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cmdtest/doc/cmdtest.txt
Johan Holmberg bbf4b92b1d introduce 'import_directory'
2016-04-14 19:56:38 +02:00

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Cmdtest User Guide
==================
.. contents::
Introduction
------------
Cmdtest is a `unit testing`_ framework for testing commands (executable programs).
In other test frameworks the "unit" tested is often a class (e.g. in Java's JUnit_ or
Ruby's `Test::Unit`_), but in Cmdtest the unit is an executable. Apart from this
difference Cmdtest borrows many ideas from the other frameworks.
The program ``cmdtest`` runs the tests and reports the success or failure
in different ways, e.g. by writing to standard output or producing an XML-file on
Ant/JUnit format. The testcases are written in Ruby code. Assertions can
be made about the side effects performed by a command:
- the exit status
- the content of standard output
- the content of standard error
- newly created/removed/changed files, or other changes to the
filesystem
A simple example
----------------
::
$ cat CMDTEST_example.rb
class CMDTEST_example < Cmdtest::Testcase
def test_hello_world
cmd "echo hello" do
stdout_equal "hello\n"
end
cmd "echo world" do
stdout_equal "world\n"
end
end
def test_touch_and_exit
cmd "touch foo.txt ; exit 7" do
created_files "foo.txt"
exit_status 7
end
end
end
This example shows the basic structure of a testcase file. First we make a
subclass of ``Cmdtest::Testcase``. All methods of the new class with a
name like ``test_*`` will be considered testcases.
Inside a method we can call the ``cmd`` method. It will
execute the command given as argument and then check the assertions
given in the do-block. When ``cmdtest`` is run, it will find all
``CMDTEST_*.rb`` files in the current directory and run the tests in
the files (see the `Invoking cmdtest`_ section for more details
on ``CMDTEST_*.rb`` file selection).
The output looks like::
$ cmdtest
### ======================================== CMDTEST_example.rb
### ---------------------------------------- CMDTEST_example
### ........................................ test_hello_world
### echo hello
### echo world
### ........................................ test_touch_and_exit
### touch foo.txt ; exit 7
### 1 test classes, 2 test methods, 3 commands, 0 errors, 0 fatals.
If we change "7" to "8", "foo" to "bar" and "world" to "WORLD" in
the example, we get the following errors::
$ cmdtest
### ======================================== CMDTEST_example.rb
### ---------------------------------------- CMDTEST_example
### ........................................ test_hello_world
### echo hello
### echo WORLD
--- ERROR: wrong stdout
--- actual: WORLD
--- expect: world
### ........................................ test_touch_and_exit
### touch bar.txt ; exit 8
--- ERROR: created files
--- actual: ["bar.txt"]
--- expect: ["foo.txt"]
--- ERROR: expected 7 exit status, got 8
--- 1 test classes, 2 test methods, 3 commands, 2 errors, 0 fatals.
The following sections will describe in more detail what can be done
with Cmdtest. See also the `examples directory <../examples>`_ of the Cmdtest project,
where some larger examples of Cmdtest usage can be found.
Reporting format
----------------
Normally Cmdtest writes lines on standard output to show the progress of the
testing. As long as no error occurs, the lines will be prefixed by
"###". Error messages will instead have a "---" prefix. This makes it easy
to spot errors just by looking in the left margin. Each call to ``cmd``
will give one line on standard output. Normally the command executed will be
shown (after the "###" prefix). But one can also replace the string
written by calling the ``comment`` method inside the do-block of a ``cmd``
call.
When an error occurs in a test-method, the rest of the method will be
skipped. But all errors occurring at the same command will be reported.
Cmdtest can also be directed to write an XML file on the same format as
that used by Ant/JUnit. This makes it possible to use Cmdtest together
with `continuous integration`_ servers like Jenkins_.
The exit status of ``cmdtest`` will be non-zero if some errors occurred,
otherwise zero. If errors should not affect exit code, the
command line option ``--no-exit-code`` can be used.
Structure of a test-file
------------------------
Each test-file can contain one or more subclasses to
``Cmdtest::Testcase``. The methods that are special are:
``test_*``
These are the methods that will run tests.
For each method, a newly created object of the class will be used.
``setup``
This method is called before each ``test_*`` method is called.
It gives the user a chance to initialize the "environment" of all
the ``test_*`` methods of the class. It can be seen as a "user level"
constructor.
``teardown``
This method is called after each ``test_*`` method was called. It
gives the user a chance to cleanup the "environment" of all the
``test_*`` methods of the class, e.g. release some resource acquired
by the ``setup`` method. It can be seen as a "user level" destructor.
Structure of a test-method
--------------------------
Each test-method (named ``test_*``) should contain a number of calls to
the ``cmd`` method. Inside the do-block of the ``cmd`` calls, a number of
assertions can be made about the outcome of the command. The simplest
possible call looks like::
cmd "true" do
end
Here no explicit assertions have been given. In that case Cmdtest
applies some implicit assertions. The code above is equivalent to the
following more explicit one::
cmd "true" do
exit_zero
stdout_equal ""
stderr_equal ""
created_files []
changed_files []
removed_files []
end
The idea is that all differences in behaviour from the trivial ``true``
command should be described as an assertion in the do-block. The list
of possible assertions includes: ``exit_zero``, ``exit_nonzero``,
``exit_status``, ``created_files``, ``changed_files``, ``removed_files``,
``written_files``, ``affected_files``, ``file_equal``, ``stdout_equal``
and ``stderr_equal``.
In addition to the assertions there are other helper-functions to set
up the "environment" for the commands and assertions. An example is
the creation of files::
...
create_file "foo.txt", "abc\ndef\n"
cmd "cat -n foo.txt" do
stdout_equal [
" 1\tabc",
" 2\tdef",
]
end
...
The list of such helper functions includes:
``create_file``, ``touch_file``, ``import_file`` , ``import_directory`` and ``ignore_file``.
Beside these methods the test can of course also contain arbitrary Ruby-code.
Work directory
--------------
All tests are performed in a "clean" temporary directory, here called the "work directory".
When the ``setup``, ``test_*`` and ``teardown`` methods are called the current directory
will be the "work directory" (unless ``chdir`` is called by the methods themselves).
Several of the assertions and helper functions take filename arguments
that are evaluated relative to the "work directory" (or sometimes the
current directory if they differ).
Cmdtest implements parallel execution of test methods by running several
"slave processes", started by a tool like `GNU Parallel`_.
Methods such as ``File.open`` and ``Dir.chdir`` that depend on the
"current directory" can be used in the test methods, since each slave
is a process of its own (an earlier version of Cmdtest used Ruby threads
and adviced against using such methods).
Specifying files / directories
------------------------------
Several methods take files or directories as argument (e.g.
``created_files``, ``modified_files`` and ``ignore_file``). Instead of
having two sets of methods, one for files and one for directories, an
argument with a trailing "/" denotes a directory::
created_files "build/" # the directory "build"
created_files "build" # the file "build"
ignore_file "build/" # the directory "build" (and everything below)
ignore_file "build" # the file "build"
As can be seen in the example above, the ``ignore_file`` method is
special, because an ignored directory means that all files below the directory are
ignored too. Another peculiarity with ``ignore_file`` is that the
argument can be a Regexp::
ignore_file /\.o$/ # all files *.o
This is quite natural, since the "job" of ``ignore_file`` is to single
out a subset of all files.
PATH handling
-------------
Cmdtest is used to test commands, so an important question is how the
commands are found and executed. Normally commands are found via the
``PATH`` environment variable, and Cmdtest is no exception. The commands
executed in the ``cmd`` calls are evaluated in a shell script (on
UN*X) or in a BAT file (on Windows). The ``PATH`` in effect when
``cmdtest`` is invoked is kept intact, with one addition: the current
directory at the time of invocation is prepended to the ``PATH``. If
further changes to the ``PATH`` are needed the methods ``prepend_path``,
``prepend_local_path`` or ``set_path`` can be used. Such path modifications
does not survive between test methods. Each new test method starts with the
original value of ``PATH``.
Matching standard output content
--------------------------------
An assertion like ``stdout_equal`` compares the actual standard output of a
command with the expected outcome. The expected value can be specified
in different ways, and is best explained by example::
cmd "echo hello ; echo world" do
stdout_equal "hello\nworld\n" # 1
stdout_equal [ # 2
"hello",
"world"
]
stdout_equal /orld/ # 3
stdout_equal [ # 4
"hello",
/world|earth/
]
end
In the example we see how the content can be specified:
1) as a string, with a newline (``\n``) character for each new line
2) as an array of lines
3) as a regexp that should match the file content given as a string
4) as an array of lines where some lines should match a regexp rather than be compared
for string equality
Invoking ``cmdtest``
--------------------
``cmdtest`` can be called without any arguments at all. It will then look
for ``CMDTEST_*.rb`` files in the following places:
1) first ``t/CMDTEST_*.rb``
2) second ``test/CMDTEST_*.rb``
3) otherwise ``CMDTEST_*.rb``
If some command line arguments have been given, ``cmdtest`` will use
them instead of searching by itself. Some examples::
$ cmdtest CMDTEST_foo.rb # just one file
$ cmdtest CMDTEST_foo.rb CMDTEST_bar.rb # two files
$ cmdtest t # all CMDTEST_*.rb files in "t" dir
$ cmdtest . t # all CMDTEST_*.rb files in both dirs
In addition to test files, the command line can also contain options
and testcase selectors. The general format is::
$ cmdtest [options] [files] [selectors]
The options are describe in a separate section below. The selectors are
regular expressions that are used to match the names of the test
methods. It is best illustrated by an example::
$ cmdtest examples "/stdin|stdout/"
This command will find all files matching ``examples/CMDTEST_*.rb``,
and run all test methods whose names either contain the string "stdin"
or "stdout". As can be seen in the example, the regular expression may
need protection from expansion by the shell (that is the reason for
the quotes in the example). But the example can also be written::
$ cmdtest examples /stdin/ /stdout/
For more examples of command line usage, see the section `Commandline Examples`_ below.
Options
+++++++
The available options can be seen by using the ``-h`` option::
$ cmdtest -h
usage: cmdtest [-h] [--version] [-q] [-v] [--fast] [-j N] [--test TEST]
[--xml FILE] [--no-exit-code] [-i] [--slave SLAVE]
[arg [arg ...]]
positional arguments:
arg testfile or pattern
optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-h, --help show this help message and exit
--version show version
-q, --quiet be more quiet by skipping some non-essential output
-v, --verbose be more verbose
--fast run fast without waiting for unique mtime:s
-j N, --parallel N build in parallel
--test TEST only run named test
--xml FILE write summary on JUnit format
--no-exit-code exit with 0 status even after errors
-i, --incremental incremental mode
--slave SLAVE run in slave mode
Commandline Examples
++++++++++++++++++++
This section is a collection of examples of how Cmdtest can be used. ::
$ cmdtest
This is the most basic usage. All testcase files found (by the
algorithm described earlier) will be executed. ::
$ cmdtest -i
Only run the test methods that have failed earlier, or have changed.
This is not a full-blown "make system", but may still be useful when
developing the tests. ::
$ cmdtest /stdout/
Run all test methods matching the regular expression given. ::
$ cmdtest examples
Run all tests found in test files in the "examples" directory
(i.e. ``examples/CMDTEST_*.rb``). ::
$ cmdtest --xml=reports/test-foo.xml
Write an XML-summary to the specified file. The file uses the same
format as JUnit_, so it can be understood be continuous integration
servers such as Jenkins_.
Reference Part
--------------
cmd
+++
The ``cmd`` method is the central method of the whole Cmdtest framework.
It should always be called with a block like this::
cmd "some_prog ..." do
assertion1 ...
...
assertionN ...
end
A block is used to make it easy to know when the last assertion has
been found. The do-block should only contain assertions. Cmdtest
applies some implicit assertions if the do-block is empty or misses
some kind of assertion::
# all assertions implicit
cmd "true" do
end
# exit status assertion explicit, but other assertions implicit
cmd "true" do
exit_zero
end
See also the example in the `Structure of a test-method`_ section above.
Assertions - exit status
++++++++++++++++++++++++
These methods should only be used inside a ``cmd`` block.
``exit_nonzero``
The command should have exited with a non-zero exit status (i.e. it
should have failed).
``exit_status(status)``
The command should have exited with the specified exit status.
``exit_zero``
The command should have exited with a zero exit status (i.e. it
should have succeeded). This is the default if none of the other
exit-related methods have been called.
Assertions - files
++++++++++++++++++
These methods should only be used inside a ``cmd`` block.
``affected_files(file1,...,fileN)``
The specified files should have been created, removed or modified by the
command. This assertion can be used when it doesn't matter which
of ``created_files``, ``removed_files`` or ``changed_files`` that apply
(cf. ``written_files``).
``created_files(file1,...,fileN)``
The specified files should have been created by the command.
``modified_files(file1,...,fileN)``
The specified files should have been modified by the command. A
file is considered modified if it existed before the command, and
something about the file has changed after the command (inode
number, modification date or content).
``removed_files(file1,...,fileN)``
The specified files should have been removed by the command.
``written_files(file1,...,fileN)``
The specified files should have been created or modified by the
command. This assertion can be used when it doesn't matter which
of ``created_files`` or ``changed_files`` that apply. A typical scenario is
in a test method where repeated operations are done on the same
file. By using ``written_files`` we don't have to treat the first
case special (when the file is created).
Assertions - stdout/stderr/file content
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
These methods should only be used inside a ``cmd`` block.
``file_equal(file, content)``
Assert that the specified file matches the given content.
See "stdout_equal" for how "content" can be specified.
``file_not_equal(file, content)``
Like ``file_equal`` but with inverted test.
``stderr_equal(content)``
Assert that the standard error of the command matches the given content.
See "stdout_equal" for how "content" can be specified.
``stderr_not_equal(content)``
Like ``stderr_equal`` but with inverted test.
``stdout_equal(content)``
Assert that the standard output of the command matches the given content.
The content can be given in several different forms: 1) as a
string that should be equal to the entire file, 2) as an array of
lines that should be equal to the entire file, 3) as a regexp that
should match the entire file (given as one string).
For more details and examples see the section `Matching standard output content`_.
``stdout_not_equal(content)``
Like ``stdout_equal`` but with inverted test.
Assertions - misc
+++++++++++++++++
These methods should only be used inside a ``cmd`` block.
``assert(flag, msg=nil)``
Assert that ``flag`` is true. This assertion is a last resort, when no other
assertion fits. Should normally not be used.
``time(interval)``
Assert that executing the command took a number of seconds inside the
interval given as argument.
Helper functions
++++++++++++++++
These methods should only be used outside a ``cmd`` block in a test method,
or in the ``setup`` method.
``create_file(filename, content)``
Create a file inside the "work directory".
If the filename contains a directory part, intermediate directories are
created if needed.
The content can be specified either as an array of lines or as
a string with the content of the whole file.
The filename is evaluated relative to the current directory at the
time of the call.
``ignore_file(file)``
Ignore the specified file when looking for differences in the filesystem.
A subdirectory can be ignored by giving a trailing "/" to the name.
``ignore_files(file1, ..., fileN)``
Ignore the specified files when looking for differences in the filesystem.
``import_file(src, tgt)``
Copy a file from outside of the "work directory" to inside.
The ``src`` path is evaluated relative to the current directory
when ``cmdtest`` was called. The ``tgt`` is evaluated relative to
the current directory inside the "work directory" at the time
of the call.
``import_directory(src, tgt)``
Copy a directory tree from outside of the "work directory" to inside.
The ``src`` path is evaluated relative to the current directory
when ``cmdtest`` was called. The ``tgt`` is evaluated relative to
the current directory inside the "work directory" at the time
of the call. It is an error if ``tgt`` already exists.
``prepend_local_path(dir)``
Prepend the given directory to the ``PATH`` so commands executed via ``cmd``
are looked up using the modified ``PATH``. The argument ``dir`` is evaluated
relative to the current directory in effect at the time of the call
(i.e. typically the "work directory" during the test).
``prepend_path(dir)``
Prepend the given directory to the ``PATH`` so commands executed via ``cmd``
are looked up using the modified ``PATH``. A typical use is to add the directory
where the executable tested is located. The argument ``dir`` is evaluated
relative to the current directory in effect when ``cmdtest`` was invoked.
``setenv(name, value)``
Set an environment variable that should be in effect when commands are executed
by later calls to ``cmd``.
``unsetenv(name)``
Unset an environment variable that should not be in effect when commands are executed
by later calls to ``cmd``.
``set_path(dir1, ..., dirN)``
Set ``PATH`` to the given directories, so commands executed via ``cmd``
are looked up using the modified ``PATH``. This method sets the whole ``PATH``
rather than modifying it (in contrast to ``prepend_path`` and ``prepend_local_path``).
``touch_file(filename)``
"touch" a file inside the "work directory".
The filename is evaluated relative to the current directory at the
time of the call.
Deprecated helper functions
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
``dir_mkdir(file)``
Deprecated, use ``Dir.mkdir`` instead.
``file_chmod(arg, file)``
Deprecated, use ``File.chmod`` instead.
``file_open(file, *args, &block)``
Deprecated, use ``File.open`` instead.
``file_read(file)``
Deprecated, use ``File.read`` instead.
``file_symlink(file1, file2)``
Deprecated, use ``File.symlink`` instead.
``file_utime(arg1, arg2, file)``
Deprecated, use ``File.utime`` instead.
``remove_file(file)``
Deprecated, use ``FileUtils.rm_f`` instead.
``remove_file_tree(file)``
Deprecated, use ``FileUtils.rm_rf`` instead.
.. _`unit testing`: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_testing
.. _`junit`: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JUnit
.. _`Test::Unit`: https://github.com/test-unit/test-unit
.. _`continuous integration`: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_integration
.. _Jenkins: http://jenkins-ci.org
.. _`GNU Parallel`: http://www.gnu.org/software/parallel/
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