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  • Hash : 082028c1
    Author : Stefano Lattarini
    Date : 2011-02-21T14:57:24

    tests: add testcases sanity-checking the testsuite
    
    Helper subroutines, variables and other pieces of code defined
    in the `tests/defs' and used by many testcases are non-obvious,
    and tricky to get to work portably; but until now, they weren't
    tested at all in a clear and self-contained way.
    This change should remedy to the situation.
    
    * tests/self-check-cleanup.test: New test, check removal of
    temporary test working directory by `./defs'.
    * tests/self-check-dir.test: New test, check that tests using
    `./defs' create a proper temporary directory, and run in it.
    * tests/self-check-exit.test: New test, check that, in case of
    failing commands, the correct exit status is passed to the exit
    trap installed by the `./defs' script.
    * tests/self-check-is_newest.test: New test, checking the
    `is_newest' subroutine.
    * tests/self-check-me.test: New test, checking that $me gets
    defined automatically by `tests/defs' if not set, and that it
    can be overridden from either the shell or the environment.
    * tests/self-check-sanity.test: New test, check that the sanity
    checks performed by the `tests/defs' script works correctly.
    * tests/self-check-unindent.test: New test, checking the
    `unindent' subroutine.
    * tests/Makefile.am (TESTS): Update.
    

  • README

  • 			    The Automake test suite
    
    
    User interface
    ==============
    
    
    Running the tests
    -----------------
    
      To run all tests:
    
        make -k check
    
      You can use `-jN' for faster completion (it even helps on a
      uniprocessor system, due to unavoidable sleep delays, as
      noted below).
    
      To rerun only failed tests:
    
        make -k recheck
    
      To run only tests that are newer than their last results:
    
        make -k check RECHECK_LOGS=
    
      To run only selected tests:
    
        make -k check TESTS="foo.test bar.test"
    
      For non-GNU make, you might have to use this instead:
    
        env TESTS="foo.test bar.test" make -e -k check
    
    
    Interpretation
    --------------
    
      Successes:
        PASS  - success
        XFAIL - expected failure
    
      Failures:
        FAIL  - failure
        XPASS - unexpected success
    
      Other:
        SKIP  - skipped tests (third party tools not available)
    
    
    Getting details from failures
    -----------------------------
    
      Each test is a shell script, and by default is run by /bin/sh.
      In a non-VPATH build you can run them directly, they will be verbose.
      By default, verbose output of a test foo.test is retained in the log
      file foo.log.  A summary log is created in the file test-suite.log.
    
      You can limit the set of files using the TESTS variable, and enable
      detailed test output at the end of the test run with the VERBOSE
      variable:
    
        env VERBOSE=x TESTS='first.test second.test ...' make -e check
    
    
    Supported shells
    ----------------
    
      The test scripts are written with portability in mind, so that they
      should run with any decent Bourne-compatible shell.
    
      However, some care must be used with Zsh, since, when not directly
      started in Bourne-compatibility mode, it has some incompatibilities
      in the handling of `$0' which conflict with our usage.  Our testsuite
      can automatically work around these incompatibilities when a version
      4.3 or later of Zsh is used, but unfortunately not when an older
      version of Zsh is used.  Thus, if you want to run a test script, say
      foo.test, with Zsh 4.2, you *can't* simply do `zsh foo.test', but
      you *must* resort to:
        zsh -o no_function_argzero foo.test
    
      Note that this problem does not occur if Zsh is executed through
      a symlink with a basename of `sh', since in that case Zsh starts
      in Bourne compatibility mode.  So you should be perfectly safe
      when /bin/sh is Zsh, even a it's version < 4.3.
    
    
    Reporting failures
    ------------------
    
      Send verbose output, i.e., the contents of test-suite.log, of failing
      tests to <bug-automake@gnu.org>, along with the usual version numbers
      (which Automake, which Autoconf, which operating system, which make
      version, which shell, etc.)
    
    
    
    Writing test cases
    ==================
    
    
    Do
    --
    
      If you plan to fix a bug, write the test case first.  This way you'll
      make sure the test catches the bug, and that it succeeds once you have
      fixed the bug.
    
      Add a copyright/license paragraph.
    
      Explain what the test does.
    
      Cite the PR number (if any), and the original reporter (if any), so
      we can find or ask for information if needed.
    
      Use `required=...' for required tools.  Do not explicitly require
      tools which can be taken for granted because they're listed in the
      GNU Coding Standards (for example, `gzip').
    
      Include ./defs in every test script (see existing tests for examples
      of how to do this).
    
      For tests that use the `parallel-tests' Automake option, set the shell
      variable `parallel_tests' to "yes" before including ./defs.  Also,
      use for them a name that ends in `-p.test' and does not clash with any
      generated tests in the suite.
    
      ./defs sets a skeleton configure.in.  If possible, append to this
      file.  In some cases you'll have to overwrite it, but this should
      be the exception.  Note that configure.in registers Makefile.in
      but do not output anything by default.  If you need ./configure
      to create Makefile, append AC_OUTPUT to configure.in.
    
      By default, the testcases are run with the `errexit' shell flag on,
      to make it easier to catch failures you might not have thought of.
      If  this is undesirable in some testcase, you can use `set +e' to
      disable the `errexit' flag (but please do so only if you have a
      very good reason).
    
      End the test script with a `:' or `Exit 0'.  Otherwise, when somebody
      changes the test by adding a failing command after the last command,
      the test will spuriously fail because $? is nonzero at the end.  Note
      that this is relevant even if the `errexit' shell flag is on, in case
      the test contains commands like "grep ... Makefile.in && Exit 1" (and
      there are indeed a lot of such tests).
    
      Use $ACLOCAL, $AUTOMAKE, $AUTOCONF, $AUTOUPDATE, $AUTOHEADER,
      $PERL, $MAKE, $EGREP, and $FGREP, instead of the corresponding
      commands.
    
      Use $sleep when you have to make sure that some file is newer
      than another.
    
      Use `cat' or `grep' to display (part of) files that may be interesting
      for debugging, so that when a user send a verbose output we don't have
      to ask him for more details.  Display stderr output on the stderr file
      descriptor.  If some redirected command is likely to fail, display its
      output even in the failure case, before exiting.
    
      Use `Exit' rather than `exit' to abort a test.
    
      Use `$PATH_SEPARATOR', not hard-coded `:', as the separator of
      PATH's entries.
    
      It's more important to make sure that a feature works, than
      make sure that Automake's output looks correct.  It might look
      correct and still fail to work.  In other words, prefer
      running `make' over grepping `Makefile.in' (or do both).
    
      If you run $AUTOMAKE or $AUTOCONF several times in the same test
      and change `configure.in' by the meantime, do
        rm -rf autom4te.cache
      before the following runs.  On fast machines the new `configure.in'
      could otherwise have the same timestamp as the old `autom4te.cache'.
      Alternatively, use `--force' for subsequent runs of the tools.
    
      Use filenames with two consecutive spaces when testing that some
      code preserves filenames with spaces.  This will catch errors like
      `echo $filename | ...`.
    
      Before commit: make sure the test is executable, add the tests to
      TESTS in Makefile.am, add it to XFAIL_TESTS in addition if needed,
      write a ChangeLog entry, send the diff to <automake-patches@gnu.org>.
    
    
    Do not
    ------
    
      Do not test an Automake error with `$AUTOMAKE && Exit 1', or in three
      years we'll discover that this test failed for some other bogus reason.
      This happened many times.  Better use something like
         AUTOMAKE_fails
         grep 'expected diagnostic' stderr
      (Note this doesn't prevent the test from failing for another
      reason, but at least it makes sure the original error is still
      here.)
    
      Do not override Makefile variables using make arguments, as in
        $MAKE ANSI2KNR=./ansi2knr U=_ all
      this is not portable for recursive targets (targets that
      call a sub-make may not pass `ANSI2KNR=./ansi2knr U=_' along).
      Use the following instead.
        ANSI2KNR=./ansi2knr U=_ $MAKE -e all
    
      Do not send a test case without signing a copyright disclaimer.
      See http://sources.redhat.com/automake/contribute.html or
      ask <automake@gnu.org> for details.