=head1 NAME README - Perl Core Test Smoke Suite (1.62) =head1 SYNOPSIS $ perl configsmoke.pl # will generate smokecurrent.sh $ sh smokecurrent.sh or on windows: C:\smoke>configsmoke # will generate smokecurrent.bat C:\smoke>smokecurrent For the impatient: see the section L</"GETTING STARTED"> =head1 DESCRIPTION The perl core test smoke suite is a set of scripts and modules that try to run the perl core tests on as many configurations as possible and combine the results into an easy to read report. The basic cycle looks like: fetch_sourcetree foreach $config ( @configurations ) { make distclean ./Configure $config make make test (and log failures) } create_report() mail_report() Before you start "smoking" we expect you have tried to build some of the configurations "by hand" to check if your environment is okay. =head1 INSTALLATION The Test::Smoke suite has been designed to be installed outside of the normal Perl library-tree. It will also run from the directory in which it was un-tar-gzipped, but if you like to keep up to date with Test::Smoke releases, it might be useful to use the standard perl-module installation commands: $ perl Makefile.PL $ make test $ make install The F<Makefile.PL> program will ask for a directory in which Test::Smoke should be installed (this will set I<PREFIX>, I<INSTALLSCRIPT> and I<LIB> all to that directory). I<If you want to automate the Makefile.PL step you need to set two environment variables: $ENV{SMOKE_INSTDIR}='../p5smoke' and $ENV{AUTOMATED_TESTING}=1> =head1 GETTING STARTED You are now ready to run the F<configsmoke.pl> configuration program: $ perl configsmoke.pl You will have to answer some questions that help create a configuration file for the Test::Smoke suite. You should check the F<perlcurrent.cfg> (or F<w32current.cfg> on MSWin32) build-configurations file and remove options that are not supported for your platform. Now you are set to go: $ sh smokecurrent.sh If something useful happens, do it every night using a scheduler. =head1 CONFIGURATION =over 4 =item Test::Smoke configuration You can create configurations by running the F<configsmoke.pl> program. Please see its L<documentation|configsmoke.pl>. =item Build configurations At the moment there are no guidelines of how to change the build-configuration best to fit the needs of perl5-porters while still getting as much smoke out of the test as possible, simply because the needs of perl5-porters change over time:). This also makes Test::Smoke somewhat volatile, as we aim to please the perl5-porters as much as possible, to help make perl even better, more stable and as thoroughly tested as possible. =back =head1 Note to MSWin32 users To make it clear, the perl core test smoke suite treats B<cygwin> and B<DJGPP> as unixy platforms and not as true MSWin32. To keep in sync with the source-tree, it is recommended you use L<git>. As long as you use a version that also comes with a command-line tool. Some problems have been reported with older versions of cygwin and the patch program during the C<< S<[nd]make test> >> stage of Test::Smoke. Don't worry about it if you do not intend to use patch. During smoke testing stuff might crash and give a popup. You'll want to disable Windows error reporting: Action Center (from Control Panel) -> Maintenance -> Settings -> Never check for solutions For more information see: http://serverfault.com/questions/29678/disabling-myapp-has-stopped-working-dialog In "older" Windows versions (before 7) we have found some problems with the default windows debugger B<Dr.Watson>. By default Dr.Watson will pop-up when the moral equivalent of a segmentation fault happens, this will make the smoke wait for user input. You can disable this by starting F<drwtsn32.exe> and un-check the B<Visual Notification> and B<Sound Notification> check-boxes and press B<OK>. =head1 Slow Systems It can happen that your system is not able to pursue all the tests, either because it is too slow or because some of the configurations are not supported by the system. At first, don't worry, they are detected by the report creation script and shown as such. After the first run gave you some idea of how long the smoke will run on your system, you can create your own copy of smoke.cfg where you either add new combinations and/or test levels, or delete lines to speed up the run time of Test::Smoke. =head1 Availability and references =over 4 =item B<Distribution> http://search.cpan.org/dist/Test-Smoke/ https://github.com/abeltje/Test-Smoke =item B<Archives> =over 4 =item B<Reports> <daily-build-reports@perl.org> [subscribe: <daily-build-reports-subscribe@perl.org>] http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.daily-build.reports news:nntp.perl.org/perl.daily-build.reports =item B<Smokers> <daily-build@perl.org> [subscribe: <daily-build-subscribe@perl.org>] http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.daily-build news:nntp.perl.org/perl.daily-build =item B<Others> Perl general QA: perl-qa@perl.org Development: perl5-porters@perl.org =item B<CoreSmokeDB> We also keep a database of smokereports that are created by Test::Smoke 1.58 or higher. http://perl5.test-smoke.org/ =back =back =head1 COPYRIGHT and LICENSE Copyright (C) 2001-2014 * H.Merijn Brand * Abe Timmerman This suite is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself, without consulting the author. (Future) Co-Authors and or contributors should agree to this before submitting patches. See: =over 4 =item * http://www.perl.com/perl/misc/Artistic.html =item * http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html =back This program 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. =head1 AUTHOR The perl core test smoke suite is maintained by Abe Timmerman <abeltje@cpan.org>. H.Merijn Brand <h.m.brand@hccnet.nl> in dialogue and consultation with Michael Schwern <schwern@pobox.com>, the Perl QA pumpkin. Contributors and/or co-authors: Configurations and nuts and bolts Nicholas Clark <nick@plum.flirble.org> smoke.sh Jarkko Hietaniemi Portability issues Will Coleda - IMG <wjc@infomg.com> Safety Richard Soderberg Win32/MSC5/dmake Mattia Barbon Abe Timmerman <abeltje@cpan.org> Christian Walde <mithaldu@cpan.org> * Cygwin John Peacock <jpeacock@rowman.com> Sharing issues Blair Zajac Good ideas Jos Boumans <kane@dwim.org> VMS Craig Berry * SysInfo Alain Barbet Merijn Brand * Alan Burlison Allen Smith David Woolger Campo Wijerman and all the people having useful suggestions and nits, starting at YAPC::Europe-2.0.01, where Michael talked Merijn into simplifying his own test-suite and sharing it with the community. The Test::Smoke team. =head1 MISC As always, have the appropriate amount of fun! =head1 SEE ALSO L<ReleaseNotes>, L<FAQ> =head1 TODO =over 4 =item * More test-suite =item * VMS? =back =cut