The dsTest® Complete Diameter Dictionary allows you to define a set of message templates against which all messages should be
validated. A dictionary may be defined as a base level which can be applied to all applications with dictionary validation enabled, or at the application level which would only be applied to a specific application. Application level dictionaries are translucent, in that if a message or an AVP is not found in the application dictionary, the base dictionary is also searched.
Received messages are checked against the dictionary to find a template for that message type with a matching number and type of AVPs. The values of AVPs may be defined to a specific value, a list of acceptable values, a range of values, and/or minimum and maximum size. This allows validation of specific scenarios by using multiple templates for messages of the same type, effectively providing conditional validation.
The Diameter Dictionary can be configured to verify functional compliance to all supported specifications. This capability is highly optimized to run under moderate load levels, which supports compliance validation under load conditions.
Our SmartAVP™ feature, enhancing the use of the Diameter Dictionary, can be used to insert, delete, or replace AVPs in messages. SmartAVP enables the definition of optional, proprietary or vendor-specific signaling or introduction of corrupt or invalid AVPs to facilitate negative testing. When used in conjunction with SmartEvents™, SmartAVPs allows precise control of AVPs within any Diameter message exchange.
Read more about our SmartEvents feature.
Read more about our Advanced Diameter Testing Features.
To aid configuration of test scenarios, the Diameter Dictionary and dsTest Help are cross-referenced on a protocol basis to allow easy correlation between the schema element and the AVPs and messages that the schema element may affect.
The description of each schema element in the dsTest Help documentation includes a list of protocol specific messages that are affected by the element. The message name(s) are each linked back to the Diameter Dictionary description of that message.
The dictionary contains a list of supported Diameter protocol applications, each of which contains a table of messages and message codes valid for that application. Each message description contains a table of AVPs valid for that message. The AVP description table includes a “Value Source” column that has protocol specific information, including a link to the dsTest Help topic describing the schema element and its use in the AVP.