runtest

DejaGnu

DejaGnu is a framework for testing other programs. It has a main script called runtest that goes through a directory looking at configuration files and then runs some tests with given criteria. The purpose of the DejaGnu package is to provide a single front end for all tests. It is a part of the GNU project and as such is under the GPL. It is based on Expect, which is in turn based on Tcl. The current maintainers are Rob Savoye, and Ben Elliston.

Testing

DejaGnu has a very strong history in testing due to its Tcl base. Tcl is used extensively by companies such as Oracle and Sybase to test their products. DejaGnu allows this work to be much more structured.

The tests can be grouped according to the tool they are testing. The test is run by merely calling runtest in the root project directory.

 runtest --tool program_to_test

This will look in the testsuite directory for any folders starting with program_to_test and will run all .exp files in that folder.

Embedded Design

One field to which DejaGnu is well suited is that of embedded design. It allows testing to be done remotely on development boards. Also, separate initialization files can be creating for each operating system and board. This focus on embedded targets and remote hosts is the source of its popularity with many GNU projects, universities, and private companies.

Files

Essential Files

testsuite

apache Each directory in testsuite should contain tests for a specific tool. In this example, the tool(program) being tested is apache, the webserver.

apache.test1.exp This will be the file containing some of your tests. In the fictional case of testing apache, these tests might contain such code to change configuration options, then connect to the network and check to make sure the changes have taken effect.

config

unix.exp

lib

whois.exp This file will be run as a tool init file.

Other Files

site.exp This file is a directory specific configuration file for runtest. If you always use the same options, you may want to put them here rather than typing them every time. You can record any variables that you'd be able to use as a command line argument.

set tool apache         #run tests on apache

set srcdir ./testsuite  #look here fore test files

set outdir ./logs       #save the logs in a separate directory

set all 1               #show results from all tests (rather than just ones with errors)

.dejagnurc This is a personal configuration file. Each developer can have their own one to personalize their current DejaGnu operating environment. This file should be located in the user's home directory (~/.dejagnurc)
global_config.exp This is the first configuration file loaded. It can be named anything but must be pointed to by the $DEJAGNU environment variable (set when your terminal loads).