tests/README - make - Git at Google


            
            The test suite was originally written by Steve McGee and Chris Arthur.

            
            It is covered by the GNU General Public License (Version 2), described

            
            in the file COPYING.  It has been maintained as part of GNU make proper

            
            since GNU make 3.78.


            This entire test suite, including all test files, are copyright and

            
            distributed under the following terms:


             -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

            
             Copyright (C) 1992-2025 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

            
             This file is part of GNU Make.


             GNU Make is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the

            
             terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software

            
             Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later

            
             version.


             GNU Make is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY

            
             WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR

            
             A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License for more details.


             You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with

            
             this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.

            
             -----------------------------------------------------------------------------


            The test suite requires Perl.  These days, you should have at least Perl 5.6.

            
            Newer versions may be required: I don't test regularly with older versions

            
            than what is installed by default on my development systems.


            The test suite assumes that the first "diff" it finds on your PATH is

            
            GNU diff, but that only matters if a test fails.


            To run the test suite on a UNIX system, use "perl ./run_make_tests"

            
            (or just "./run_make_tests" if you have a perl on your PATH).


            To run the test suite on Windows NT or DOS systems, use

            
            "perl.exe ./run_make-tests.pl".


            By default, the test engine picks up the first executable called "make" that

            
            it finds in your path.  You may use the -make option (i.e.,

            
            "perl run_make_tests -make /usr/local/src/make-latest/make") if you want to

            
            run a particular copy.  This now works correctly with relative paths and

            
            when make is called something other than "make" (like "gmake").


            Tests cannot end with a "~" character, as the test suite will ignore any

            
            that do (I was tired of having it run my Emacs backup files as tests :))


            Also, sometimes the tests may behave strangely on networked

            
            filesystems.  You can use mkshadow to create a copy of the test suite in

            
            /tmp or similar, and try again.  If the error disappears, it's an issue

            
            with your network or file server, not GNU make (I believe).  This

            
            shouldn't happen very often anymore: I've done a lot of work on the

            
            tests to reduce the impacts of this situation.


            A directory named "work" will be created when the tests are run which

            
            will contain any makefiles and "diff" files of tests that fail so that

            
            you may look at them afterward to see the output of make and the

            
            expected result.


            There is a -help option which will give you more information about the

            
            other possible options for the test suite.


            Open Issues

            
            -----------


            The test suite has a number of problems which should be addressed.  One VERY

            
            serious one is that there is no real documentation.  You just have to see the

            
            existing tests.  Use the newer tests: many of the tests haven't been updated

            
            to use the latest/greatest test methods.  See the ChangeLogs for pointers.


            The second serious problem is that it's not relocatable: when you build out of

            
            the source tree it creates symlinks, which doesn't work on every system and is

            
            just bogus to boot.


            The third serious problem is that it's not parallelizable: it scribbles all

            
            over its installation directory and so can only test one make at a time.


            The fourth serious problem is that since the tests scribble all over the same

            
            directory (a) they can interfere with each other and (b) we cannot preserve

            
            the full environment for every test, if it involves creating temporary files

            
            etc. as they must be deleted before the next test.


            To solve these the suite should create a separate directory for EVERY test,

            
            local to the build directory, and all temporary files should exist in that

            
            directory.  The directory can be preserved on error, or removed if the test

            
            succeeds (unless --keep is given).


            Bugs

            
            ----


            Any complaints/suggestions/bugs/etc. for the test suite itself should be

            
            handled the same way as normal GNU make bugs/problems (see the README for GNU

            
            make).


                                                            Paul D. Smith

            
            						Chris Arthur
	The test suite was originally written by Steve McGee and Chris Arthur.
	It is covered by the GNU General Public License (Version 2), described
	in the file COPYING. It has been maintained as part of GNU make proper
	since GNU make 3.78.

	This entire test suite, including all test files, are copyright and
	distributed under the following terms:

	-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Copyright (C) 1992-2025 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
	This file is part of GNU Make.

	GNU Make is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
	terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
	Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later
	version.

	GNU Make is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
	WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR
	A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

	You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
	this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
	-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The test suite requires Perl. These days, you should have at least Perl 5.6.
	Newer versions may be required: I don't test regularly with older versions
	than what is installed by default on my development systems.

	The test suite assumes that the first "diff" it finds on your PATH is
	GNU diff, but that only matters if a test fails.

	To run the test suite on a UNIX system, use "perl ./run_make_tests"
	(or just "./run_make_tests" if you have a perl on your PATH).

	To run the test suite on Windows NT or DOS systems, use
	"perl.exe ./run_make-tests.pl".

	By default, the test engine picks up the first executable called "make" that
	it finds in your path. You may use the -make option (i.e.,
	"perl run_make_tests -make /usr/local/src/make-latest/make") if you want to
	run a particular copy. This now works correctly with relative paths and
	when make is called something other than "make" (like "gmake").

	Tests cannot end with a "~" character, as the test suite will ignore any
	that do (I was tired of having it run my Emacs backup files as tests :))

	Also, sometimes the tests may behave strangely on networked
	filesystems. You can use mkshadow to create a copy of the test suite in
	/tmp or similar, and try again. If the error disappears, it's an issue
	with your network or file server, not GNU make (I believe). This
	shouldn't happen very often anymore: I've done a lot of work on the
	tests to reduce the impacts of this situation.

	A directory named "work" will be created when the tests are run which
	will contain any makefiles and "diff" files of tests that fail so that
	you may look at them afterward to see the output of make and the
	expected result.

	There is a -help option which will give you more information about the
	other possible options for the test suite.


	Open Issues
	-----------

	The test suite has a number of problems which should be addressed. One VERY
	serious one is that there is no real documentation. You just have to see the
	existing tests. Use the newer tests: many of the tests haven't been updated
	to use the latest/greatest test methods. See the ChangeLogs for pointers.

	The second serious problem is that it's not relocatable: when you build out of
	the source tree it creates symlinks, which doesn't work on every system and is
	just bogus to boot.

	The third serious problem is that it's not parallelizable: it scribbles all
	over its installation directory and so can only test one make at a time.

	The fourth serious problem is that since the tests scribble all over the same
	directory (a) they can interfere with each other and (b) we cannot preserve
	the full environment for every test, if it involves creating temporary files
	etc. as they must be deleted before the next test.

	To solve these the suite should create a separate directory for EVERY test,
	local to the build directory, and all temporary files should exist in that
	directory. The directory can be preserved on error, or removed if the test
	succeeds (unless --keep is given).


	Bugs
	----

	Any complaints/suggestions/bugs/etc. for the test suite itself should be
	handled the same way as normal GNU make bugs/problems (see the README for GNU
	make).


	Paul D. Smith
	Chris Arthur