<?xml version="1.0" encoding="latin1" ?>
<!DOCTYPE chapter SYSTEM "chapter.dtd">
<chapter>
<header>
<copyright>
<year>2004</year><year>2010</year>
<holder>Ericsson AB. All Rights Reserved.</holder>
</copyright>
<legalnotice>
The contents of this file are subject to the Erlang Public License,
Version 1.1, (the "License"); you may not use this file except in
compliance with the License. You should have received a copy of the
Erlang Public License along with this software. If not, it can be
retrieved online at http://www.erlang.org/.
Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS"
basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See
the License for the specific language governing rights and limitations
under the License.
</legalnotice>
<title>Common Test Release Notes</title>
<prepared>Peter Andersson</prepared>
<responsible>Peter Andersson</responsible>
<docno></docno>
<approved></approved>
<checked></checked>
<date>2007-12-01</date>
<rev>A</rev>
<file>notes.xml</file>
</header>
<section><title>Common_Test 1.5.3.1</title>
<section><title>Fixed Bugs and Malfunctions</title>
<list>
<item>
<p>
Removes backwards incompatability introduced between
test_server and common_test in R14B02.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-9200 Aux Id: seq11818 </p>
</item>
</list>
</section>
<section><title>Known Bugs and Problems</title>
<list>
<item>
<p>
Multiple skip events in test spec suite.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-9054</p>
</item>
</list>
</section>
</section>
<section><title>Common_Test 1.5.3</title>
<section><title>Fixed Bugs and Malfunctions</title>
<list>
<item>
<p>
Added an option to test specs which allow the execution
of tests as is, instead of doing merging of tests on the
same "level". See the merge_tests directive the test
specification documentation.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-9026 Aux Id: seq11768 </p>
</item>
</list>
</section>
<section><title>Improvements and New Features</title>
<list>
<item>
<p>
Alpha release of Common Test Hooks (CTH). CTHs allow the
users of common test to abtract out common behaviours
from test suites in a much more elegant and flexible way
than was possible before. Note that the addition of this
feature may introduce minor changes in the undocumented
behaviour of the interface inbetween common_test and
test_server.</p>
<p>
*** POTENTIAL INCOMPATIBILITY ***</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8851</p>
</item>
</list>
</section>
</section>
<section><title>Common_Test 1.5.2</title>
<section><title>Fixed Bugs and Malfunctions</title>
<list>
<item>
<p>
Updated ct:get_status documentation to describe
no_tests_running return value.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8895 Aux Id: seq11701 </p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
Fixed race condition test failures in the test suites
testing common test's parallel groups feature.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8921</p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
The include directive of testspecs now work when used on
a remote node.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8935 Aux Id: seq11731 </p>
</item>
</list>
</section>
<section><title>Improvements and New Features</title>
<list>
<item>
<p>
ct:parse_table can now handle multiline sql rows</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8907 Aux Id: seq11702 </p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
The run_test executable has been renamed to the less
generic ct_run to better work with other applications.
run_test will remain until R16B at which point it will be
removed.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8936</p>
</item>
</list>
</section>
</section>
<section><title>Common_Test 1.5.1</title>
<section><title>Fixed Bugs and Malfunctions</title>
<list>
<item>
<p>
Returning {return_group_result,failed} from end_per_group
in a group that is part of a sequence, did not cause the
proceeding cases (or groups) to get skipped. This has
been fixed.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8753 Aux Id: seq11644 </p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
ct:install now works as the documentation describes.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8818 Aux Id: seq-11666 </p>
</item>
</list>
</section>
<section><title>Improvements and New Features</title>
<list>
<item>
<p>
Common Test has been updated to handle start options and
test specification terms for test case groups (and test
cases in groups). Also, an option named 'label', has been
added that associates the test run with a name that
Common Test prints in the overview HTML logs.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8725 Aux Id: OTP-8727 </p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
Andrey Pampukha has been added to the AUTHORS file. Thank
you Andrey for your work on configuration data handling,
Large Scale Testing improvements, and other useful
updates and fixes.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8803</p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
The Configuration Data chapter in the User's Guide has
been updated.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8804</p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
Milliseconds are now included in timestamps in Common
Test log entries. (Thanks to Tomas Johansson.)</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8808</p>
</item>
</list>
</section>
</section>
<section><title>Common_Test 1.5</title>
<section><title>Fixed Bugs and Malfunctions</title>
<list>
<item>
<p>
Process calls using monitors in Common Test would not
clear the inbox of remaining DOWN messages. This has been
fixed.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8621 Aux Id: seq11560 </p>
</item>
</list>
</section>
<section><title>Improvements and New Features</title>
<list>
<item>
<p>
It is now possible for the user to provide specific
callback modules that handle test configuration data, so
that data on arbitray form can be accessed (e.g. by
reading files or by communicating with a configuration
server process). Two default callback modules have been
introduced in Common Test: ct_config_plain and
ct_config_xml. The former is used to handle the
traditional Common Test configuration files (with terms
on key-value tuple form) and the latter to handle
configuration data on XML representation.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8485</p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
It is now possible to execute test suites that are not
necessarily available on the local file system, but have
been loaded on the test node in advance (e.g. sent as
binaries from a remote node and loaded by RPC). A
requirement is that the no_auto_compile (or
{auto_compile,false}) parameter has been set.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8490 Aux Id: seq11500 </p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
Test Server will now call the end_per_testcase/2 function
even if the test case has been terminated explicitly
(with abort_current_testcase/1), or after a timetrap
timeout. Under these circumstances the return value of
end_per_testcase is completely ignored. Therefore the
function will not be able to change the reason for test
case termination by returning {fail,Reason}, nor will it
be able to save data with {save_config,Data}.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8500 Aux Id: seq11521 </p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
It is now possible to use the test specification term
'init' to start Common Test nodes automatically, as well
as have initial function calls evaluated on the nodes. A
default callback module for the 'init' term, ct_slave,
has been introduced to enable Common Test Master to
perform host login and node startup operations over ssh.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8570</p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
The run_test script has been replaced by a program (with
the same name) which can be executed without explicit
installation. The start flags are the same as for the
legacy start script.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8650</p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
Previously, a repeat property of a test case group
specified the number of times the group should be
repeated after the main test run. I.e. {repeat,N} would
case the group to execute 1+N times. To be consistent
with the behaviour of the run_test repeat option, this
has been changed. N now specifies the absolute number of
executions instead.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8689 Aux Id: seq11502 </p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
With the run_test -erl_args option, it's possible to
divide the options on the run_test command line into ones
that Common Test should process (those preceding
-erl_args, and ones it should ignore (those succeeding
-erl_args). Options preceding -erl_args that Common Test
doesn't recognize are also ignored (i.e. the same
behaviour as earlier versions of Common Test).</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8690 Aux Id: OTP-8650 </p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
Directories added with -pa or -pz in the pre-erl_args
part of the run_test command line will be converted from
relative to absolute, this to avoid problems loading user
modules when Common Test switches working directory
during the test run.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8691 Aux Id: OTP-8650 </p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
The timetrap handling has been made more user
controllable by means of new start options and new ct
interface functions. With the 'multiply_timetraps' start
option, it's possible to specify a value which all
timetrap timeout values get multiplied by. This is useful
e.g. to extend the timetraps temporarily while running
cover or trace. The 'scale_timetraps' start option
switches on or off the Test Server timetrap scaling
feature (which tries to detect if the tests may benefit
from extended timetraps, e.g. due to running certain test
tools, and performs the scaling automatically).
Furthermore, the ct:timetrap/1 function has been
introduced, which makes it possible to set/reset
timetraps during test execution. Also, a ct:sleep/1
function is now available, which takes the timetrap
parameters into account when calculating the time to
suspend the process.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8693</p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
A new run_test start option, event_handler_init, has been
added that takes a start argument which gets passed to
the init function of the event handler.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8694</p>
</item>
</list>
</section>
</section>
<section><title>Common_Test 1.4.7</title>
<section><title>Fixed Bugs and Malfunctions</title>
<list>
<item>
<p>
The auto compilation feature of Common Test did not
recognize if a header file included in a test suite was
modified (if the dir start flag/option was used). This
has been fixed.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8396 Aux Id: seq11488, OTP-8311 </p>
</item>
</list>
</section>
<section><title>Improvements and New Features</title>
<list>
<item>
<p>
The tc_status value in the Config list for a test case
that has failed because of a timetrap timeout, has
changed from {tc_status,timeout} to
{tc_status,timetrap_timeout}.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8302</p>
</item>
<item>
<p>The documentation is now possible to build in an open
source environment after a number of bugs are fixed and
some features are added in the documentation build
process. </p>
<p>- The arity calculation is updated.</p>
<p>- The module prefix used in the function names for
bif's are removed in the generated links so the links
will look like
"http://www.erlang.org/doc/man/erlang.html#append_element-2"
instead of
"http://www.erlang.org/doc/man/erlang.html#erlang:append_element-2".</p>
<p>- Enhanced the menu positioning in the html
documentation when a new page is loaded.</p>
<p>- A number of corrections in the generation of man
pages (thanks to Sergei Golovan)</p>
<p>- The legal notice is taken from the xml book file so
OTP's build process can be used for non OTP
applications.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8343</p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
It is now possible to include the <c>ct.hrl</c> using the
-include_lib directive. (Thanks to Fred Hebert.)</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8379</p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
The telnet client in Common Test sent [IAC,DO,NOP] to the
server in attempt to keep the connection alive. This is
not a valid sequence according to the standard, and some
telnet servers would terminate the connection because of
it. The client has been changed to send [IAC,NOP] every
10 secs instead, which should be a valid sequence. The
client does not negotiate this type of "keep alive"
message with the server, and if it causes problems, the
user may disable the keep alive feature by adding
{keep_alive,false} to the telnet configuration data for
the server/connection. Please see the ct_telnet and
unix_telnet manual pages for details.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8450 Aux Id: OTP-8311 </p>
</item>
</list>
</section>
</section>
<section><title>Common_Test 1.4.6</title>
<section><title>Fixed Bugs and Malfunctions</title>
<list>
<item>
<p>
If the init_per_testcase/2 function fails, the test case
now gets marked and counted as auto skipped, not user
skipped (which would previously happen).</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8289</p>
</item>
</list>
</section>
<section><title>Improvements and New Features</title>
<list>
<item>
<p>
The documentation is now built with open source tools
(xsltproc and fop) that exists on most platforms. One
visible change is that the frames are removed.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8201</p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
For a failed test case, the tc_done event is supposed to
report info on the form {failed,Error}. Only Error was
reported, however, which has now been fixed.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8235 Aux Id: seq-11414 </p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
It is now possible to fail a test case from the
end_per_testcase/2 function, by returning {fail,Reason}.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8284</p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
It is now possible to fail a test case by having the
end_tc/3 framework function return {fail,Reason} for the
test case.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8285</p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
The test_server framework API (e.g. the end_tc/3
function) has been modified. See the test_server_ctrl
documentation for details.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8286 Aux Id: OTP-8285, OTP-8287 </p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
Various updates of the test events have been implemented.
The data field for some events, such as tc_done and
tc_auto_skip has been modified to make pattern matching
on the data easier and more consistent. Also the order in
which some events are received has been altered. E.g. the
tc_auto_skip event for a test case now comes after the
tc_done for the failed configuration function (not
before) which makes more sense. Note that no new events
have been added and that the event record remains
unchanged.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8287 Aux Id: OTP-8235 </p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
The marquee used for test names on the all_runs.html page
has been removed on request. Note that the test name
field has the full text string in a title tag, which is
displayed when hovering the mouse pointer over it (i.e.
if the web browser supports title tags).</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8288</p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
It is now possible to refresh the top level index files
in an arbitrary log directory by specifying a
{refresh_logs,LogDir} tuple in the ct:run_test/1 options
list. Also the -refresh_logs flag for the run_test script
has been extended to take an optional LogDir argument,
i.e. -refresh_logs [LogDir]. If no LogDir is specified,
current working directory is assumed, unless the log
directory is set with the -logdir flag.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8290</p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
It was previously required that test suites were located
under a test object (or OTP application) sub-directory
named "test" (or under a directory named
"<testobject>_test"). This has been changed so that
Common Test now looks for suites primarily in a test
sub-directory only if the directory exists. Otherwise it
will assume the suites are stored in the same directory
the user specifies with e.g. the 'dir' start flag/option.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8294</p>
</item>
</list>
</section>
</section>
<section><title>Common_Test 1.4.5</title>
<section><title>Fixed Bugs and Malfunctions</title>
<list>
<item>
<p>
The Common Test logger process crashed if a test case in
a sequence (declared with sequences/0) failed. This fault
has been corrected.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8089 Aux Id: seq11334 </p>
</item>
</list>
</section>
<section><title>Improvements and New Features</title>
<list>
<item>
<p>
Various updates and fixes in Common Test and Test Server.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8045 Aux Id: OTP-8089,OTP-8105,OTP-8163 </p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
Errors in coverage data collection and analysis were
difficult to detect. The logging has been improved so
that more information about e.g. imported and missing
modules is printed to the html log files.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8163 Aux Id: seq11374 </p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
The Common Test HTML overview pages have been improved.
It is now possible to see if a test case has been skipped
explicitly or because a configuration function has
failed. Also, the history page (all_runs.html) now has
scrolling text displaying the test names. The old format
(showing names as a truncated string) can still be
generated by means of the flag/option 'basic_html'.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-8177</p>
</item>
</list>
</section>
</section>
<section><title>Common_Test 1.4.2</title>
<section><title>Improvements and New Features</title>
<list>
<item>
<p>
Various corrections and improvements of Common Test and
Test Server.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-7981</p>
</item>
</list>
</section>
</section>
<section><title>Common_Test 1.4.1</title>
<section><title>Improvements and New Features</title>
<list>
<item>
<p>
Minor updates and corrections.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-7897</p>
</item>
</list>
</section>
</section>
<section><title>Common_Test 1.4</title>
<section><title>Improvements and New Features</title>
<list>
<item>
<p>
A support client module for SSH and SFTP, ct_ssh, has
been introduced in Common Test.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-7838</p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
Test case groups have been introduced. With this feature
it's possible to execute groups (possibly nested) of test
cases, each group wrapped with a call to function
init_per_group/2 and end_per_group/2. Group definitions
are done by means of the new call-back function groups/0,
which should return a list of definitions. A group
definition contains a name tag, a list of properties and
a list of test cases (including possible nested group
definitions). The properties make it possible to execute
test cases in parallel, in sequence and in shuffled
order. It is also possible to repeat test cases according
to different criterias. The properties can be combined,
making it possible to e.g. repeat a conf case a certain
number of times and execute the test cases in different
(random) order every time. Available properties are:
parallel, sequence, shuffle, repeat, repeat_until_all_ok,
repeat_until_any_ok, repeat_until_any_fail and
repeat_until_all_fail. Please see the Common Test User's
Guide for details.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-7839 Aux Id: OTP-7511 </p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
It is now possible to use DES3 encrypted configuration
files with Common Test.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-7842 Aux Id: OTP-7838 </p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
In previous versions of Common Test, only one FTP
connection could be opened per configuration target name.
This has been updated so that multiple connections may be
opened. The possibility to use named connections is still
supported.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-7853 Aux Id: OTP-7838 </p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
The Erlang mode for Emacs has been updated with new and
modified skeletons for Common Test and TS. Syntax for
test case groups in Common Test (and conf cases with
properties in TS) has been added and a new minimal Common
Test suite skeleton has been introduced.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-7856</p>
</item>
</list>
</section>
</section>
<section><title>Common_Test 1.3.6</title>
<section><title>Fixed Bugs and Malfunctions</title>
<list>
<item>
<p>
When running a test which includes all suites in a test
directory, if the auto compilation would fail for one
suite, all following suites would be excluded from the
test. This was an unwanted behaviour and has been
corrected. Now all suites will always be compiled and
only the failing ones excluded from the test (and logged
as missing).</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-7750 Aux Id: OTP-7803 </p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
The step functionality in Common Test (based on
interaction with Debugger) was broken. This has been
fixed, and some new step features have also been added.
Please see the Common Test User's Guide for details.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-7800 Aux Id: seq11106 </p>
</item>
</list>
</section>
<section><title>Improvements and New Features</title>
<list>
<item>
<p>
It is now possible for the user to specify include
directories that Common Test will pass along to the
compiler when suite and help modules are being compiled
(which Common Test performs automatically before running
tests).</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-7803 Aux Id: OTP-7750 </p>
</item>
</list>
</section>
</section>
<section><title>Common_Test 1.3.5</title>
<section><title>Fixed Bugs and Malfunctions</title>
<list>
<item>
<p>
If the Erlang runtime system was started without access
to an erlang shell (e.g. -noshell), compilation errors
would cause a crash in the Common Test application.
Without access to a shell, Common Test can not prompt the
user to choose to continue or abort the test session, but
must assume that the session should proceed.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-7749 Aux Id: seq11175, seq11180 </p>
</item>
</list>
</section>
<section><title>Improvements and New Features</title>
<list>
<item>
<p>
It is now possible for the Common Test user to disable
the auto-compile feature. This is done by specifying the
run_test flag -no_auto_compile, or the ct:run_test/1
option {auto_compile,false}.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-7663</p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
A new function, ct:get_config/3, has been added to Common
Test that makes it possible to - if a particular config
variable has been defined in multiple config files -
return all matching values for the variable. The order of
the elements in the returned list is the same as the
specified order of the config files.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-7758 Aux Id: seq11158 </p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
Because a telnet connection was always identified by a
config variable alias, it was impossible to open multiple
connections using the same telnet host data entry in the
config file. This limitation has been removed by making
it possible to associate a connection with handle value
only (i.e. multiple connections may be opened using the
same config variable). See ct_telnet:open/4 for details.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-7781</p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
A new syntax for defining default config data values has
been introduced. In previous versions of Common Test, to
define and access a default value for a config variable
(in the suite info- or test case info function), an alias
name had to be used. With the new syntax you may define
default values without reference to aliases, like this:
{default_config,VarName,DefaultValue}. Please see the
User's Guide for more info.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-7782</p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
In previous versions of Common Test, whenever a config
variable got associated with a name (by means of a
require statement), the config variable name was replaced
with the new name. This introduced unwanted dependencies
between test cases (e.g. if one test case would introduce
a new name, the following test cases could no longer
access the config data by means of the original
variable). This functionality has now been updated so
that when new names are introduced with require, they
become aliases (references) instead of replacements.
Hence, config data elements can always, at any time, be
accessed by means of the original config variable names.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-7783</p>
</item>
</list>
</section>
</section>
<section><title>Common_Test 1.3.4</title>
<section><title>Improvements and New Features</title>
<list>
<item>
<p>
Common Test now uses the re application instead of the
previous rx driver to perform regular expression matching
on telnet strings. Since re works on all supported
operating systems, it is now possible to run telnet
sessions also on platforms such as e.g. Windows (which
was not the case with the previous rx driver). Note that
the rx driver is obsolete from now on, and will be
removed from Common Test after OTP R12B.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-7528</p>
</item>
</list>
</section>
</section>
<section><title>Common_Test 1.3.3</title>
<section><title>Improvements and New Features</title>
<list>
<item>
<p>
Various updates and improvements, plus some minor bug
fixes, have been implemented in Common Test and Test
Server.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-7112</p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
It is now possible, by means of the new function
ct:abort_current_testcase/1 or
test_server_ctrl:abort_current_testcase/1, to abort the
currently executing test case.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-7518 Aux Id: OTP-7112 </p>
</item>
</list>
</section>
</section>
<section><title>Common_Test 1.3.2</title>
<section><title>Improvements and New Features</title>
<list>
<item>
<p>
The configure test of the rx lib in Common Test was not
performed during the general OTP application
configuration phase. This made e.g. autoconf impossible.
This has been changed to correspond with the normal OTP
build procedure.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-7379</p>
</item>
</list>
</section>
</section>
<section><title>Common_Test 1.3.1</title>
<section><title>Improvements and New Features</title>
<list>
<item>
<p>
The rx library, included with common_test, failed to
build on on some architectures because the -fPIC compiler
option was missing.</p>
<p>
Own Id: OTP-7111</p>
</item>
</list>
</section>
</section>
<section><title>common_test 1.3.0</title>
</section>
</chapter>
