A test database stores tests, test suites, and other entities. When you ask QMTest for a particular test by name, it queries the test database to obtain the test itself. QMTest stores a test database in a single directory, which may include many files and subdirectories.

In general, QMTest can only use one test database at a time. However, it is possible to create a test database which contains other test databases. This mechanism allows you to store the tests associated with different parts of a large application in different test databases, and still combine them into a single large test database when required.

A single test database can store many different kinds of tests. By default, QMTest stores tests, test suites, and all other entities in the test database using subdirectories containing XML files. Generally, there should be no need to examine or modify these files directly. However, the use of an XML format makes it easy for you to automatically generate tests from another program, if required.