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Diffstat (limited to 'tests/README')
| -rw-r--r-- | tests/README | 75 |
1 files changed, 35 insertions, 40 deletions
diff --git a/tests/README b/tests/README index 12fa698..e3ba5c9 100644 --- a/tests/README +++ b/tests/README @@ -1,33 +1,30 @@ -This is release 3.78 (September 6, 1999) of the GNU make test -suite. See the file NEWS for some of the changes since the last -release. - -This release is made by psmith@gnu.org to correspond to GNU make 3.78. -It won't work correctly for versions before that. In addition to some -infrastructure changes I've added a number of new tests. - -Rob Tulloh has contributed changes to get the suite running on NT. - -Eli Zaretskii and Esa A E Peuha <peuha@cc.helsinki.fi> have contributed -changes to get the suite running on DJGPP/DOS. - -This package has a number of problems which preclude me from -distributing it with make as a default "make check" test suite. The -most serious of these is that it's not parallelizable: it scribbles all -over its installation directory and so can only test one make at a -time. I simply don't have time to do more with this than I am so far; -I'm very actively interested in finding someone willing to overhaul the -test suite infrastructure. If you're interested, contact me (see below)! - -The test suite thus far has been written by Steve McGee, Chris Arthur, -and Paul D. Smith. It is covered by the GNU General Public License -(Version 2), described in the file COPYING. - -The test suite requires Perl and is known to work with Perl 4.036 and -Perl 5.004 (available from ftp.gnu.org, and portable to many machines). -Earlier or later versions may work; I don't know. It assumes that the -first "diff" it finds is GNU diff, but that only matters if a test -fails. +The test suite was originally written by Steve McGee and Chris Arthur. +It is covered by the GNU General Public License (Version 2), described +in the file COPYING. It has been maintained as part of GNU make proper +since GNU make 3.78. + +The test suite has a number of problems which should be addressed. One +VERY serious one is that there is no real documentation. You just have +to see the existing tests. Use the newer tests: many of the tests +haven't been updated to use the latest/greatest test methods. See the +ChangeLog in the tests directory for pointers. + +The second serious problem is that it's not parallelizable: it scribbles +all over its installation directory and so can only test one make at a +time. The third serious problem is that it's not relocatable: the only +way it works when you build out of the source tree is to create +symlinks, which doesn't work on every system and is bogus to boot. The +fourth serious problem is that it doesn't create its own sandbox when +running tests, so that if a test forgets to clean up after itself that +can impact future tests. + +The test suite requires Perl. These days, you should have at least Perl +5.004 (available from ftp.gnu.org, and portable to many machines). It +used to work with Perl 4.036 but official support for Perl 4.x was +abandoned a long time ago, due to lack of testbeds, as well as interest. + +The test suite assumes that the first "diff" it finds on your PATH is +GNU diff, but that only matters if a test fails. To run the test suite on a UNIX system, use "perl ./run_make_tests" (or just "./run_make_tests" if you have a perl on your PATH). @@ -43,18 +40,14 @@ relative paths and when make is called something other than "make" (like "gmake"). Tests cannot end with a "~" character, as the test suite will ignore any -that do (I was tired of having it run my Emacs backup files as test :) - -If you want to run the tests in parallel, you should use the mkshadow -script included here to create temporary "copies" (via symbolic links) -of the test suite, one for each parallel job. This is a pain and one -day maybe the test suite will be rewritten so it's no longer -necessary--volunteers welcome! +that do (I was tired of having it run my Emacs backup files as tests :)) Also, sometimes the tests may behave strangely on networked filesystems. You can use mkshadow to create a copy of the test suite in /tmp or similar, and try again. If the error disappears, it's an issue -with your network or file server, not GNU make (I believe). +with your network or file server, not GNU make (I believe). This +shouldn't happen very often anymore: I've done a lot of work on the +tests to reduce the impacts of this situation. The options/dash-l test will not really test anything if the copy of make you are using can't obtain the system load. Some systems require @@ -73,7 +66,9 @@ There is a -help option which will give you more information about the other possible options for the test suite. Any complaints/suggestions/bugs/etc. for the test suite itself (as -opposed to problems in make that the suite finds) should be sent to -psmith@gnu.org. Enjoy! +opposed to problems in make that the suite finds) should be handled the +same way as normal GNU make bugs/problems. + + Paul D. Smith Chris Arthur |