SYNOPSIS

aegis -New_Test [ option... ][ filename... ]
aegis -New_Test -List [ option... ]
aegis -New_Test -Help

DESCRIPTION

The aegis -New_Test command is used to add a new test to a change. A new file is created in the development directory.

New tests default to "automatic" unless otherwise specified.

File Name Interpretation

The aegis program will attempt to determine the project file names from the file names given on the command line. All file names are stored within aegis projects as relative to the root of the baseline directory tree. The development directory and the integration directory are shadows of this baseline directory, and so these relative names apply here, too. Files named on the command line are first converted to absolute paths if necessary. They are then compared with the baseline path, the development directory path, and the integration directory path, to determine a baseline-relative name. It is an error if the file named is outside one of these directory trees.

The -BAse_RElative option may be used to cause relative filenames to be interpreted as relative to the baseline path; absolute filenames will still be compared with the various paths in order to determine a baseline-relative name.

The relative_filename_preference in the user configuration file may be used to modify this default behavior. See aeuconf(5) for more information.

Test Filename Generation

You may choose your own filename for a test, by specifying it on the command line.

If no filename is specified on the command line, a test filename is automatically generated. This is controlled by the new_test_filename field of the project configuration file (see aepconf(5) for more information. All automatically generated test filenames within a project are numbered uniquely. The default pattern for new test filenames is "test/XX/tXXXX[am].sh", where XX is the first 2 digits of the test number, XXXX is the whole test number, and [am] is a for automatic tests and m for manual tests.

Modifying Tests

Tests may be modified in future by adding them to a change with the aecp(1) command. Tests are treated just like any other source file, and are subject to the same process.

File Templates

When a new file is created in the development directory the project config file is searched for a template for the new file. If a template is found, the new file will be initialized to the template, otherwise it will be created empty. See aepconf(5) for more information.

The simplest form is to use template files, such as

file_template =
[
        {
                pattern = [ "*.c" ];
                body = "${read_file ${source template/c abs}}";
        },
        {
                pattern = [ "test/*/.sh" ];
                body = "${read_file ${source template/test abs}}";
        },
];

As you can see, the template files are part of the project source, so you can add the appropriate copyright notices, and wrappers, etc. The $source substitution locates them, if they are not part of the current change (and they usually are not).

The template files themselves contain substitutions. The $filename substitution is available, and contains the name of the file being created. This can be manipulated in various ways when constructing the appropriate file contents. See aesub(5) for more information about substitutions.

It is also possible to run a command to create the new file. You can do this instead of specifying a body string, viz:

file_template =
[
        {
                pattern = [ "*" ];
                body_command = "perl ${source template.pl abs} $filename";
        },
];

The command is run with a current directory set to the top of the development directory. It is an error if the command fails to create the file. You can mix-and-match the two techniques, body string and body_command, if you want.

Be careful to make sure that the test filename template pattern matches the new_test_filename field.

File Name Limitations

There are a number of controls available to limit the form of project file names. All of these controls may be found in the project configuration file, see aepconf(5) for more information. The most significant are briefly described here:

maximum_filename_length = integer;

This field is used to limit the length of filenames. All new files may not have path components longer than this. Defaults to 255 if not set. For maximum portability you should set this to 14.

posix_filename_charset = boolean;

This field may be used to limit the characters allowed in filenames to only those explicitly allowed by POSIX. Defaults to false if not set, meaning whatever your operating system will tolerate, except white space and high-bit-on characters. For maximum portability you should set this to true.

dos_filename_required = boolean;

This field may be used to limit filenames so that they conform to the DOS 8+3 filename limits and to the DOS filename character set. Defaults to false if not set.

windows_filename_required = boolean;

This field may be used to limit filenames so that they conform to the Windows98 and WindowsNT filename limits and character set. Defaults to false if not set.

shell_safe_filenames = boolean;

This field may be used to limit filenames so that they do not contain shell special characters. Defaults to true if not set. If this field is set to false, you will need to use the ${quote} substitution around filenames in commands, to ensure that filenames containing shell special characters do not have unintended side effects. Weird characters in filenames may also confuse your dependency maintenance tool.

allow_white_space_in_filenames = boolean;

This field may be used to allow white space characters in file names. This will allow the following characters to appear in file names: backspace (BS, \b, 0x08), horizontal tab (HT, \t, 0x09), new line (NL, \n, 0x0A), vertical tab (VT, \v, 0x0B), form feed (FF, \f, 0x0C), and carriage return (CR, \r, 0x0D). Defaults to false if not set.

Note that this field does not override other file name filters. It will be necessary to explicitly set shell_safe_filenames = false as well. It will be necessary to set dos_filename_required = false (the default) as well. It will be necessary to set posix_filename_charset = false (the default) as well.

The user must take great care to use the ${quote} substitution around all file names in commands in the project configuration. And even then, substitutions which expect a space separated list of file names will have undefined results.

allow_non_ascii_filenames = boolean;

This field may be used to allow file names with non-ascii-printable characters in them. Usually this would mean a UTF8 or international charset of some kind. Defaults to false if not set.

Note that this field does not override other file name filters. It will be necessary to explicitly set shell_safe_filenames = false as well. It will be necessary to set dos_filename_required = false (the default) as well. It will be necessary to set posix_filename_charset = false (the default) as well.

filename_pattern_accept = [ string ];

This field is used to specify a list of patterns of acceptable filenames. Defaults to "*" if not set.

filename_pattern_reject = [ string ];

This field is used to specify a list of patterns of unacceptable filenames.

Please Note: Aegis also consults the underlying file system, to determine its notion of maximum file size. Where the file system's maximum file size is less than maximum_filename_length, the filesystem wins. This can happen, for example, when you are using the Linux UMSDOS file system, or when you have an NFS mounted an ancient V7 filesystem. Setting maximum_filename_length to 255 in these cases does not alter the fact that the underlying file systems limits are far smaller (12 and 14, respectively).

If your development directories (or your whole project) is on filesystems with filename limitations, or a portion of the heterogeneous builds take place in such an environment, it helps to tell Aegis what they are (using the project config file's fields) so that you don't run into the situation where the project builds on the more permissive environments, but fails with mysterious errors in the more limited environments.

If your development directories are routinely on a Linux UMSDOS filesystem, you would probably be better off setting dos_filename_required = true, and also changing the development_directory_template field. Heterogeneous development with various Windows environments may also require this.

Changing the Type of a File

If you want to change the type of a file (say, from a test to a source file, or vice versa) you could do it as two changes, by first using aerm(1) in one change and then using aenf(1) or aent(1) in a second change, or you can combine both steps in the same change. Remember to use the aerm -nowhiteout option or you will get a most peculiar new file template.

Notification

The new_test_command in the project config file is run, if set. The project_file_command is also run, if set, and if there has been an integration recently. See aepconf(5) for more information.

TEST PROCESS

Each change is required to be accompanied by tests, and those tests are required to be run against the built development directory, and they must pass. This ensures that new functionality is accompanied by tests to verify its correctness, and bug fixes are accompanied by tests which confirm that the bug has been fixed.

Regression Tests

Tests are treated as any other source file, and are maintained in the baseline and history with all other source files. The tests which must accompany every change accumulate in the project baseline, providing a definition of correct function for the baseline. These accumulated tests may be executed using an "aegis -REGression" command, to verify that the project will not "regress" as a result of a change.

Baseline Tests

Bug fixes are required to have their tests fail against the project baseline (in contrast to the development directory). This ensures that the test actually demonstrates the bug in the baseline, as well as demonstrating that it is fixed by the change. New functionality trivially fails against the baseline, and so aegis does not attempt to guess if a test is a bug fix test or new functionality test, it simply requires tests to fail against the baseline.

This requirement applies both to new tests being created by a change and also to tests which have been copied into a change for modification.

Reviewing Tests

Reviewers may be confident that aegis has enforced the test requirements; that a change must have tests, that the change must build, that the tests pass against the development directory, and that the tests fail against the baseline. These conditions are enforced by aede(1) and the change will not be advanced to the being reviewed state until these conditions are met. Reviewers should thus review tests for completeness of coverage of the code in the change, and insensitivity to changes in the execution environment (e.g. not date sensitive). Reviewers should also use "aegis -list change_details" to verify that a change does or does not have testing exemptions.

Exemptions

Various test exemptions may be granted by project administrators, see aepa(1) and aepattr(5) for more information. Copying tests into a change, or adding new tests to a change, may cancel those exemptions.

TEST CORRELATIONS

The "aegis -Test -SUGgest" command may be used to have aegis suggest suitable regression tests for your change, based on the source files in your change. This automatically focuses testing effort to relevant tests, reducing the number of regression tests necessary to be confident that you have not introduced a bug.

The test correlations are generated by the "aegis -Integrate_Pass" command, which associates each test in the change with each source file in the change. Thus, each source file accumulates a list of tests which have been associated with it in the past. This is not as exact as code coverage analysis, but is a reasonable approximation in practice.

The aecp(1) and aenf(1) commands are used to associate files with a change. While they do not actively perform the association, these are the files used by aeipass(1) and aet(1) to determine which source files are associated with which tests.

Test Correlation Accuracy

Assuming that the testing correlations are accurate and that the tests are evenly distributed across the function space, there will be a less than 1/number chance that a relevant test has not been run by the "aegis -Test -SUGgest number" command. A small amount of noise is added to the test weighting, so that unexpected things are sometimes tested, and the same tests are not run every time.

Test correlation accuracy can be improved by ensuring that:

• Each change should be strongly focused, with no gratuitous file inclusions. This avoids spurious correlations.
• Each item of new functionality should be added in an individual change, rather than several together. This strongly correlates tests with functionality.
• Each bug should be fixed in an individual change, rather than several together. This strongly correlates tests with functionality.
• Test correlations will be lost if files are moved. This is because correlations are by name.

The best way for tests to correlate accurately with source files is when a change contains a test and exactly those files relating to the functionality under test. Too many spurious files will weaken the usefulness of the testing correlations.

OPTIONS

The following options are understood;

-AUTOmatic

This option may be used to specify automatic tests. Automatic tests require no human assistance.

-BAse_RElative

This option may be used to cause relative filenames to be considered relative to the base of the source tree. See aeuconf(5) for the corresponding user preference.

-CUrrent_RElative

This option may be used to cause relative filenames to be considered relative to the current directory. This is usually the default. See aeuconf(5) for the corresponding user preference.

-Change number

This option may be used to specify a particular change within a project. See aegis(1) for a complete description of this option.

-Help

This option may be used to obtain more information about how to use the aegis program.

-List

This option may be used to obtain a list of suitable subjects for this command. The list may be more general than expected.

-MANual

This option may be used to specify manual tests. Manual tests require some human intervention, e.g.: confirmation of some screen behavior (X11, for instance), or some user action, "unplug ethernet cable now".

-Not_Logging

This option may be used to disable the automatic logging of output and errors to a file. This is often useful when several aegis commands are combined in a shell script.

-Output filename

This option may be used to specify a filename which is to be written with the automatically determined test file name. Useful for writing scripts.

-Project name

This option may be used to select the project of interest. When no -Project option is specified, the AEGIS_PROJECT environment variable is consulted. If that does not exist, the user's $HOME/.aegisrc file is examined for a default project field (see aeuconf(5) for more information). If that does not exist, when the user is only working on changes within a single project, the project name defaults to that project. Otherwise, it is an error.

-TEMplate

This option may be used to specify that a new file template should be used, even if the file already exists.

-No_TEMplate

This option may be used to specify that a new file template should not be used, even if the file does not exist (any empty file will be created).

-TERse

This option may be used to cause listings to produce the bare minimum of information. It is usually useful for shell scripts.

-Verbose

This option may be used to cause aegis to produce more output. By default aegis only produces output on errors. When used with the -List option this option causes column headings to be added.

-Wait

This option may be used to require Aegis commands to wait for access locks, if they cannot be obtained immediately. Defaults to the user's lock_wait_preference if not specified, see aeuconf(5) for more information.

-No_Wait

This option may be used to require Aegis commands to emit a fatal error if access locks cannot be obtained immediately. Defaults to the user's lock_wait_preference if not specified, see aeuconf(5) for more information.

See also aegis(1) for options common to all aegis commands.

All options may be abbreviated; the abbreviation is documented as the upper case letters, all lower case letters and underscores (_) are optional. You must use consecutive sequences of optional letters.

All options are case insensitive, you may type them in upper case or lower case or a combination of both, case is not important.

For example: the arguments "-project, "-PROJ" and "-p" are all interpreted to mean the -Project option. The argument "-prj" will not be understood, because consecutive optional characters were not supplied.

Options and other command line arguments may be mixed arbitrarily on the command line, after the function selectors.

The GNU long option names are understood. Since all option names for aegis are long, this means ignoring the extra leading '-'. The "--option=value" convention is also understood.

RECOMMENDED ALIAS

The recommended alias for this command is

csh%    alias aent 'aegis -nt \!* -v'
sh$     aent(){aegis -nt "$@" -v}

COPYRIGHT

aegis version 4.24.3.D001
Copyright (C) 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 Peter Miller

The aegis program comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; for details use the 'aegis -VERSion License' command. This is free software and you are welcome to redistribute it under certain conditions; for details use the 'aegis -VERSion License' command.

AUTHOR

Peter Miller	E-Mail:	[email protected]
/\/\*	WWW:	http://www.canb.auug.org.au/~millerp/