to invoke an additional interface procedure defined in the first test, wherein the additional interface procedure automatically stores, in a runtime store accessible to the plurality of objects, an array of name-value pairs, each name-value pair comprising a name of an output parameter of the first test and a value of the output parameter; and automatically using a second object in the plurality of objects to run a second test in the corresponding plurality of tests, by preparing and executing a second database query to invoke a second method to run the second test, while supplying at least one value from the runtime store as an input parameter to the second test if the name of the output parameter of the first test is identical to a name of the input parameter of the second test.