| 1 | <sect1 id="ch02-abouttestsuites">
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| 2 | <title>About the test suites</title>
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| 3 | <?dbhtml filename="abouttestsuites.html" dir="chapter02"?>
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| 4 |
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| 5 | <para>Most packages provide a test suite. Running the test suite for a newly
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| 6 | built package is generally a good idea, as it can provide a nice sanity check
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| 7 | that everything compiled correctly. A test suite that passes its set of checks
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| 8 | usually proves that the package is functioning mostly as the developer
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| 9 | intended. It does not, however, guarantee that the package is totally bug
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| 10 | free.</para>
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| 11 |
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| 12 | <para>Some test suites are more important than others. For example, the test
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| 13 | suites for the core toolchain packages -- GCC, Binutils, and Glibc (the C
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| 14 | library) -- are of the utmost importance due to their central role in a
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| 15 | properly functioning system. But be warned, the test suites for GCC and Glibc
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| 16 | can take a very long time to complete, especially on slower hardware.</para>
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| 17 |
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| 18 | <para>Experience has shown us that there is little to be gained from running
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| 19 | the test suites in <xref linkend="chapter05"/>. There can be no escaping the
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| 20 | fact that the host system always exerts influence on the tests in that chapter,
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| 21 | often causing weird and inexplicable failures. Not only that, the tools built
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| 22 | in <xref linkend="chapter05"/> are temporary and eventually discarded. For the
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| 23 | average reader of this book we recommend <emphasis>not</emphasis> to run the
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| 24 | test suites in <xref linkend="chapter05"/>. The instructions for running those
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| 25 | test suites are still provided for the benefit of testers and developers, but
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| 26 | they are strictly optional for everyone else.</para>
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| 27 |
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| 28 | <para>As you progress through the book and encounter the commands to run the
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| 29 | various test suites, we'll guide you on the relative importance of the test
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| 30 | suite in question, so that you can decide for yourself whether to run that one
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| 31 | or not.</para>
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| 32 |
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| 33 | <note><para>A common problem when running the test suites for Binutils and GCC
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| 34 | is running out of pseudo terminals (PTYs for short). The symptom is an
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| 35 | unusually high number of failing tests. This can happen for a number of
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| 36 | reasons. Most likely is that the host system doesn't have the
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| 37 | <emphasis>devpts</emphasis> file system set up correctly. We'll discuss this in
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| 38 | more detail later on in <xref linkend="chapter05"/>.</para></note>
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| 39 |
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| 40 | </sect1>
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| 41 |
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