tests/README

[Alexandre Duret-Lutz]

I'd like to install the following text as tests/README.  Any comment ?
Anything else we should mention ?


                            The Automake test suite


User interface
==============


Running all tests
-----------------

  make 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 script.  In a non-VPATH build you can run them
  directly, they will be verbose.

  Otherwise, you can invoke make as follows, just replace the list
  of tests by those you want to check.

    env VERBOSE=x TESTS='first.test second.test ...' make -e check


Reporting failures
------------------

  Send verbose output for failed tests to <address@hidden>, 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 is 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.

  Include ./defs (see other tests).

  Use `set -e' to catch failures you might not have thought of.

  ./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.

  Use $ACLOCAL, $AUTOMAKE, $AUTOCONF, $AUTOUPDATE, $AUTOHEADER,
  $PERL, $MAKE, $EGREP, and $FGREP, instead of the corresponding
  commands.

  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.

  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 fails 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'.

  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 <address@hidden>.


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 2>stderr && exit 1
     cat stderr
     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 SHELL=/bin/sh all

  Do not send a test case without signing a copyright disclaimer.
  See http://sources.redhat.com/automake/contribute.html or
  ask <address@hidden> for details.

-- 
Alexandre Duret-Lutz