From ba851f6a7e908faf0dd52d72adf0e2d5fbbba92b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Jens Maurer <jens.maurer@gmx.net>
Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2001 21:14:08 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] documentation for regression.cpp
[SVN r8814]
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+<html>
+
+<head>
+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
+
+<title>Boost Internal Regression Test Suite</title>
+</head>
+
+<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
+
+<table border="1" bgcolor="#007F7F" cellpadding="2">
+ <tr>
+ <td bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><img src="../c++boost.gif" alt="c++boost.gif (8819 bytes)" width="277" height="86"></td>
+ <td><a href="../index.htm"><font face="Arial,Helvetica" color="#FFFFFF"><big>Home</big></font></a></td>
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+ </tr>
+</table>
+
+
+<h1>Internal Regression Test Suite</h1>
+
+Boost's internal regression test suite produces the
+<a href="../status/compiler_status.html">compiler status tables</a>.
+
+<h2>Requirements</h2>
+
+The test suite has been design according to the following requirements.
+<ul>
+<li>Pure ISO C++, no tools required except a C++ compiler.
+<li>Support for tests which expect an error
+<li>Flexible configuration
+<li>HTML output
+</ul>
+
+These requirements rule out any script-based approach such as dejagnu
+(requires Tcl and expect) or even shell scripts.
+
+
+<h2>Running Regression Tests</h2>
+
+The implementation is provided in a single source file named
+<a href="../status/regression.cpp">regression.cpp</a>.
+<p>
+You should be able to compile and link this file using whatever C++
+compiler is at your disposition. However, you may need to configure
+both the compiler and the standard library to use "strict" ISO
+compliance mode. Also, you need to extend the search path for include
+files with the main boost directory so that the header file
+<a href="../boost/config.hpp">boost/config.hpp</a>
+can be found. This header file is required to work around compiler
+deficiencies.
+<p>
+
+You can then start the resulting executable to run regression tests.
+By default, the regression test program reads the file "compiler.cfg"
+in the current directory to determine the list of compilers and their
+invocation syntax. After that, it reads the file "regression.cfg" in
+the current directory to determine the regression tests to run. The
+results of the regression tests are written in an HTML formatted text
+file. This file is by default named "cs-OS.html" in the current
+directory, where "OS" is a placeholder for the name of the operating
+system (e.g., "linux" or "win32").
+<p>
+
+To generate the
+<a href="../status/compiler_status.html">compiler status tables</a>,
+boost uses the files
+<a href="../status/compiler.cfg">status/compiler.cfg</a>
+and
+<a href="../status/regression.cfg">status/regression.cfg</a>.
+<p>
+
+The regression test program accepts some command-line options to alter
+its behavior.
+<p>
+<table border="1">
+
+<tr>
+<td>-h <em>or</em> --help</td>
+<td>prints a help message
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td>--config <em>file</em></td>
+<td>Use <em>file</em> instead of "compiler.cfg" as the compiler
+configuration file. This allows for private compiler setups.</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td>--tests <em>file</em></td>
+<td>Use <em>file</em> instead of "regression.cfg" as the tests
+configuration file. This allows individual libraries to specify
+additional tests not to be published in the main
+<a href="../status/compiler_status.html">compiler status tables</a>.
+</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td>--boost <em>path</em></td>
+<td>Use <em>path</em> as the filesystem path to the main boost
+directory. The default is "..", i.e. the parent directory.</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td>--output <em>file</em><br>-o <em>file</em></td>
+<td>Write the HTML output to <em>file</em> instead of the default
+"cs-OS.html".</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td>--compiler <em>name</em></td>
+<td>Run the tests only with compiler <em>name</em>. The <em>name</em>
+must be defined in the second line of an applicable compiler
+configuration (see below). The default is to run the tests with all
+compilers suitable for the platform.</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td>--diff</td>
+<td>Read the HTML output file before writing it. In the HTML output,
+highlight differences in test outcomes compared to the previous
+run.</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td><em>test</em></td>
+<td>Run only the named test. The syntax is the same as in the
+configuration file (see below).</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+<p>
+When running only a selected test, you must also provide an alternate
+HTML output filename with "--output" so that the full test output is
+not accidentally overwritten.
+<p>
+
+You should redirect the output (<code>std::cout</code>) and error
+(<code>std::cerr</code>) channels to a suitable log file for later
+inspection.
+
+
+<h2>Configuration Files</h2>
+
+In both configuration files, single-line comments starting with "//"
+at the leftmost column are ignored.
+
+<h3>Compiler Configuration</h3>
+
+The compiler configuration file can contain descriptions for an
+arbitrary number of compilers. Each compiler is configured by a block
+of six consecutive text lines.
+<ol>
+<li>Name of the operating system for which the entry is applicable
+(e.g., "linux" or "win32").
+<li>Name of the compiler; should be unique within one operating
+system. The name of the compiler should not contain the version
+number, because it is expected that regression tests are always run
+with the most recent compiler version available.
+<li>Name and version number of the compiler. This is printed on
+<code>std::cout</code> prior to running a test with that compiler.
+<li>Command-line invocation of the compiler to compile a single source
+file to an object file.
+<li>Command-line invocation of the compiler to compile a single source
+file to an executable.
+<li>Identification of the compiler for inclusion in the HTML output;
+may contain HTML tags such as <br>.
+</ol>
+
+The two command-lines are subject to the following substitutions:
+<ul>
+<li>Any string starting with a dollar symbol "$", then containing an
+arbitrary number of underscores, digits, or uppercase letters, is
+replaced by the value of the associated environment variable.
+<li>%include is replaced by the path given by the "--boost" command
+line option (".." by default). This should be used to extend the
+search path of your compiler so that the boost header files are found.
+<li>%source is the name of the source file to be compiled, qualified
+with the path given by the "--boost" command-line option (".." by
+default).
+</ul>
+
+
+<h3>Test Configuration</h3>
+
+The test configuration file can contain descriptions for an arbitrary
+number of tests. Each test is described by a single line. The first
+word (up to the first space) is the type of the test, the next word
+gives the filename of the test relative the directory to be given by the
+"--boost" command-line option. Optionally, additional words are
+passed on as command-line arguments when the test is executed (only
+for types "run" and "run-fail"). In these arguments, "%boost" is
+replaced by the path given by the "--boost" command-line option (".."
+by default).
+<p>
+
+The following test types are available:
+<ul>
+<li>compile: The given test file should compile successfully.
+Otherwise, the test fails.
+<li>compile-fail: The given test file should not compile successfully,
+but instead the compiler should give an error message. If the test
+does compile successfully, the test fails.
+<li>link: The given test file should compile and link successfully.
+Otherwise, the test fails. In particular, a <code>main</code>
+function must be present in the test file.
+<li>link-fail: The given test file should not compile and link
+successfully. It is not specified whether the compile or the link
+should not succeed. If the test does compile and link successfully,
+the test fails.
+<li>run: The given test file should compile and link successfully.
+After that, the resulting executable is invoked and should return a
+zero exit code. If any of these steps fail, the test fails.
+<li>run-fail: The given test file is compiled, linked, and, if an
+executable was successfully generated, it is invoked. Either
+compiling or linking should fail or the resulting executable should
+return a non-zero exit code. If compiling and linking succeeds and
+the resulting executable returns a zero exit code, the test fails.
+</ul>
+
+<h2>Adapting for a New Platform</h2>
+
+In order to adapt the regression test suite for a new platform, a few
+changes to the <a href="../status/regression.cpp">regression.cpp</a>
+are required.
+
+<ul>
+<li>Add an appropriate check for your platform in
+<code>get_host()</code> and return a unique string identifying the
+platform (this string is used to filter the compile configuration
+file).
+<li>Verify that <code>get_system_configuration()</code> is
+appropriately defined for your platform. For a Unix platform, it most
+likely is. The function may return a verbose HTML string describing
+the platform.
+</ul>
+
+You also need to configure the compilers available on your platform in
+"compiler.cfg" as described above.
+<p>
+<hr>
+2001-01-30<br>
+<a href="../people/jens_maurer.htm">Jens Maurer</a>
+
+</body>
+</html>