Add flag/option for disabling the character escaping functionality

OTP-13537

4 files changed, 22 insertions, 6 deletions

diff --git a/lib/common_test/doc/src/ct.xml b/lib/common_test/doc/src/ct.xml
index 438099c074..b6c862c233 100644
--- a/lib/common_test/doc/src/ct.xml
+++ b/lib/common_test/doc/src/ct.xml
@@ -1139,7 +1139,7 @@
         Opts.</fsummary>
       <type>
         <v>Opts = [OptTuples]</v>
-        <v>OptTuples = {dir, TestDirs} | {suite, Suites} | {group, Groups} | {testcase, Cases} | {spec, TestSpecs} | {join_specs, Bool} | {label, Label} | {config, CfgFiles} | {userconfig, UserConfig} | {allow_user_terms, Bool} | {logdir, LogDir} | {silent_connections, Conns} | {stylesheet, CSSFile} | {cover, CoverSpecFile} | {cover_stop, Bool} | {step, StepOpts} | {event_handler, EventHandlers} | {include, InclDirs} | {auto_compile, Bool} | {abort_if_missing_suites, Bool} | {create_priv_dir, CreatePrivDir} | {multiply_timetraps, M} | {scale_timetraps, Bool} | {repeat, N} | {duration, DurTime} | {until, StopTime} | {force_stop, ForceStop} | {decrypt, DecryptKeyOrFile} | {refresh_logs, LogDir} | {logopts, LogOpts} | {verbosity, VLevels} | {basic_html, Bool} | {ct_hooks, CTHs} | {enable_builtin_hooks, Bool} | {release_shell, Bool}</v>
+        <v>OptTuples = {dir, TestDirs} | {suite, Suites} | {group, Groups} | {testcase, Cases} | {spec, TestSpecs} | {join_specs, Bool} | {label, Label} | {config, CfgFiles} | {userconfig, UserConfig} | {allow_user_terms, Bool} | {logdir, LogDir} | {silent_connections, Conns} | {stylesheet, CSSFile} | {cover, CoverSpecFile} | {cover_stop, Bool} | {step, StepOpts} | {event_handler, EventHandlers} | {include, InclDirs} | {auto_compile, Bool} | {abort_if_missing_suites, Bool} | {create_priv_dir, CreatePrivDir} | {multiply_timetraps, M} | {scale_timetraps, Bool} | {repeat, N} | {duration, DurTime} | {until, StopTime} | {force_stop, ForceStop} | {decrypt, DecryptKeyOrFile} | {refresh_logs, LogDir} | {logopts, LogOpts} | {verbosity, VLevels} | {basic_html, Bool} | {esc_chars, Bool} | {ct_hooks, CTHs} | {enable_builtin_hooks, Bool} | {release_shell, Bool}</v>
         <v>TestDirs = [string()] | string()</v>
         <v>Suites = [string()] | [atom()] | string() | atom()</v>
         <v>Cases = [atom()] | atom()</v>
diff --git a/lib/common_test/doc/src/ct_run.xml b/lib/common_test/doc/src/ct_run.xml
index d0ecc38564..2552938346 100644
--- a/lib/common_test/doc/src/ct_run.xml
+++ b/lib/common_test/doc/src/ct_run.xml
@@ -124,6 +124,7 @@
   [-duration HHMMSS [-force_stop [skip_rest]]] |
   [-until [YYMoMoDD]HHMMSS [-force_stop [skip_rest]]]
   [-basic_html]
+  [-no_esc_chars]
   [-ct_hooks CTHModule1 CTHOpts1 and CTHModule2 CTHOpts2 and ..
    CTHModuleN CTHOptsN]
   [-exit_status ignore_config]
@@ -162,6 +163,7 @@
   [-duration HHMMSS [-force_stop [skip_rest]]] |
   [-until [YYMoMoDD]HHMMSS [-force_stop [skip_rest]]]
   [-basic_html]
+  [-no_esc_chars]
   [-ct_hooks CTHModule1 CTHOpts1 and CTHModule2 CTHOpts2 and ..
    CTHModuleN CTHOptsN]
   [-exit_status ignore_config]</pre>
@@ -186,7 +188,8 @@
   [-muliply_timetraps Multiplier]
   [-scale_timetraps]
   [-create_priv_dir auto_per_run | auto_per_tc | manual_per_tc]
-  [-basic_html]</pre>
+  [-basic_html]
+  [-no_esc_chars]</pre>
   </section>
 
   <section>
diff --git a/lib/common_test/doc/src/run_test_chapter.xml b/lib/common_test/doc/src/run_test_chapter.xml
index e04bb3e208..e5e217ca1d 100644
--- a/lib/common_test/doc/src/run_test_chapter.xml
+++ b/lib/common_test/doc/src/run_test_chapter.xml
@@ -266,6 +266,10 @@
       <tag><c><![CDATA[-verbosity <levels>]]></c></tag>
       <item><p>Sets <seealso marker="write_test_chapter#logging">verbosity levels
       for printouts</seealso>.</p></item>
+
+      <tag><c><![CDATA[-no_esc_chars]]></c></tag>
+      <item><p>Disables automatic escaping of special HTML characters.
+      See the <seealso marker="write_test_chapter#logging">Logging chapter</seealso>.</p></item>
     </taglist>
 
     <note><p>Directories passed to <c>Common Test</c> can have either relative or absolute paths.</p></note>
@@ -802,7 +806,7 @@
 	program</seealso> for an overview of available start flags
 	(as most flags have a corresponding configuration term)</item>
        <item><seealso marker="write_test_chapter#logging">Logging</seealso>
-	(for terms <c>verbosity</c>, <c>stylesheet</c> and <c>basic_html</c>)</item>
+	(for terms <c>verbosity</c>, <c>stylesheet</c>, <c>basic_html</c> and <c>esc_chars</c>)</item>
        <item><seealso marker="config_file_chapter#top">External Configuration Data</seealso>
 	(for terms <c>config</c> and <c>userconfig</c>)</item>
        <item><seealso marker="event_handler_chapter#event_handling">Event
@@ -887,6 +891,9 @@
  {basic_html, Bool}.
  {basic_html, NodeRefs, Bool}.
 
+ {esc_chars, Bool}.
+ {esc_chars, NodeRefs, Bool}.
+
  {release_shell, Bool}.</pre>
 	
       <p><em>Test terms:</em></p>
diff --git a/lib/common_test/doc/src/write_test_chapter.xml b/lib/common_test/doc/src/write_test_chapter.xml
index e3811ec4cf..a7a652d506 100644
--- a/lib/common_test/doc/src/write_test_chapter.xml
+++ b/lib/common_test/doc/src/write_test_chapter.xml
@@ -1047,9 +1047,15 @@
     
     <p>Common Test will escape special HTML characters (&lt;, &gt; and &amp;) in printouts
     to the log file made with <c>ct:pal/4</c> and <c>io:format/2</c>. In order to print
-    strings with HTML tags to the log, use the <c>ct:log/5</c> function. The character escaping
-    feature is per default disabled for <c>ct:log/5</c>, but can be enabled with the
-    <c>esc_chars</c> option.</p>
+    strings with HTML tags to the log, use the <c>ct:log/3,4,5</c> function. The character
+    escaping feature is per default disabled for <c>ct:log/3,4,5</c> but can be enabled with
+    the <c>esc_chars</c> option in the <c>Opts</c> list, see <seealso marker="ct#log-5">
+    <c>ct:log/3,4,5</c></seealso>.</p>
+
+    <p>If the character escaping feature needs to be disabled (typically for backwards
+    compatibility reasons), use the <c>ct_run</c> start flag <c>-no_esc_chars</c>, or the
+    <c>ct:run_test/1</c> start option <c>{esc_chars,Bool}</c> (this start option is also
+    supported in test specifications).</p>
 
     <p>For more information about log files, see section
     <seealso marker="run_test_chapter#log_files">Log Files</seealso>