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author | William Joye <wjoye@cfa.harvard.edu> | 2016-12-21 22:56:22 (GMT) |
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committer | William Joye <wjoye@cfa.harvard.edu> | 2016-12-21 22:56:22 (GMT) |
commit | 98acd3f494b28ddd8c345a2bb9311e41e2d56ddd (patch) | |
tree | da1cf11e12bf524556ed195b9e811ee39fefa84b /doc/tcltest.n | |
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diff --git a/doc/tcltest.n b/doc/tcltest.n new file mode 100644 index 0000000..05c1922 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/tcltest.n @@ -0,0 +1,1259 @@ +'\" +'\" Copyright (c) 1990-1994 The Regents of the University of California +'\" Copyright (c) 1994-1997 Sun Microsystems, Inc. +'\" Copyright (c) 1998-1999 Scriptics Corporation +'\" Copyright (c) 2000 Ajuba Solutions +'\" Contributions from Don Porter, NIST, 2002. (not subject to US copyright) +'\" +'\" See the file "license.terms" for information on usage and redistribution +'\" of this file, and for a DISCLAIMER OF ALL WARRANTIES. +'\" +.TH "tcltest" n 2.3 tcltest "Tcl Bundled Packages" +.so man.macros +.BS +'\" Note: do not modify the .SH NAME line immediately below! +.SH NAME +tcltest \- Test harness support code and utilities +.SH SYNOPSIS +.nf +\fBpackage require tcltest\fR ?\fB2.3\fR? + +\fBtcltest::test \fIname description\fR ?\fI\-option value ...\fR? +\fBtcltest::test \fIname description\fR ?\fIconstraints\fR? \fIbody result\fR + +\fBtcltest::loadTestedCommands\fR +\fBtcltest::makeDirectory \fIname\fR ?\fIdirectory\fR? +\fBtcltest::removeDirectory \fIname\fR ?\fIdirectory\fR? +\fBtcltest::makeFile \fIcontents name\fR ?\fIdirectory\fR? +\fBtcltest::removeFile \fIname\fR ?\fIdirectory\fR? +\fBtcltest::viewFile \fIname\fR ?\fIdirectory\fR? +\fBtcltest::cleanupTests \fR?\fIrunningMultipleTests\fR? +\fBtcltest::runAllTests\fR + +\fBtcltest::configure\fR +\fBtcltest::configure \fI\-option\fR +\fBtcltest::configure \fI\-option value\fR ?\fI\-option value ...\fR? +\fBtcltest::customMatch \fImode command\fR +\fBtcltest::testConstraint \fIconstraint\fR ?\fIvalue\fR? +\fBtcltest::outputChannel \fR?\fIchannelID\fR? +\fBtcltest::errorChannel \fR?\fIchannelID\fR? +\fBtcltest::interpreter \fR?\fIinterp\fR? + +\fBtcltest::debug \fR?\fIlevel\fR? +\fBtcltest::errorFile \fR?\fIfilename\fR? +\fBtcltest::limitConstraints \fR?\fIboolean\fR? +\fBtcltest::loadFile \fR?\fIfilename\fR? +\fBtcltest::loadScript \fR?\fIscript\fR? +\fBtcltest::match \fR?\fIpatternList\fR? +\fBtcltest::matchDirectories \fR?\fIpatternList\fR? +\fBtcltest::matchFiles \fR?\fIpatternList\fR? +\fBtcltest::outputFile \fR?\fIfilename\fR? +\fBtcltest::preserveCore \fR?\fIlevel\fR? +\fBtcltest::singleProcess \fR?\fIboolean\fR? +\fBtcltest::skip \fR?\fIpatternList\fR? +\fBtcltest::skipDirectories \fR?\fIpatternList\fR? +\fBtcltest::skipFiles \fR?\fIpatternList\fR? +\fBtcltest::temporaryDirectory \fR?\fIdirectory\fR? +\fBtcltest::testsDirectory \fR?\fIdirectory\fR? +\fBtcltest::verbose \fR?\fIlevel\fR? + +\fBtcltest::test \fIname description optionList\fR +\fBtcltest::bytestring \fIstring\fR +\fBtcltest::normalizeMsg \fImsg\fR +\fBtcltest::normalizePath \fIpathVar\fR +\fBtcltest::workingDirectory \fR?\fIdir\fR? +.fi +.BE +.SH DESCRIPTION +.PP +The \fBtcltest\fR package provides several utility commands useful +in the construction of test suites for code instrumented to be +run by evaluation of Tcl commands. Notably the built-in commands +of the Tcl library itself are tested by a test suite using the +tcltest package. +.PP +All the commands provided by the \fBtcltest\fR package are defined +in and exported from the \fB::tcltest\fR namespace, as indicated in +the \fBSYNOPSIS\fR above. In the following sections, all commands +will be described by their simple names, in the interest of brevity. +.PP +The central command of \fBtcltest\fR is \fBtest\fR that defines +and runs a test. Testing with \fBtest\fR involves evaluation +of a Tcl script and comparing the result to an expected result, as +configured and controlled by a number of options. Several other +commands provided by \fBtcltest\fR govern the configuration of +\fBtest\fR and the collection of many \fBtest\fR commands into +test suites. +.PP +See \fBCREATING TEST SUITES WITH TCLTEST\fR below for an extended example +of how to use the commands of \fBtcltest\fR to produce test suites +for your Tcl-enabled code. +.SH COMMANDS +.TP +\fBtest\fR \fIname description\fR ?\fI\-option value ...\fR? +. +Defines and possibly runs a test with the name \fIname\fR and +description \fIdescription\fR. The name and description of a test +are used in messages reported by \fBtest\fR during the +test, as configured by the options of \fBtcltest\fR. The +remaining \fIoption value\fR arguments to \fBtest\fR +define the test, including the scripts to run, the conditions +under which to run them, the expected result, and the means +by which the expected and actual results should be compared. +See \fBTESTS\fR below for a complete description of the valid +options and how they define a test. The \fBtest\fR command +returns an empty string. +.TP +\fBtest\fR \fIname description\fR ?\fIconstraints\fR? \fIbody result\fR +. +This form of \fBtest\fR is provided to support test suites written +for version 1 of the \fBtcltest\fR package, and also a simpler +interface for a common usage. It is the same as +.QW "\fBtest\fR \fIname description\fB \-constraints \fIconstraints\fB \-body \fIbody\fB \-result \fIresult\fR" . +All other options to \fBtest\fR +take their default values. When \fIconstraints\fR is omitted, this +form of \fBtest\fR can be distinguished from the first because +all \fIoption\fRs begin with +.QW \- . +.TP +\fBloadTestedCommands\fR +. +Evaluates in the caller's context the script specified by +\fBconfigure \-load\fR or \fBconfigure \-loadfile\fR. +Returns the result of that script evaluation, including any error +raised by the script. Use this command and the related +configuration options to provide the commands to be tested to +the interpreter running the test suite. +.TP +\fBmakeFile\fR \fIcontents name\fR ?\fIdirectory\fR? +. +Creates a file named \fIname\fR relative to +directory \fIdirectory\fR and write \fIcontents\fR +to that file using the encoding \fBencoding system\fR. +If \fIcontents\fR does not end with a newline, a newline +will be appended so that the file named \fIname\fR +does end with a newline. Because the system encoding is used, +this command is only suitable for making text files. +The file will be removed by the next evaluation +of \fBcleanupTests\fR, unless it is removed by +\fBremoveFile\fR first. The default value of +\fIdirectory\fR is the directory \fBconfigure \-tmpdir\fR. +Returns the full path of the file created. Use this command +to create any text file required by a test with contents as needed. +.TP +\fBremoveFile\fR \fIname\fR ?\fIdirectory\fR? +. +Forces the file referenced by \fIname\fR to be removed. This file name +should be relative to \fIdirectory\fR. The default value of +\fIdirectory\fR is the directory \fBconfigure \-tmpdir\fR. +Returns an empty string. Use this command to delete files +created by \fBmakeFile\fR. +.TP +\fBmakeDirectory\fR \fIname\fR ?\fIdirectory\fR? +. +Creates a directory named \fIname\fR relative to directory \fIdirectory\fR. +The directory will be removed by the next evaluation of \fBcleanupTests\fR, +unless it is removed by \fBremoveDirectory\fR first. +The default value of \fIdirectory\fR is the directory +\fBconfigure \-tmpdir\fR. +Returns the full path of the directory created. Use this command +to create any directories that are required to exist by a test. +.TP +\fBremoveDirectory\fR \fIname\fR ?\fIdirectory\fR? +. +Forces the directory referenced by \fIname\fR to be removed. This +directory should be relative to \fIdirectory\fR. +The default value of \fIdirectory\fR is the directory +\fBconfigure \-tmpdir\fR. +Returns an empty string. Use this command to delete any directories +created by \fBmakeDirectory\fR. +.TP +\fBviewFile\fR \fIfile\fR ?\fIdirectory\fR? +. +Returns the contents of \fIfile\fR, except for any +final newline, just as \fBread \-nonewline\fR would return. +This file name should be relative to \fIdirectory\fR. +The default value of \fIdirectory\fR is the directory +\fBconfigure \-tmpdir\fR. Use this command +as a convenient way to turn the contents of a file generated +by a test into the result of that test for matching against +an expected result. The contents of the file are read using +the system encoding, so its usefulness is limited to text +files. +.TP +\fBcleanupTests\fR +. +Intended to clean up and summarize after several tests have been +run. Typically called once per test file, at the end of the file +after all tests have been completed. For best effectiveness, be +sure that the \fBcleanupTests\fR is evaluated even if an error +occurs earlier in the test file evaluation. +.RS +.PP +Prints statistics about the tests run and removes files that were +created by \fBmakeDirectory\fR and \fBmakeFile\fR since the +last \fBcleanupTests\fR. Names of files and directories +in the directory \fBconfigure \-tmpdir\fR created since +the last \fBcleanupTests\fR, but not created by +\fBmakeFile\fR or \fBmakeDirectory\fR are printed +to \fBoutputChannel\fR. This command also restores the original +shell environment, as described by the global \fBenv\fR +array. Returns an empty string. +.RE +.TP +\fBrunAllTests\fR +. +This is a master command meant to run an entire suite of tests, +spanning multiple files and/or directories, as governed by +the configurable options of \fBtcltest\fR. See \fBRUNNING ALL TESTS\fR +below for a complete description of the many variations possible +with \fBrunAllTests\fR. +.SS "CONFIGURATION COMMANDS" +.TP +\fBconfigure\fR +. +Returns the list of configurable options supported by \fBtcltest\fR. +See \fBCONFIGURABLE OPTIONS\fR below for the full list of options, +their valid values, and their effect on \fBtcltest\fR operations. +.TP +\fBconfigure \fIoption\fR +. +Returns the current value of the supported configurable option \fIoption\fR. +Raises an error if \fIoption\fR is not a supported configurable option. +.TP +\fBconfigure \fIoption value\fR ?\fI\-option value ...\fR? +. +Sets the value of each configurable option \fIoption\fR to the +corresponding value \fIvalue\fR, in order. Raises an error if +an \fIoption\fR is not a supported configurable option, or if +\fIvalue\fR is not a valid value for the corresponding \fIoption\fR, +or if a \fIvalue\fR is not provided. When an error is raised, the +operation of \fBconfigure\fR is halted, and subsequent \fIoption value\fR +arguments are not processed. +.RS +.PP +If the environment variable \fB::env(TCLTEST_OPTIONS)\fR exists when +the \fBtcltest\fR package is loaded (by \fBpackage require\fR \fBtcltest\fR) +then its value is taken as a list of arguments to pass to \fBconfigure\fR. +This allows the default values of the configuration options to be +set by the environment. +.RE +.TP +\fBcustomMatch \fImode script\fR +. +Registers \fImode\fR as a new legal value of the \fB\-match\fR option +to \fBtest\fR. When the \fB\-match \fImode\fR option is +passed to \fBtest\fR, the script \fIscript\fR will be evaluated +to compare the actual result of evaluating the body of the test +to the expected result. +To perform the match, the \fIscript\fR is completed with two additional +words, the expected result, and the actual result, and the completed script +is evaluated in the global namespace. +The completed script is expected to return a boolean value indicating +whether or not the results match. The built-in matching modes of +\fBtest\fR are \fBexact\fR, \fBglob\fR, and \fBregexp\fR. +.TP +\fBtestConstraint \fIconstraint\fR ?\fIboolean\fR? +. +Sets or returns the boolean value associated with the named \fIconstraint\fR. +See \fBTEST CONSTRAINTS\fR below for more information. +.TP +\fBinterpreter\fR ?\fIexecutableName\fR? +. +Sets or returns the name of the executable to be \fBexec\fRed by +\fBrunAllTests\fR to run each test file when +\fBconfigure \-singleproc\fR is false. +The default value for \fBinterpreter\fR is the name of the +currently running program as returned by \fBinfo nameofexecutable\fR. +.TP +\fBoutputChannel\fR ?\fIchannelID\fR? +. +Sets or returns the output channel ID. This defaults to \fBstdout\fR. +Any test that prints test related output should send +that output to \fBoutputChannel\fR rather than letting +that output default to \fBstdout\fR. +.TP +\fBerrorChannel\fR ?\fIchannelID\fR? +. +Sets or returns the error channel ID. This defaults to \fBstderr\fR. +Any test that prints error messages should send +that output to \fBerrorChannel\fR rather than printing +directly to \fBstderr\fR. +.SS "SHORTCUT CONFIGURATION COMMANDS" +.TP +\fBdebug\fR ?\fIlevel\fR? +. +Same as +.QW "\fBconfigure \-debug\fR ?\fIlevel\fR?" . +.TP +\fBerrorFile\fR ?\fIfilename\fR? +. +Same as +.QW "\fBconfigure \-errfile\fR ?\fIfilename\fR?" . +.TP +\fBlimitConstraints\fR ?\fIboolean\fR? +. +Same as +.QW "\fBconfigure \-limitconstraints\fR ?\fIboolean\fR?" . +.TP +\fBloadFile\fR ?\fIfilename\fR? +. +Same as +.QW "\fBconfigure \-loadfile\fR ?\fIfilename\fR?" . +.TP +\fBloadScript\fR ?\fIscript\fR? +. +Same as +.QW "\fBconfigure \-load\fR ?\fIscript\fR?" . +.TP +\fBmatch\fR ?\fIpatternList\fR? +. +Same as +.QW "\fBconfigure \-match\fR ?\fIpatternList\fR?" . +.TP +\fBmatchDirectories\fR ?\fIpatternList\fR? +. +Same as +.QW "\fBconfigure \-relateddir\fR ?\fIpatternList\fR?" . +.TP +\fBmatchFiles\fR ?\fIpatternList\fR? +. +Same as +.QW "\fBconfigure \-file\fR ?\fIpatternList\fR?" . +.TP +\fBoutputFile\fR ?\fIfilename\fR? +. +Same as +.QW "\fBconfigure \-outfile\fR ?\fIfilename\fR?" . +.TP +\fBpreserveCore\fR ?\fIlevel\fR? +. +Same as +.QW "\fBconfigure \-preservecore\fR ?\fIlevel\fR?" . +.TP +\fBsingleProcess\fR ?\fIboolean\fR? +. +Same as +.QW "\fBconfigure \-singleproc\fR ?\fIboolean\fR?" . +.TP +\fBskip\fR ?\fIpatternList\fR? +. +Same as +.QW "\fBconfigure \-skip\fR ?\fIpatternList\fR?" . +.TP +\fBskipDirectories\fR ?\fIpatternList\fR? +. +Same as +.QW "\fBconfigure \-asidefromdir\fR ?\fIpatternList\fR?" . +.TP +\fBskipFiles\fR ?\fIpatternList\fR? +. +Same as +.QW "\fBconfigure \-notfile\fR ?\fIpatternList\fR?" . +.TP +\fBtemporaryDirectory\fR ?\fIdirectory\fR? +. +Same as +.QW "\fBconfigure \-tmpdir\fR ?\fIdirectory\fR?" . +.TP +\fBtestsDirectory\fR ?\fIdirectory\fR? +. +Same as +.QW "\fBconfigure \-testdir\fR ?\fIdirectory\fR?" . +.TP +\fBverbose\fR ?\fIlevel\fR? +. +Same as +.QW "\fBconfigure \-verbose\fR ?\fIlevel\fR?" . +.SS "OTHER COMMANDS" +.PP +The remaining commands provided by \fBtcltest\fR have better +alternatives provided by \fBtcltest\fR or \fBTcl\fR itself. They +are retained to support existing test suites, but should be avoided +in new code. +.TP +\fBtest\fR \fIname description optionList\fR +. +This form of \fBtest\fR was provided to enable passing many +options spanning several lines to \fBtest\fR as a single +argument quoted by braces, rather than needing to backslash quote +the newlines between arguments to \fBtest\fR. The \fIoptionList\fR +argument is expected to be a list with an even number of elements +representing \fIoption\fR and \fIvalue\fR arguments to pass +to \fBtest\fR. However, these values are not passed directly, as +in the alternate forms of \fBswitch\fR. Instead, this form makes +an unfortunate attempt to overthrow Tcl's substitution rules by +performing substitutions on some of the list elements as an attempt to +implement a +.QW "do what I mean" +interpretation of a brace-enclosed +.QW block . +The result is nearly impossible to document clearly, and +for that reason this form is not recommended. See the examples in +\fBCREATING TEST SUITES WITH TCLTEST\fR below to see that this +form is really not necessary to avoid backslash-quoted newlines. +If you insist on using this form, examine +the source code of \fBtcltest\fR if you want to know the substitution +details, or just enclose the third through last argument +to \fBtest\fR in braces and hope for the best. +.TP +\fBworkingDirectory\fR ?\fIdirectoryName\fR? +. +Sets or returns the current working directory when the test suite is +running. The default value for workingDirectory is the directory in +which the test suite was launched. The Tcl commands \fBcd\fR and +\fBpwd\fR are sufficient replacements. +.TP +\fBnormalizeMsg \fImsg\fR +. +Returns the result of removing the +.QW extra +newlines from \fImsg\fR, where +.QW extra +is rather imprecise. Tcl offers plenty of string +processing commands to modify strings as you wish, and +\fBcustomMatch\fR allows flexible matching of actual and expected +results. +.TP +\fBnormalizePath \fIpathVar\fR +. +Resolves symlinks in a path, thus creating a path without internal +redirection. It is assumed that \fIpathVar\fR is absolute. +\fIpathVar\fR is modified in place. The Tcl command \fBfile normalize\fR +is a sufficient replacement. +.TP +\fBbytestring \fIstring\fR +. +Construct a string that consists of the requested sequence of bytes, +as opposed to a string of properly formed UTF-8 characters using the +value supplied in \fIstring\fR. This allows the tester to create +denormalized or improperly formed strings to pass to C procedures that +are supposed to accept strings with embedded NULL types and confirm +that a string result has a certain pattern of bytes. This is +exactly equivalent to the Tcl command \fBencoding convertfrom\fR +\fBidentity\fR. +.SH TESTS +.PP +The \fBtest\fR command is the heart of the \fBtcltest\fR package. +Its essential function is to evaluate a Tcl script and compare +the result with an expected result. The options of \fBtest\fR +define the test script, the environment in which to evaluate it, +the expected result, and how the compare the actual result to +the expected result. Some configuration options of \fBtcltest\fR +also influence how \fBtest\fR operates. +.PP +The valid options for \fBtest\fR are summarized: +.PP +.CS +\fBtest\fR \fIname\fR \fIdescription\fR + ?\fB\-constraints \fIkeywordList|expression\fR? + ?\fB\-setup \fIsetupScript\fR? + ?\fB\-body \fItestScript\fR? + ?\fB\-cleanup \fIcleanupScript\fR? + ?\fB\-result \fIexpectedAnswer\fR? + ?\fB\-output \fIexpectedOutput\fR? + ?\fB\-errorOutput \fIexpectedError\fR? + ?\fB\-returnCodes \fIcodeList\fR? + ?\fB\-match \fImode\fR? +.CE +.PP +The \fIname\fR may be any string. It is conventional to choose +a \fIname\fR according to the pattern: +.PP +.CS +\fItarget\fR-\fImajorNum\fR.\fIminorNum\fR +.CE +.PP +For white-box (regression) tests, the target should be the name of the +C function or Tcl procedure being tested. For black-box tests, the +target should be the name of the feature being tested. Some conventions +call for the names of black-box tests to have the suffix \fB_bb\fR. +Related tests should share a major number. As a test suite evolves, +it is best to have the same test name continue to correspond to the +same test, so that it remains meaningful to say things like +.QW "Test foo-1.3 passed in all releases up to 3.4, but began failing in release 3.5." +.PP +During evaluation of \fBtest\fR, the \fIname\fR will be compared +to the lists of string matching patterns returned by +\fBconfigure \-match\fR, and \fBconfigure \-skip\fR. The test +will be run only if \fIname\fR matches any of the patterns from +\fBconfigure \-match\fR and matches none of the patterns +from \fBconfigure \-skip\fR. +.PP +The \fIdescription\fR should be a short textual description of the +test. The \fIdescription\fR is included in output produced by the +test, typically test failure messages. Good \fIdescription\fR values +should briefly explain the purpose of the test to users of a test suite. +The name of a Tcl or C function being tested should be included in the +description for regression tests. If the test case exists to reproduce +a bug, include the bug ID in the description. +.PP +Valid attributes and associated values are: +.TP +\fB\-constraints \fIkeywordList\fR|\fIexpression\fR +. +The optional \fB\-constraints\fR attribute can be list of one or more +keywords or an expression. If the \fB\-constraints\fR value is a list of +keywords, each of these keywords should be the name of a constraint +defined by a call to \fBtestConstraint\fR. If any of the listed +constraints is false or does not exist, the test is skipped. If the +\fB\-constraints\fR value is an expression, that expression +is evaluated. If the expression evaluates to true, then the test is run. +Note that the expression form of \fB\-constraints\fR may interfere with the +operation of \fBconfigure \-constraints\fR and +\fBconfigure \-limitconstraints\fR, and is not recommended. +Appropriate constraints should be added to any tests that should +not always be run. That is, conditional evaluation of a test +should be accomplished by the \fB\-constraints\fR option, not by +conditional evaluation of \fBtest\fR. In that way, the same +number of tests are always reported by the test suite, though +the number skipped may change based on the testing environment. +The default value is an empty list. +See \fBTEST CONSTRAINTS\fR below for a list of built-in constraints +and information on how to add your own constraints. +.TP +\fB\-setup \fIscript\fR +. +The optional \fB\-setup\fR attribute indicates a \fIscript\fR that will be run +before the script indicated by the \fB\-body\fR attribute. If evaluation +of \fIscript\fR raises an error, the test will fail. The default value +is an empty script. +.TP +\fB\-body \fIscript\fR +. +The \fB\-body\fR attribute indicates the \fIscript\fR to run to carry out the +test, which must return a result that can be checked for correctness. +If evaluation of \fIscript\fR raises an error, the test will fail +(unless the \fB\-returnCodes\fR option is used to state that an error +is expected). +The default value is an empty script. +.TP +\fB\-cleanup \fIscript\fR +. +The optional \fB\-cleanup\fR attribute indicates a \fIscript\fR that will be +run after the script indicated by the \fB\-body\fR attribute. +If evaluation of \fIscript\fR raises an error, the test will fail. +The default value is an empty script. +.TP +\fB\-match \fImode\fR +. +The \fB\-match\fR attribute determines how expected answers supplied by +\fB\-result\fR, \fB\-output\fR, and \fB\-errorOutput\fR are compared. Valid +values for \fImode\fR are \fBregexp\fR, \fBglob\fR, \fBexact\fR, and +any value registered by a prior call to \fBcustomMatch\fR. The default +value is \fBexact\fR. +.TP +\fB\-result \fIexpectedValue\fR +. +The \fB\-result\fR attribute supplies the \fIexpectedValue\fR against which +the return value from script will be compared. The default value is +an empty string. +.TP +\fB\-output \fIexpectedValue\fR +. +The \fB\-output\fR attribute supplies the \fIexpectedValue\fR against which +any output sent to \fBstdout\fR or \fBoutputChannel\fR during evaluation +of the script(s) will be compared. Note that only output printed using +the global \fBputs\fR command is used for comparison. If \fB\-output\fR is +not specified, output sent to \fBstdout\fR and \fBoutputChannel\fR is not +processed for comparison. +.TP +\fB\-errorOutput \fIexpectedValue\fR +. +The \fB\-errorOutput\fR attribute supplies the \fIexpectedValue\fR against +which any output sent to \fBstderr\fR or \fBerrorChannel\fR during +evaluation of the script(s) will be compared. Note that only output +printed using the global \fBputs\fR command is used for comparison. If +\fB\-errorOutput\fR is not specified, output sent to \fBstderr\fR and +\fBerrorChannel\fR is not processed for comparison. +.TP +\fB\-returnCodes \fIexpectedCodeList\fR +. +The optional \fB\-returnCodes\fR attribute supplies \fIexpectedCodeList\fR, +a list of return codes that may be accepted from evaluation of the +\fB\-body\fR script. If evaluation of the \fB\-body\fR script returns +a code not in the \fIexpectedCodeList\fR, the test fails. All +return codes known to \fBreturn\fR, in both numeric and symbolic +form, including extended return codes, are acceptable elements in +the \fIexpectedCodeList\fR. Default value is +.QW "\fBok return\fR" . +.PP +To pass, a test must successfully evaluate its \fB\-setup\fR, \fB\-body\fR, +and \fB\-cleanup\fR scripts. The return code of the \fB\-body\fR script and +its result must match expected values, and if specified, output and error +data from the test must match expected \fB\-output\fR and \fB\-errorOutput\fR +values. If any of these conditions are not met, then the test fails. +Note that all scripts are evaluated in the context of the caller +of \fBtest\fR. +.PP +As long as \fBtest\fR is called with valid syntax and legal +values for all attributes, it will not raise an error. Test +failures are instead reported as output written to \fBoutputChannel\fR. +In default operation, a successful test produces no output. The output +messages produced by \fBtest\fR are controlled by the +\fBconfigure \-verbose\fR option as described in \fBCONFIGURABLE OPTIONS\fR +below. Any output produced by the test scripts themselves should be +produced using \fBputs\fR to \fBoutputChannel\fR or +\fBerrorChannel\fR, so that users of the test suite may +easily capture output with the \fBconfigure \-outfile\fR and +\fBconfigure \-errfile\fR options, and so that the \fB\-output\fR +and \fB\-errorOutput\fR attributes work properly. +.SS "TEST CONSTRAINTS" +.PP +Constraints are used to determine whether or not a test should be skipped. +Each constraint has a name, which may be any string, and a boolean +value. Each \fBtest\fR has a \fB\-constraints\fR value which is a +list of constraint names. There are two modes of constraint control. +Most frequently, the default mode is used, indicated by a setting +of \fBconfigure \-limitconstraints\fR to false. The test will run +only if all constraints in the list are true-valued. Thus, +the \fB\-constraints\fR option of \fBtest\fR is a convenient, symbolic +way to define any conditions required for the test to be possible or +meaningful. For example, a \fBtest\fR with \fB\-constraints unix\fR +will only be run if the constraint \fBunix\fR is true, which indicates +the test suite is being run on a Unix platform. +.PP +Each \fBtest\fR should include whatever \fB\-constraints\fR are +required to constrain it to run only where appropriate. Several +constraints are pre-defined in the \fBtcltest\fR package, listed +below. The registration of user-defined constraints is performed +by the \fBtestConstraint\fR command. User-defined constraints +may appear within a test file, or within the script specified +by the \fBconfigure \-load\fR or \fBconfigure \-loadfile\fR +options. +.PP +The following is a list of constraints pre-defined by the +\fBtcltest\fR package itself: +.TP +\fIsingleTestInterp\fR +. +This test can only be run if all test files are sourced into a single +interpreter. +.TP +\fIunix\fR +. +This test can only be run on any Unix platform. +.TP +\fIwin\fR +. +This test can only be run on any Windows platform. +.TP +\fInt\fR +. +This test can only be run on any Windows NT platform. +.TP +\fImac\fR +. +This test can only be run on any Mac platform. +.TP +\fIunixOrWin\fR +. +This test can only be run on a Unix or Windows platform. +.TP +\fImacOrWin\fR +. +This test can only be run on a Mac or Windows platform. +.TP +\fImacOrUnix\fR +. +This test can only be run on a Mac or Unix platform. +.TP +\fItempNotWin\fR +. +This test can not be run on Windows. This flag is used to temporarily +disable a test. +.TP +\fItempNotMac\fR +. +This test can not be run on a Mac. This flag is used +to temporarily disable a test. +.TP +\fIunixCrash\fR +. +This test crashes if it is run on Unix. This flag is used to temporarily +disable a test. +.TP +\fIwinCrash\fR +. +This test crashes if it is run on Windows. This flag is used to temporarily +disable a test. +.TP +\fImacCrash\fR +. +This test crashes if it is run on a Mac. This flag is used to temporarily +disable a test. +.TP +\fIemptyTest\fR +. +This test is empty, and so not worth running, but it remains as a +place-holder for a test to be written in the future. This constraint +has value false to cause tests to be skipped unless the user specifies +otherwise. +.TP +\fIknownBug\fR +. +This test is known to fail and the bug is not yet fixed. This constraint +has value false to cause tests to be skipped unless the user specifies +otherwise. +.TP +\fInonPortable\fR +. +This test can only be run in some known development environment. +Some tests are inherently non-portable because they depend on things +like word length, file system configuration, window manager, etc. +This constraint has value false to cause tests to be skipped unless +the user specifies otherwise. +.TP +\fIuserInteraction\fR +. +This test requires interaction from the user. This constraint has +value false to causes tests to be skipped unless the user specifies +otherwise. +.TP +\fIinteractive\fR +. +This test can only be run in if the interpreter is in interactive mode +(when the global tcl_interactive variable is set to 1). +.TP +\fInonBlockFiles\fR +. +This test can only be run if platform supports setting files into +nonblocking mode. +.TP +\fIasyncPipeClose\fR +. +This test can only be run if platform supports async flush and async close +on a pipe. +.TP +\fIunixExecs\fR +. +This test can only be run if this machine has Unix-style commands +\fBcat\fR, \fBecho\fR, \fBsh\fR, \fBwc\fR, \fBrm\fR, \fBsleep\fR, +\fBfgrep\fR, \fBps\fR, \fBchmod\fR, and \fBmkdir\fR available. +.TP +\fIhasIsoLocale\fR +. +This test can only be run if can switch to an ISO locale. +.TP +\fIroot\fR +. +This test can only run if Unix user is root. +.TP +\fInotRoot\fR +. +This test can only run if Unix user is not root. +.TP +\fIeformat\fR +. +This test can only run if app has a working version of sprintf with respect +to the +.QW e +format of floating-point numbers. +.TP +\fIstdio\fR +. +This test can only be run if \fBinterpreter\fR can be \fBopen\fRed +as a pipe. +.PP +The alternative mode of constraint control is enabled by setting +\fBconfigure \-limitconstraints\fR to true. With that configuration +setting, all existing constraints other than those in the constraint +list returned by \fBconfigure \-constraints\fR are set to false. +When the value of \fBconfigure \-constraints\fR +is set, all those constraints are set to true. The effect is that +when both options \fBconfigure \-constraints\fR and +\fBconfigure \-limitconstraints\fR are in use, only those tests including +only constraints from the \fBconfigure \-constraints\fR list +are run; all others are skipped. For example, one might set +up a configuration with +.PP +.CS +\fBconfigure\fR -constraints knownBug \e + -limitconstraints true \e + -verbose pass +.CE +.PP +to run exactly those tests that exercise known bugs, and discover +whether any of them pass, indicating the bug had been fixed. +.SS "RUNNING ALL TESTS" +.PP +The single command \fBrunAllTests\fR is evaluated to run an entire +test suite, spanning many files and directories. The configuration +options of \fBtcltest\fR control the precise operations. The +\fBrunAllTests\fR command begins by printing a summary of its +configuration to \fBoutputChannel\fR. +.PP +Test files to be evaluated are sought in the directory +\fBconfigure \-testdir\fR. The list of files in that directory +that match any of the patterns in \fBconfigure \-file\fR and +match none of the patterns in \fBconfigure \-notfile\fR is generated +and sorted. Then each file will be evaluated in turn. If +\fBconfigure \-singleproc\fR is true, then each file will +be \fBsource\fRd in the caller's context. If it is false, +then a copy of \fBinterpreter\fR will be \fBexec\fR'd to +evaluate each file. The multi-process operation is useful +when testing can cause errors so severe that a process +terminates. Although such an error may terminate a child +process evaluating one file, the master process can continue +with the rest of the test suite. In multi-process operation, +the configuration of \fBtcltest\fR in the master process is +passed to the child processes as command line arguments, +with the exception of \fBconfigure \-outfile\fR. The +\fBrunAllTests\fR command in the +master process collects all output from the child processes +and collates their results into one master report. Any +reports of individual test failures, or messages requested +by a \fBconfigure \-verbose\fR setting are passed directly +on to \fBoutputChannel\fR by the master process. +.PP +After evaluating all selected test files, a summary of the +results is printed to \fBoutputChannel\fR. The summary +includes the total number of \fBtest\fRs evaluated, broken +down into those skipped, those passed, and those failed. +The summary also notes the number of files evaluated, and the names +of any files with failing tests or errors. A list of +the constraints that caused tests to be skipped, and the +number of tests skipped for each is also printed. Also, +messages are printed if it appears that evaluation of +a test file has caused any temporary files to be left +behind in \fBconfigure \-tmpdir\fR. +.PP +Having completed and summarized all selected test files, +\fBrunAllTests\fR then recursively acts on subdirectories +of \fBconfigure \-testdir\fR. All subdirectories that +match any of the patterns in \fBconfigure \-relateddir\fR +and do not match any of the patterns in +\fBconfigure \-asidefromdir\fR are examined. If +a file named \fBall.tcl\fR is found in such a directory, +it will be \fBsource\fRd in the caller's context. +Whether or not an examined directory contains an +\fBall.tcl\fR file, its subdirectories are also scanned +against the \fBconfigure \-relateddir\fR and +\fBconfigure \-asidefromdir\fR patterns. In this way, +many directories in a directory tree can have all their +test files evaluated by a single \fBrunAllTests\fR +command. +.SH "CONFIGURABLE OPTIONS" +The \fBconfigure\fR command is used to set and query the configurable +options of \fBtcltest\fR. The valid options are: +.TP +\fB\-singleproc \fIboolean\fR +. +Controls whether or not \fBrunAllTests\fR spawns a child process for +each test file. No spawning when \fIboolean\fR is true. Default +value is false. +.TP +\fB\-debug \fIlevel\fR +. +Sets the debug level to \fIlevel\fR, an integer value indicating how +much debugging information should be printed to \fBstdout\fR. Note that +debug messages always go to \fBstdout\fR, independent of the value of +\fBconfigure \-outfile\fR. Default value is 0. Levels are defined as: +.RS +.IP 0 4 +Do not display any debug information. +.IP 1 +Display information regarding whether a test is skipped because it +does not match any of the tests that were specified using by +\fBconfigure \-match\fR (userSpecifiedNonMatch) or matches any of +the tests specified by \fBconfigure \-skip\fR (userSpecifiedSkip). Also +print warnings about possible lack of cleanup or balance in test files. +Also print warnings about any re-use of test names. +.IP 2 +Display the flag array parsed by the command line processor, the +contents of the global \fBenv\fR array, and all user-defined variables +that exist in the current namespace as they are used. +.IP 3 +Display information regarding what individual procs in the test +harness are doing. +.RE +.TP +\fB\-verbose \fIlevel\fR +. +Sets the type of output verbosity desired to \fIlevel\fR, +a list of zero or more of the elements \fBbody\fR, \fBpass\fR, +\fBskip\fR, \fBstart\fR, \fBerror\fR, \fBline\fR, \fBmsec\fR and \fBusec\fR. +Default value is +.QW "\fBbody error\fR" . +Levels are defined as: +.RS +.IP "body (\fBb\fR)" +Display the body of failed tests +.IP "pass (\fBp\fR)" +Print output when a test passes +.IP "skip (\fBs\fR)" +Print output when a test is skipped +.IP "start (\fBt\fR)" +Print output whenever a test starts +.IP "error (\fBe\fR)" +Print errorInfo and errorCode, if they exist, when a test return code +does not match its expected return code +.IP "line (\fBl\fR)" +Print source file line information of failed tests +.IP "msec (\fBm\fR)" +Print each test's execution time in milliseconds +.IP "usec (\fBu\fR)" +Print each test's execution time in microseconds +.PP +Note that the \fBmsec\fR and \fBusec\fR verbosity levels are provided as +indicative measures only. They do not tackle the problem of repeatibility which +should be considered in performance tests or benchmarks. To use these verbosity +levels to thoroughly track performance degradations, consider wrapping your +test bodies with \fBtime\fR commands. +.PP +The single letter abbreviations noted above are also recognized +so that +.QW "\fBconfigure \-verbose pt\fR" +is the same as +.QW "\fBconfigure \-verbose {pass start}\fR" . +.RE +.TP +\fB\-preservecore \fIlevel\fR +. +Sets the core preservation level to \fIlevel\fR. This level +determines how stringent checks for core files are. Default +value is 0. Levels are defined as: +.RS +.IP 0 +No checking \(em do not check for core files at the end of each test +command, but do check for them in \fBrunAllTests\fR after all +test files have been evaluated. +.IP 1 +Also check for core files at the end of each \fBtest\fR command. +.IP 2 +Check for core files at all times described above, and save a +copy of each core file produced in \fBconfigure \-tmpdir\fR. +.RE +.TP +\fB\-limitconstraints \fIboolean\fR +. +Sets the mode by which \fBtest\fR honors constraints as described +in \fBTESTS\fR above. Default value is false. +.TP +\fB\-constraints \fIlist\fR +. +Sets all the constraints in \fIlist\fR to true. Also used in +combination with \fBconfigure \-limitconstraints true\fR to control an +alternative constraint mode as described in \fBTESTS\fR above. +Default value is an empty list. +.TP +\fB\-tmpdir \fIdirectory\fR +. +Sets the temporary directory to be used by \fBmakeFile\fR, +\fBmakeDirectory\fR, \fBviewFile\fR, \fBremoveFile\fR, +and \fBremoveDirectory\fR as the default directory where +temporary files and directories created by test files should +be created. Default value is \fBworkingDirectory\fR. +.TP +\fB\-testdir \fIdirectory\fR +. +Sets the directory searched by \fBrunAllTests\fR for test files +and subdirectories. Default value is \fBworkingDirectory\fR. +.TP +\fB\-file \fIpatternList\fR +. +Sets the list of patterns used by \fBrunAllTests\fR to determine +what test files to evaluate. Default value is +.QW \fB*.test\fR . +.TP +\fB\-notfile \fIpatternList\fR +. +Sets the list of patterns used by \fBrunAllTests\fR to determine +what test files to skip. Default value is +.QW \fBl.*.test\fR , +so that any SCCS lock files are skipped. +.TP +\fB\-relateddir \fIpatternList\fR +. +Sets the list of patterns used by \fBrunAllTests\fR to determine +what subdirectories to search for an \fBall.tcl\fR file. Default +value is +.QW \fB*\fR . +.TP +\fB\-asidefromdir \fIpatternList\fR +. +Sets the list of patterns used by \fBrunAllTests\fR to determine +what subdirectories to skip when searching for an \fBall.tcl\fR file. +Default value is an empty list. +.TP +\fB\-match \fIpatternList\fR +. +Set the list of patterns used by \fBtest\fR to determine whether +a test should be run. Default value is +.QW \fB*\fR . +.TP +\fB\-skip \fIpatternList\fR +. +Set the list of patterns used by \fBtest\fR to determine whether +a test should be skipped. Default value is an empty list. +.TP +\fB\-load \fIscript\fR +. +Sets a script to be evaluated by \fBloadTestedCommands\fR. +Default value is an empty script. +.TP +\fB\-loadfile \fIfilename\fR +. +Sets the filename from which to read a script to be evaluated +by \fBloadTestedCommands\fR. This is an alternative to +\fB\-load\fR. They cannot be used together. +.TP +\fB\-outfile \fIfilename\fR +. +Sets the file to which all output produced by tcltest should be +written. A file named \fIfilename\fR will be \fBopen\fRed for writing, +and the resulting channel will be set as the value of \fBoutputChannel\fR. +.TP +\fB\-errfile \fIfilename\fR +. +Sets the file to which all error output produced by tcltest +should be written. A file named \fIfilename\fR will be \fBopen\fRed +for writing, and the resulting channel will be set as the value +of \fBerrorChannel\fR. +.SH "CREATING TEST SUITES WITH TCLTEST" +.PP +The fundamental element of a test suite is the individual \fBtest\fR +command. We begin with several examples. +.IP [1] +Test of a script that returns normally. +.RS +.PP +.CS +\fBtest\fR example-1.0 {normal return} { + format %s value +} value +.CE +.RE +.IP [2] +Test of a script that requires context setup and cleanup. Note the +bracing and indenting style that avoids any need for line continuation. +.RS +.PP +.CS +\fBtest\fR example-1.1 {test file existence} -setup { + set file [makeFile {} test] +} -body { + file exists $file +} -cleanup { + removeFile test +} -result 1 +.CE +.RE +.IP [3] +Test of a script that raises an error. +.RS +.PP +.CS +\fBtest\fR example-1.2 {error return} -body { + error message +} -returnCodes error -result message +.CE +.RE +.IP [4] +Test with a constraint. +.RS +.PP +.CS +\fBtest\fR example-1.3 {user owns created files} -constraints { + unix +} -setup { + set file [makeFile {} test] +} -body { + file attributes $file -owner +} -cleanup { + removeFile test +} -result $::tcl_platform(user) +.CE +.RE +.PP +At the next higher layer of organization, several \fBtest\fR commands +are gathered together into a single test file. Test files should have +names with the +.QW \fB.test\fR +extension, because that is the default pattern +used by \fBrunAllTests\fR to find test files. It is a good rule of +thumb to have one test file for each source code file of your project. +It is good practice to edit the test file and the source code file +together, keeping tests synchronized with code changes. +.PP +Most of the code in the test file should be the \fBtest\fR commands. +Use constraints to skip tests, rather than conditional evaluation +of \fBtest\fR. +.IP [5] +Recommended system for writing conditional tests, using constraints to +guard: +.RS +.PP +.CS +\fBtestConstraint\fR X [expr $myRequirement] +\fBtest\fR goodConditionalTest {} X { + # body +} result +.CE +.RE +.IP [6] +Discouraged system for writing conditional tests, using \fBif\fR to +guard: +.RS +.PP +.CS +if $myRequirement { + \fBtest\fR badConditionalTest {} { + #body + } result +} +.CE +.RE +.PP +Use the \fB\-setup\fR and \fB\-cleanup\fR options to establish and release +all context requirements of the test body. Do not make tests depend on +prior tests in the file. Those prior tests might be skipped. If several +consecutive tests require the same context, the appropriate setup +and cleanup scripts may be stored in variable for passing to each tests +\fB\-setup\fR and \fB\-cleanup\fR options. This is a better solution than +performing setup outside of \fBtest\fR commands, because the setup will +only be done if necessary, and any errors during setup will be reported, +and not cause the test file to abort. +.PP +A test file should be able to be combined with other test files and not +interfere with them, even when \fBconfigure \-singleproc 1\fR causes +all files to be evaluated in a common interpreter. A simple way to +achieve this is to have your tests define all their commands and variables +in a namespace that is deleted when the test file evaluation is complete. +A good namespace to use is a child namespace \fBtest\fR of the namespace +of the module you are testing. +.PP +A test file should also be able to be evaluated directly as a script, +not depending on being called by a master \fBrunAllTests\fR. This +means that each test file should process command line arguments to give +the tester all the configuration control that \fBtcltest\fR provides. +.PP +After all \fBtest\fRs in a test file, the command \fBcleanupTests\fR +should be called. +.IP [7] +Here is a sketch of a sample test file illustrating those points: +.RS +.PP +.CS +package require tcltest 2.2 +eval \fB::tcltest::configure\fR $argv +package require example +namespace eval ::example::test { + namespace import ::tcltest::* + \fBtestConstraint\fR X [expr {...}] + variable SETUP {#common setup code} + variable CLEANUP {#common cleanup code} + \fBtest\fR example-1 {} -setup $SETUP -body { + # First test + } -cleanup $CLEANUP -result {...} + \fBtest\fR example-2 {} -constraints X -setup $SETUP -body { + # Second test; constrained + } -cleanup $CLEANUP -result {...} + \fBtest\fR example-3 {} { + # Third test; no context required + } {...} + \fBcleanupTests\fR +} +namespace delete ::example::test +.CE +.RE +.PP +The next level of organization is a full test suite, made up of several +test files. One script is used to control the entire suite. The +basic function of this script is to call \fBrunAllTests\fR after +doing any necessary setup. This script is usually named \fBall.tcl\fR +because that is the default name used by \fBrunAllTests\fR when combining +multiple test suites into one testing run. +.IP [8] +Here is a sketch of a sample test suite master script: +.RS +.PP +.CS +package require Tcl 8.4 +package require tcltest 2.2 +package require example +\fB::tcltest::configure\fR -testdir \e + [file dirname [file normalize [info script]]] +eval \fB::tcltest::configure\fR $argv +\fB::tcltest::runAllTests\fR +.CE +.RE +.SH COMPATIBILITY +.PP +A number of commands and variables in the \fB::tcltest\fR namespace +provided by earlier releases of \fBtcltest\fR have not been documented +here. They are no longer part of the supported public interface of +\fBtcltest\fR and should not be used in new test suites. However, +to continue to support existing test suites written to the older +interface specifications, many of those deprecated commands and +variables still work as before. For example, in many circumstances, +\fBconfigure\fR will be automatically called shortly after +\fBpackage require\fR \fBtcltest 2.1\fR succeeds with arguments +from the variable \fB::argv\fR. This is to support test suites +that depend on the old behavior that \fBtcltest\fR was automatically +configured from command line arguments. New test files should not +depend on this, but should explicitly include +.PP +.CS +eval \fB::tcltest::configure\fR $::argv +.CE +.PP +or +.PP +.CS +\fB::tcltest::configure\fR {*}$::argv +.CE +.PP +to establish a configuration from command line arguments. +.SH "KNOWN ISSUES" +There are two known issues related to nested evaluations of \fBtest\fR. +The first issue relates to the stack level in which test scripts are +executed. Tests nested within other tests may be executed at the same +stack level as the outermost test. For example, in the following code: +.PP +.CS +\fBtest\fR level-1.1 {level 1} { + -body { + \fBtest\fR level-2.1 {level 2} { + } + } +} +.CE +.PP +any script executed in level-2.1 may be executed at the same stack +level as the script defined for level-1.1. +.PP +In addition, while two \fBtest\fRs have been run, results will only +be reported by \fBcleanupTests\fR for tests at the same level as +test level-1.1. However, test results for all tests run prior to +level-1.1 will be available when test level-2.1 runs. What this +means is that if you try to access the test results for test level-2.1, +it will may say that +.QW m +tests have run, +.QW n +tests have been skipped, +.QW o +tests have passed and +.QW p +tests have failed, where +.QW m , +.QW n , +.QW o , +and +.QW p +refer to tests that were run at the same test level as test level-1.1. +.PP +Implementation of output and error comparison in the test command +depends on usage of \fBputs\fR in your application code. Output is +intercepted by redefining the global \fBputs\fR command while the defined test +script is being run. Errors thrown by C procedures or printed +directly from C applications will not be caught by the \fBtest\fR command. +Therefore, usage of the \fB\-output\fR and \fB\-errorOutput\fR +options to \fBtest\fR is useful only for pure Tcl applications +that use \fBputs\fR to produce output. +.SH KEYWORDS +test, test harness, test suite +.\" Local Variables: +.\" mode: nroff +.\" End: |