Forum question posted - 

What is data-driven testing?
Data driven testing is running a single test with a set of test data located in an external source (eg, an excel spreadsheet, a text file, an XML file).  It allows the same script to be used for different sets of data.

How to use data-driven testing in the Maximo framework?
Within the framework, classes and methods have been created to manipulate the files. They read information from and populate the datastore files.  There are several different ways to perform data-driven testing in the Maximo framework.

1.  Use a properties file (a text file) that contains a list of the records to be used during test case (or suite) execution.  The file can be pre-populated with a set of records, or populated during, or after, a test run.  The records in the file can be called at test case run time to be used during that execution.

2. Use an XML document. The XML file can be pre-populated with a set of records, or populated by exporting records from Maximo. The records in the file can be called at test case run time using the tag in the XML file.

3. Use a .csv file that contains a list of records to be used at runtime.  RFT contains classes (IDataPool classes) that manipulate the .csv files to use during test case execution.

There is a helpful white paper written about data-driven testing that is worth reading when considering using a datapool in automation:
Test Automation Frameworks