Automated Testing Framework (atf)
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.Dd August 28, 2010 .Dt ATF 7 .Os .Sh NAME .Nm ATF .Nd introduction to the Automated Testing Framework .Sh DESCRIPTION .Em IMPORTANT: If you are here because you want to know how to run the tests in
a __TESTSDIR__ , .Em you most likely want to read the .Xr tests 7 .Em manual page instead.
p The Automated Testing Framework
f ( Nm ) is a collection of libraries and utilities designed to ease unattended application testing in the hands of developers and end users of a specific piece of software.
p As regards developers, .Nm provides the necessary means to easily create test suites composed of multiple test programs, which in turn are a collection of test cases. It also attempts to simplify the debugging of problems when these test cases detect an error by providing as much information as possible about the failure.
p As regards users, it simplifies the process of running the test suites and, in special, encourages end users to run them often: they do not need to have source trees around nor any other development tools installed to be able to certify that a given piece of software works on their machine as advertised.
p If your operating systems distributes .Nm , it is possible that it provides an introductory .Xr tests 7 manual page. You are encouraged to read it now. .Ss License .Nm is distributed under the terms of the TNF License, a 2-clause BSD license. For more details please see: d -literal -offset indent
a __DOCDIR__/COPYING .Ed .Ss Components .Nm is a highly modular piece of software. It provides a couple of libraries to ease the implementation of test programs: one for the C and C++ languages and another one for shell scripts. It also includes multiple small utilities that follow the principle of doing a single thing but doing it right. This section outlines which these components are.
p Public utilities: l -tag -width atfXtestXprogramXXXXX t Xr atf-check 1 Executes a command and checks that its exit code, its standard output and its standard error output match pre-specified expected values. t Xr atf-config 1 Queries static configuration information. t Xr atf-report 1 Converts the output of .Nm atf-run to user-friendly and/or machine-parseable reports. t Xr atf-run 1 Automates the execution of a series of test programs and collects their results in a unified report. t Xr atf-sh 1 Shell interpreter for shell-based test programs. .El
p Programming interfaces: l -tag -width atfXtestXprogramXXXXX t Xr atf-c-api 3 C programming interface for test programs. t Xr atf-c++-api 3 C++ programming interface for test programs. t Xr atf-sh-api 3 POSIX shell programming interface for test programs. .El
p Other: l -tag -width atfXtestXprogramXXXXX t Xr atf-formats 5 Description of the machine-parseable data formats used by the tools. t Xr atf-test-case 4 Generic description of test cases, independent of the language they are implemented in. t Xr atf-test-program 1 Common interface provided by the test programs written using the .Nm libraries. .El .Ss Recommended reading order For end users wishing to run tests: l -enum -compact t .Xr tests 7 (only if provided by your operating system). t .Xr atf-test-program 1 t .Xr atf-run 1 t .Xr atf-report 1 t .Xr atf-config 1 .El
p For developers wanting to write their own tests: l -enum -compact t Everything recommended to users. t .Xr atf-test-case 4 t .Xr atf-c-api 3 t .Xr atf-c++-api 3 t .Xr atf-sh-api 3 t .Xr atf-sh 1 t .Xr atf-check 1 .El
p For those interested in .Nm internals: l -enum -compact t Everything recommended to users. t Everything recommended to developers. t .Xr atf-formats 5 .El .Sh SEE ALSO .Xr tests 7 .Sh HISTORY .Nm started as a Google Summer of Code 2007 project mentored by The NetBSD Foundation. Its original goal was to provide a testing framework for The NetBSD Operating System, but it grew as an independent project because the framework itself did not need to be tied to a specific operating system.
p For more details on this subject, please see: d -literal -offset indent
a __DOCDIR__/ROADMAP .Ed .Sh AUTHORS For more details on the people that made .Nm possible, please see: d -literal -offset indent