autoconf: Autotest Logs
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1 19.1.2 Autotest Logs
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1
1 When run, the test suite creates a log file named after itself, e.g., a
1 test suite named `testsuite' creates `testsuite.log'. It contains a
1 lot of information, usually more than maintainers actually need, but
1 therefore most of the time it contains all that is needed:
1
1 command line arguments
1 A bad but unfortunately widespread habit consists of setting
1 environment variables before the command, such as in
1 `CC=my-home-grown-cc ./testsuite'. The test suite does not know
1 this change, hence (i) it cannot report it to you, and (ii) it
1 cannot preserve the value of `CC' for subsequent runs. Autoconf
1 faced exactly the same problem, and solved it by asking users to
1 pass the variable definitions as command line arguments. Autotest
1 requires this rule, too, but has no means to enforce it; the log
1 then contains a trace of the variables that were changed by the
1 user.
1
1 `ChangeLog' excerpts
1 The topmost lines of all the `ChangeLog' files found in the source
1 hierarchy. This is especially useful when bugs are reported
1 against development versions of the package, since the version
1 string does not provide sufficient information to know the exact
1 state of the sources the user compiled. Of course, this relies on
1 the use of a `ChangeLog'.
1
1 build machine
1 Running a test suite in a cross-compile environment is not an easy
1 task, since it would mean having the test suite run on a machine
1 BUILD, while running programs on a machine HOST. It is much
1 simpler to run both the test suite and the programs on HOST, but
1 then, from the point of view of the test suite, there remains a
1 single environment, HOST = BUILD. The log contains relevant
1 information on the state of the BUILD machine, including some
1 important environment variables.
1
1 tested programs
1 The absolute file name and answers to `--version' of the tested
1 programs (see ⇒Writing Testsuites, `AT_TESTED').
1
1 configuration log
1 The contents of `config.log', as created by `configure', are
1 appended. It contains the configuration flags and a detailed
1 report on the configuration itself.
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