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ATF-SH-API(3)              Library Functions Manual              ATF-SH-API(3)

NAME
     atf_add_test_case, atf_check, atf_check_equal, atf_config_get,
     atf_config_has, atf_expect_death, atf_expect_exit, atf_expect_fail,
     atf_expect_pass, atf_expect_signal, atf_expect_timeout, atf_fail,
     atf_get, atf_get_srcdir, atf_pass, atf_require_prog, atf_set, atf_skip,
     atf_test_case - POSIX shell API to write ATF-based test programs

SYNOPSIS
     atf_add_test_case "name"
     atf_check "command"
     atf_check_equal "expr1" "expr2"
     atf_config_get "var_name"
     atf_config_has "var_name"
     atf_expect_death "reason" "..."
     atf_expect_exit "exitcode" "reason" "..."
     atf_expect_fail "reason" "..."
     atf_expect_pass
     atf_expect_signal "signo" "reason" "..."
     atf_expect_timeout "reason" "..."
     atf_fail "reason"
     atf_get "var_name"
     atf_get_srcdir
     atf_pass
     atf_require_prog "prog_name"
     atf_set "var_name" "value"
     atf_skip "reason"
     atf_test_case "name" "cleanup"

DESCRIPTION
     ATF provides a simple but powerful interface to easily write test
     programs in the POSIX shell language.  These are extremely helpful given
     that they are trivial to write due to the language simplicity and the
     great deal of available external tools, so they are often ideal to test
     other applications at the user level.

     Test programs written using this library must be run using the atf-sh(1)
     interpreter by putting the following on their very first line:

           #! /usr/bin/env atf-sh

     Shell-based test programs always follow this template:

           atf_test_case tc1
           tc1_head() {
               ... first test case's header ...
           }
           tc1_body() {
               ... first test case's body ...
           }

           atf_test_case tc2 cleanup
           tc2_head() {
               ... second test case's header ...
           }
           tc2_body() {
               ... second test case's body ...
           }
           tc2_cleanup() {
               ... second test case's cleanup ...
           }

           ... additional test cases ...

           atf_init_test_cases() {
               atf_add_test_case tc1
               atf_add_test_case tc2
               ... add additional test cases ...
           }

     All of these functions are required to return with an exit-status of
     zero, or ATF will determine that the test is faulty.  In particular, this
     means that none may end with a conditional like:

           atf_sh_function() {
               ... appropriate code here ...
               condition-test && {
                   ... more code here ...
               }
           }

     as if condition-test fails the return code from atf_sh_function will not
     be 0.  This can be corrected by adding

               return 0

     before the end of the function, or by writing it as

           atf_sh_function() {
               ... appropriate code here ...
               if condition-test
               then
                   ... more code here ...
               fi
           }

   Definition of test cases
     Test cases have an identifier and are composed of three different parts:
     the header, the body and an optional cleanup routine, all of which are
     described in atf-test-case(4).  To define test cases, one can use the
     atf_test_case function, which takes a first parameter specifiying the
     test case's name and instructs the library to set things up to accept it
     as a valid test case.  The second parameter is optional and, if provided,
     must be `cleanup'; providing this parameter allows defining a cleanup
     routine for the test case.  It is important to note that this function
     does not set the test case up for execution when the program is run.  In
     order to do so, a later registration is needed through the
     atf_add_test_case function detailed in Program initialization.

     Later on, one must define the three parts of the body by providing two or
     three functions (remember that the cleanup routine is optional).  These
     functions are named after the test case's identifier, and are <id>_head,
     <id>_body and <id>_cleanup. None of these take parameters when executed.

   Program initialization
     The test program must define an atf_init_test_cases function, which is in
     charge of registering the test cases that will be executed at run time by
     using the atf_add_test_case function, which takes the name of a test case
     as its single parameter.  This main function should not do anything else,
     except maybe sourcing auxiliary source files that define extra variables
     and functions, or perhaps running simple tests to determine which test
     cases to add.

   Configuration variables
     The test case has read-only access to the current configuration variables
     through the atf_config_has and atf_config_get methods.  The former takes
     a single parameter specifying a variable name and returns a boolean
     indicating whether the variable is defined or not.  The latter can take
     one or two parameters.  If it takes only one, it specifies the variable
     from which to get the value, and this variable must be defined.  If it
     takes two, the second one specifies a default value to be returned if the
     variable is not available.

   Access to the source directory
     It is possible to get the path to the test case's source directory from
     anywhere in the test program by using the atf_get_srcdir function.  It is
     interesting to note that this can be used inside atf_init_test_cases to
     silently include additional helper files from the source directory.

   Requiring programs
     Aside from the require.progs meta-data variable available in the header
     only, one can also check for additional programs in the test case's body
     by using the atf_require_prog function, which takes the base name or full
     path of a single binary.  Relative paths are forbidden.  If it is not
     found, the test case will be automatically skipped.

   Test case finalization
     The test case finalizes either when the body reaches its end, at which
     point the test is assumed to have passed, or at any explicit call to
     atf_pass, atf_fail atf_skip.  These three functions terminate the
     execution of the test case immediately.  The cleanup routine will be
     processed afterwards in a completely automated way, regardless of the
     test case's termination reason.

     atf_pass() does not take any parameters.  atf_fail() and atf_skip() take
     a single string parameter that describes why the test case failed or was
     skipped, respectively.  It is very important to provide a clear error
     message in both cases so that the user can quickly know why the test did
     not pass.  This message must be a single line (no embedded newline
     characers.)

   Expectations
     Everything explained in the previous section changes when the test case
     expectations are redefined by the programmer.

     Each test case has an internal state called `expect' that describes what
     the test case expectations are at any point in time.  The value of this
     property can change during execution by any of:

     atf_expect_death "reason" "..."
             Expects the test case to exit prematurely regardless of the
             nature of the exit.

     atf_expect_exit "exitcode" "reason" "..."
             Expects the test case to exit cleanly.  If exitcode is not `-1',
             atf-run(1) will validate that the exit code of the test case
             matches the one provided in this call.  Otherwise, the exact
             value will be ignored.

     atf_expect_fail "reason"
             Any failure raised in this mode is recorded, but such failures do
             not report the test case as failed; instead, the test case
             finalizes cleanly and is reported as `expected failure'; this
             report includes the provided reason as part of it.  If no error
             is raised while running in this mode, then the test case is
             reported as `failed'.

             This mode is useful to reproduce actual known bugs in tests.
             Whenever the developer fixes the bug later on, the test case will
             start reporting a failure, signaling the developer that the test
             case must be adjusted to the new conditions.  In this situation,
             it is useful, for example, to set reason as the bug number for
             tracking purposes.

     atf_expect_pass
             This is the normal mode of execution.  In this mode, any failure
             is reported as such to the user and the test case is marked as
             `failed'.

     atf_expect_signal "signo" "reason" "..."
             Expects the test case to terminate due to the reception of a
             signal.  If signo is not `-1', atf-run(1) will validate that the
             signal that terminated the test case matches the one provided in
             this call.  Otherwise, the exact value will be ignored.

     atf_expect_timeout "reason" "..."
             Expects the test case to execute for longer than its timeout.

   Helper functions for common checks
     atf_check [options] command [args]

     This function wraps the execution of the atf-check tool and makes the
     test case fail if the tool reports failure.  You should always use this
     function instead of the tool in your scripts.  For more details on the
     parameters of this function, refer to atf-check(1).

     atf_check_equal expr1 expr2

     This function takes two expressions, evaluates them and, if their results
     differ, aborts the test case with an appropriate failure message.

EXAMPLES
     The following shows a complete test program with a single test case that
     validates the addition operator:

           atf_test_case addition
           addition_head() {
               atf_set "descr" "Sample tests for the addition operator"
           }
           addition_body() {
               atf_check_equal $((0 + 0)) 0
               atf_check_equal $((0 + 1)) 1
               atf_check_equal $((1 + 0)) 0

               atf_check_equal $((1 + 1)) 2

               atf_check_equal $((100 + 200)) 300
           }

           atf_init_test_cases() {
               atf_add_test_case addition
           }

     This other example shows how to include a file with extra helper
     functions in the test program:

           ... definition of test cases ...

           atf_init_test_cases() {
               . $(atf_get_srcdir)/helper_functions.sh

               atf_add_test_case foo1
               atf_add_test_case foo2
           }

     This example demonstrates the use of the very useful atf_check()
     function:

           # Check for silent output
           atf_check -s exit:0 -o empty -e empty 'true'

           # Check for silent output and failure
           atf_check -s exit:1 -o empty -e empty 'false'

           # Check for known stdout and silent stderr
           echo foo >expout
           atf_check -s exit:0 -o file:expout -e empty 'echo foo'

           # Generate a file for later inspection
           atf_check -s exit:0 -o save:stdout -e empty 'ls'
           grep foo ls || atf_fail "foo file not found in listing"

           # Or just do the match along the way
           atf_check -s exit:0 -o match:"^foo$" -e empty 'ls'

SEE ALSO
     atf-sh(1), atf-test-program(1), atf-test-case(4), atf(7)

NetBSD 10.99                     May 15, 2017                     NetBSD 10.99