I have a dummy doubt that keeps me stuck for a long time. I have a very banal inventory file with hosts and variables:
[lb]
10.112.84.122
[tomcat]
10.112.84
If you want to have your vars in files under group_vars, just move them here. Vars can be in the inventory ([group:vars] section) but also (and foremost) in files under group_vars or hosts_vars.
For instance, with your example above, you can move your vars for group tests in the file group_vars/tests :
Inventory file :
[lb]
10.112.84.122
[tomcat]
10.112.84.124
[jboss5]
10.112.84.122
...
[tests:children]
lb
tomcat
jboss5
[default:children]
tests
group_vars/tests file :
data_base_user=NETWIN-4.3
data_base_password=NETWIN
data_base_encrypted_password=
data_base_host=10.112.69.48
data_base_port=1521
data_base_service=ssdenwdb
data_base_url=jdbc:oracle:thin:@10.112.69.48:1521/ssdenwdb