16.4 Making testsuite Scripts

For putting Autotest into movement, you need some configuration and Makefile machinery. We recommend, at least if your package uses deep or shallow hierarchies, that you use `tests/' as the name of the directory holding all your tests and their `Makefile'. Here is a check list of things to do.

• Ensure that configuration defines PACKAGE and VERSION. This is already guaranteed if you are using Automake through the AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE call, but with straight Autoconf, it means that you should at least use AC_SUBST for these two variables, after having initialized them to proper values.

• Use the AT_CONFIG macro from within file `configure.ac'. This macro accepts one argument, which is the directory, relative to the test directory, where the executables are prepared.

• Still within `configure.ac', ensure that some AC_CONFIG_FILES command includes substitution for `tests/atconfig' and also, as appropriate, `tests/atlocal'.

• The `tests/Makefile.in' should be modified so the validation in your package is triggered by `make check'. An example is provided below.

With Automake, here is a minimal example about how to link `make check' with a validation suite.

EXTRA_DIST = testsuite.at testsuite TESTSUITE = $(srcdir)/testsuite check-local: atconfig atlocal $(TESTSUITE) $(SHELL) $(TESTSUITE) AUTOM4TE = autom4te AUTOTEST = $(AUTOM4TE) --language=autotest $(TESTSUITE): $(srcdir)/testsuite.at $(AUTOTEST) -I $(srcdir) $.at -o $.tmp mv $.tmp $

You might want to list explicitly the dependencies, i.e., the list of the files `testsuite.at' includes.

With strict Autoconf, you might need to add lines inspired from the following:

subdir = tests atconfig: $(top_builddir)/config.status cd $(top_builddir) && \ $(SHELL) ./config.status $(subdir)/$ atlocal: $(srcdir)/atlocal.in $(top_builddir)/config.status cd $(top_builddir) && \ $(SHELL) ./config.status $(subdir)/$

and manage to have `atconfig.in' and $(EXTRA_DIST) distributed.