For putting Autotest into movement, you need some configuration and makefile machinery. We recommend, at least if your package uses deep or shallow hierarchies, that you use tests/ as the name of the directory holding all your tests and their makefile. Here is a check list of things to do.
AT_PACKAGE_STRING
, the
full signature of the package, and AT_PACKAGE_BUGREPORT
, the
address to which bug reports should be sent. For sake of completeness,
we suggest that you also define AT_PACKAGE_NAME
,
AT_PACKAGE_TARNAME
, AT_PACKAGE_VERSION
, and
AT_PACKAGE_URL
.
See Initializing configure, for a description of these variables.
Be sure to distribute package.m4 and to put it into the source
hierarchy: the test suite ought to be shipped! See below for an example
Makefile excerpt.
AC_CONFIG_TESTDIR
.
An Autotest test suite is to be configured in directory. This macro requires the instantiation of directory/atconfig from directory/atconfig.in, and sets the default
AUTOTEST_PATH
to test-path (see testsuite Invocation).
AC_CONFIG_FILES
command includes substitution for
tests/atlocal.
With Automake, here is a minimal example for inclusion in tests/Makefile.am, in order to link ‘make check’ with a validation suite.
# The `:;' works around a Bash 3.2 bug when the output is not writeable. $(srcdir)/package.m4: $(top_srcdir)/configure.ac :;{ \ echo '# Signature of the current package.' && \ echo 'm4_define([AT_PACKAGE_NAME],' && \ echo ' [$(PACKAGE_NAME)])' && \ echo 'm4_define([AT_PACKAGE_TARNAME],' && \ echo ' [$(PACKAGE_TARNAME)])' && \ echo 'm4_define([AT_PACKAGE_VERSION],' && \ echo ' [$(PACKAGE_VERSION)])' && \ echo 'm4_define([AT_PACKAGE_STRING],' && \ echo ' [$(PACKAGE_STRING)])' && \ echo 'm4_define([AT_PACKAGE_BUGREPORT],' && \ echo ' [$(PACKAGE_BUGREPORT)])'; \ echo 'm4_define([AT_PACKAGE_URL],' && \ echo ' [$(PACKAGE_URL)])'; \ } >'$(srcdir)/package.m4' EXTRA_DIST = testsuite.at $(srcdir)/package.m4 $(TESTSUITE) atlocal.in TESTSUITE = $(srcdir)/testsuite check-local: atconfig atlocal $(TESTSUITE) $(SHELL) '$(TESTSUITE)' $(TESTSUITEFLAGS) installcheck-local: atconfig atlocal $(TESTSUITE) $(SHELL) '$(TESTSUITE)' AUTOTEST_PATH='$(bindir)' \ $(TESTSUITEFLAGS) clean-local: test ! -f '$(TESTSUITE)' || \ $(SHELL) '$(TESTSUITE)' --clean AUTOM4TE = $(SHELL) $(srcdir)/build-aux/missing --run autom4te AUTOTEST = $(AUTOM4TE) --language=autotest $(TESTSUITE): $(srcdir)/testsuite.at $(srcdir)/package.m4 $(AUTOTEST) -I '$(srcdir)' -o $@.tmp $@.at mv $@.tmp $@
Note that the built testsuite is distributed; this is necessary because users might not have Autoconf installed, and thus would not be able to rebuild it. Likewise, the use of missing provides the user with a nicer error message if they modify a source file to the testsuite, and accidentally trigger the rebuild rules.
You might want to list explicitly the dependencies, i.e., the list of the files testsuite.at includes.
If you don't use Automake, you should include the above example in tests/Makefile.in, along with additional lines inspired from the following:
subdir = tests PACKAGE_NAME = @PACKAGE_NAME@ PACKAGE_TARNAME = @PACKAGE_TARNAME@ PACKAGE_VERSION = @PACKAGE_VERSION@ PACKAGE_STRING = @PACKAGE_STRING@ PACKAGE_BUGREPORT = @PACKAGE_BUGREPORT@ PACKAGE_URL = @PACKAGE_URL@ atconfig: $(top_builddir)/config.status cd $(top_builddir) && \ $(SHELL) ./config.status $(subdir)/$@ atlocal: $(srcdir)/atlocal.in $(top_builddir)/config.status cd $(top_builddir) && \ $(SHELL) ./config.status $(subdir)/$@
and manage to have $(EXTRA_DIST)
distributed. You will also want
to distribute the file build-aux/missing from the Automake
project; a copy of this file resides in the Autoconf source tree.
With all this in place, and if you have not initialized ‘TESTSUITEFLAGS’ within your makefile, you can fine-tune test suite execution with this variable, for example:
make check TESTSUITEFLAGS='-v -d -x 75 -k AC_PROG_CC CFLAGS=-g'