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      1 lit - LLVM Integrated Tester
      2 ============================
      3 
      4 SYNOPSIS
      5 --------
      6 
      7 :program:`lit` [*options*] [*tests*]
      8 
      9 DESCRIPTION
     10 -----------
     11 
     12 :program:`lit` is a portable tool for executing LLVM and Clang style test
     13 suites, summarizing their results, and providing indication of failures.
     14 :program:`lit` is designed to be a lightweight testing tool with as simple a
     15 user interface as possible.
     16 
     17 :program:`lit` should be run with one or more *tests* to run specified on the
     18 command line.  Tests can be either individual test files or directories to
     19 search for tests (see :ref:`test-discovery`).
     20 
     21 Each specified test will be executed (potentially in parallel) and once all
     22 tests have been run :program:`lit` will print summary information on the number
     23 of tests which passed or failed (see :ref:`test-status-results`).  The
     24 :program:`lit` program will execute with a non-zero exit code if any tests
     25 fail.
     26 
     27 By default :program:`lit` will use a succinct progress display and will only
     28 print summary information for test failures.  See :ref:`output-options` for
     29 options controlling the :program:`lit` progress display and output.
     30 
     31 :program:`lit` also includes a number of options for controlling how tests are
     32 executed (specific features may depend on the particular test format).  See
     33 :ref:`execution-options` for more information.
     34 
     35 Finally, :program:`lit` also supports additional options for only running a
     36 subset of the options specified on the command line, see
     37 :ref:`selection-options` for more information.
     38 
     39 Users interested in the :program:`lit` architecture or designing a
     40 :program:`lit` testing implementation should see :ref:`lit-infrastructure`.
     41 
     42 GENERAL OPTIONS
     43 ---------------
     44 
     45 .. option:: -h, --help
     46 
     47  Show the :program:`lit` help message.
     48 
     49 .. option:: -j N, --threads=N
     50 
     51  Run ``N`` tests in parallel.  By default, this is automatically chosen to
     52  match the number of detected available CPUs.
     53 
     54 .. option:: --config-prefix=NAME
     55 
     56  Search for :file:`{NAME}.cfg` and :file:`{NAME}.site.cfg` when searching for
     57  test suites, instead of :file:`lit.cfg` and :file:`lit.site.cfg`.
     58 
     59 .. option:: -D NAME, -D NAME=VALUE, --param NAME, --param NAME=VALUE
     60 
     61  Add a user defined parameter ``NAME`` with the given ``VALUE`` (or the empty
     62  string if not given).  The meaning and use of these parameters is test suite
     63  dependent.
     64 
     65 .. _output-options:
     66 
     67 OUTPUT OPTIONS
     68 --------------
     69 
     70 .. option:: -q, --quiet
     71 
     72  Suppress any output except for test failures.
     73 
     74 .. option:: -s, --succinct
     75 
     76  Show less output, for example don't show information on tests that pass.
     77 
     78 .. option:: -v, --verbose
     79 
     80  Show more information on test failures, for example the entire test output
     81  instead of just the test result.
     82 
     83 .. option:: -a, --show-all
     84 
     85  Show more information about all tests, for example the entire test
     86  commandline and output.
     87 
     88 .. option:: --no-progress-bar
     89 
     90  Do not use curses based progress bar.
     91 
     92 .. option:: --show-unsupported
     93 
     94  Show the names of unsupported tests.
     95 
     96 .. option:: --show-xfail
     97 
     98  Show the names of tests that were expected to fail.
     99 
    100 .. _execution-options:
    101 
    102 EXECUTION OPTIONS
    103 -----------------
    104 
    105 .. option:: --path=PATH
    106 
    107  Specify an additional ``PATH`` to use when searching for executables in tests.
    108 
    109 .. option:: --vg
    110 
    111  Run individual tests under valgrind (using the memcheck tool).  The
    112  ``--error-exitcode`` argument for valgrind is used so that valgrind failures
    113  will cause the program to exit with a non-zero status.
    114 
    115  When this option is enabled, :program:`lit` will also automatically provide a
    116  "``valgrind``" feature that can be used to conditionally disable (or expect
    117  failure in) certain tests.
    118 
    119 .. option:: --vg-arg=ARG
    120 
    121  When :option:`--vg` is used, specify an additional argument to pass to
    122  :program:`valgrind` itself.
    123 
    124 .. option:: --vg-leak
    125 
    126  When :option:`--vg` is used, enable memory leak checks.  When this option is
    127  enabled, :program:`lit` will also automatically provide a "``vg_leak``"
    128  feature that can be used to conditionally disable (or expect failure in)
    129  certain tests.
    130 
    131 .. option:: --time-tests
    132 
    133  Track the wall time individual tests take to execute and includes the results
    134  in the summary output.  This is useful for determining which tests in a test
    135  suite take the most time to execute.  Note that this option is most useful
    136  with ``-j 1``.
    137 
    138 .. _selection-options:
    139 
    140 SELECTION OPTIONS
    141 -----------------
    142 
    143 .. option:: --max-tests=N
    144 
    145  Run at most ``N`` tests and then terminate.
    146 
    147 .. option:: --max-time=N
    148 
    149  Spend at most ``N`` seconds (approximately) running tests and then terminate.
    150 
    151 .. option:: --shuffle
    152 
    153  Run the tests in a random order.
    154 
    155 ADDITIONAL OPTIONS
    156 ------------------
    157 
    158 .. option:: --debug
    159 
    160  Run :program:`lit` in debug mode, for debugging configuration issues and
    161  :program:`lit` itself.
    162 
    163 .. option:: --show-suites
    164 
    165  List the discovered test suites and exit.
    166 
    167 .. option:: --show-tests
    168 
    169  List all of the discovered tests and exit.
    170 
    171 EXIT STATUS
    172 -----------
    173 
    174 :program:`lit` will exit with an exit code of 1 if there are any FAIL or XPASS
    175 results.  Otherwise, it will exit with the status 0.  Other exit codes are used
    176 for non-test related failures (for example a user error or an internal program
    177 error).
    178 
    179 .. _test-discovery:
    180 
    181 TEST DISCOVERY
    182 --------------
    183 
    184 The inputs passed to :program:`lit` can be either individual tests, or entire
    185 directories or hierarchies of tests to run.  When :program:`lit` starts up, the
    186 first thing it does is convert the inputs into a complete list of tests to run
    187 as part of *test discovery*.
    188 
    189 In the :program:`lit` model, every test must exist inside some *test suite*.
    190 :program:`lit` resolves the inputs specified on the command line to test suites
    191 by searching upwards from the input path until it finds a :file:`lit.cfg` or
    192 :file:`lit.site.cfg` file.  These files serve as both a marker of test suites
    193 and as configuration files which :program:`lit` loads in order to understand
    194 how to find and run the tests inside the test suite.
    195 
    196 Once :program:`lit` has mapped the inputs into test suites it traverses the
    197 list of inputs adding tests for individual files and recursively searching for
    198 tests in directories.
    199 
    200 This behavior makes it easy to specify a subset of tests to run, while still
    201 allowing the test suite configuration to control exactly how tests are
    202 interpreted.  In addition, :program:`lit` always identifies tests by the test
    203 suite they are in, and their relative path inside the test suite.  For
    204 appropriately configured projects, this allows :program:`lit` to provide
    205 convenient and flexible support for out-of-tree builds.
    206 
    207 .. _test-status-results:
    208 
    209 TEST STATUS RESULTS
    210 -------------------
    211 
    212 Each test ultimately produces one of the following six results:
    213 
    214 **PASS**
    215 
    216  The test succeeded.
    217 
    218 **XFAIL**
    219 
    220  The test failed, but that is expected.  This is used for test formats which allow
    221  specifying that a test does not currently work, but wish to leave it in the test
    222  suite.
    223 
    224 **XPASS**
    225 
    226  The test succeeded, but it was expected to fail.  This is used for tests which
    227  were specified as expected to fail, but are now succeeding (generally because
    228  the feature they test was broken and has been fixed).
    229 
    230 **FAIL**
    231 
    232  The test failed.
    233 
    234 **UNRESOLVED**
    235 
    236  The test result could not be determined.  For example, this occurs when the test
    237  could not be run, the test itself is invalid, or the test was interrupted.
    238 
    239 **UNSUPPORTED**
    240 
    241  The test is not supported in this environment.  This is used by test formats
    242  which can report unsupported tests.
    243 
    244 Depending on the test format tests may produce additional information about
    245 their status (generally only for failures).  See the :ref:`output-options`
    246 section for more information.
    247 
    248 .. _lit-infrastructure:
    249 
    250 LIT INFRASTRUCTURE
    251 ------------------
    252 
    253 This section describes the :program:`lit` testing architecture for users interested in
    254 creating a new :program:`lit` testing implementation, or extending an existing one.
    255 
    256 :program:`lit` proper is primarily an infrastructure for discovering and running
    257 arbitrary tests, and to expose a single convenient interface to these
    258 tests. :program:`lit` itself doesn't know how to run tests, rather this logic is
    259 defined by *test suites*.
    260 
    261 TEST SUITES
    262 ~~~~~~~~~~~
    263 
    264 As described in :ref:`test-discovery`, tests are always located inside a *test
    265 suite*.  Test suites serve to define the format of the tests they contain, the
    266 logic for finding those tests, and any additional information to run the tests.
    267 
    268 :program:`lit` identifies test suites as directories containing ``lit.cfg`` or
    269 ``lit.site.cfg`` files (see also :option:`--config-prefix`).  Test suites are
    270 initially discovered by recursively searching up the directory hierarchy for
    271 all the input files passed on the command line.  You can use
    272 :option:`--show-suites` to display the discovered test suites at startup.
    273 
    274 Once a test suite is discovered, its config file is loaded.  Config files
    275 themselves are Python modules which will be executed.  When the config file is
    276 executed, two important global variables are predefined:
    277 
    278 **lit_config**
    279 
    280  The global **lit** configuration object (a *LitConfig* instance), which defines
    281  the builtin test formats, global configuration parameters, and other helper
    282  routines for implementing test configurations.
    283 
    284 **config**
    285 
    286  This is the config object (a *TestingConfig* instance) for the test suite,
    287  which the config file is expected to populate.  The following variables are also
    288  available on the *config* object, some of which must be set by the config and
    289  others are optional or predefined:
    290 
    291  **name** *[required]* The name of the test suite, for use in reports and
    292  diagnostics.
    293 
    294  **test_format** *[required]* The test format object which will be used to
    295  discover and run tests in the test suite.  Generally this will be a builtin test
    296  format available from the *lit.formats* module.
    297 
    298  **test_source_root** The filesystem path to the test suite root.  For out-of-dir
    299  builds this is the directory that will be scanned for tests.
    300 
    301  **test_exec_root** For out-of-dir builds, the path to the test suite root inside
    302  the object directory.  This is where tests will be run and temporary output files
    303  placed.
    304 
    305  **environment** A dictionary representing the environment to use when executing
    306  tests in the suite.
    307 
    308  **suffixes** For **lit** test formats which scan directories for tests, this
    309  variable is a list of suffixes to identify test files.  Used by: *ShTest*.
    310 
    311  **substitutions** For **lit** test formats which substitute variables into a test
    312  script, the list of substitutions to perform.  Used by: *ShTest*.
    313 
    314  **unsupported** Mark an unsupported directory, all tests within it will be
    315  reported as unsupported.  Used by: *ShTest*.
    316 
    317  **parent** The parent configuration, this is the config object for the directory
    318  containing the test suite, or None.
    319 
    320  **root** The root configuration.  This is the top-most :program:`lit` configuration in
    321  the project.
    322 
    323  **pipefail** Normally a test using a shell pipe fails if any of the commands
    324  on the pipe fail. If this is not desired, setting this variable to false
    325  makes the test fail only if the last command in the pipe fails.
    326 
    327 TEST DISCOVERY
    328 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    329 
    330 Once test suites are located, :program:`lit` recursively traverses the source
    331 directory (following *test_source_root*) looking for tests.  When :program:`lit`
    332 enters a sub-directory, it first checks to see if a nested test suite is
    333 defined in that directory.  If so, it loads that test suite recursively,
    334 otherwise it instantiates a local test config for the directory (see
    335 :ref:`local-configuration-files`).
    336 
    337 Tests are identified by the test suite they are contained within, and the
    338 relative path inside that suite.  Note that the relative path may not refer to
    339 an actual file on disk; some test formats (such as *GoogleTest*) define
    340 "virtual tests" which have a path that contains both the path to the actual
    341 test file and a subpath to identify the virtual test.
    342 
    343 .. _local-configuration-files:
    344 
    345 LOCAL CONFIGURATION FILES
    346 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    347 
    348 When :program:`lit` loads a subdirectory in a test suite, it instantiates a
    349 local test configuration by cloning the configuration for the parent directory
    350 --- the root of this configuration chain will always be a test suite.  Once the
    351 test configuration is cloned :program:`lit` checks for a *lit.local.cfg* file
    352 in the subdirectory.  If present, this file will be loaded and can be used to
    353 specialize the configuration for each individual directory.  This facility can
    354 be used to define subdirectories of optional tests, or to change other
    355 configuration parameters --- for example, to change the test format, or the
    356 suffixes which identify test files.
    357 
    358 PRE-DEFINED SUBSTITUTIONS
    359 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    360 
    361 :program:`lit` provides various patterns that can be used with the RUN command.
    362 These are defined in TestRunner.py.
    363 
    364  ========== ==============
    365   Macro      Substitution
    366  ========== ==============
    367  %s         source path (path to the file currently being run)
    368  %S         source dir (directory of the file currently being run)
    369  %p         same as %S
    370  %{pathsep} path separator
    371  %t         temporary file name unique to the test
    372  %T         temporary directory unique to the test
    373  %%         %
    374  %/s        same as %s but replace all / with \\
    375  %/S        same as %S but replace all / with \\
    376  %/p        same as %p but replace all / with \\
    377  %/t        same as %t but replace all / with \\
    378  %/T        same as %T but replace all / with \\
    379  ========== ==============
    380 
    381 Further substitution patterns might be defined by each test module.
    382 See the modules :ref:`local-configuration-files`.
    383 
    384 More information on the testing infrastucture can be found in the
    385 :doc:`../TestingGuide`.
    386 
    387 TEST RUN OUTPUT FORMAT
    388 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    389 
    390 The :program:`lit` output for a test run conforms to the following schema, in
    391 both short and verbose modes (although in short mode no PASS lines will be
    392 shown).  This schema has been chosen to be relatively easy to reliably parse by
    393 a machine (for example in buildbot log scraping), and for other tools to
    394 generate.
    395 
    396 Each test result is expected to appear on a line that matches:
    397 
    398 .. code-block:: none
    399 
    400   <result code>: <test name> (<progress info>)
    401 
    402 where ``<result-code>`` is a standard test result such as PASS, FAIL, XFAIL,
    403 XPASS, UNRESOLVED, or UNSUPPORTED.  The performance result codes of IMPROVED and
    404 REGRESSED are also allowed.
    405 
    406 The ``<test name>`` field can consist of an arbitrary string containing no
    407 newline.
    408 
    409 The ``<progress info>`` field can be used to report progress information such
    410 as (1/300) or can be empty, but even when empty the parentheses are required.
    411 
    412 Each test result may include additional (multiline) log information in the
    413 following format:
    414 
    415 .. code-block:: none
    416 
    417   <log delineator> TEST '(<test name>)' <trailing delineator>
    418   ... log message ...
    419   <log delineator>
    420 
    421 where ``<test name>`` should be the name of a preceding reported test, ``<log
    422 delineator>`` is a string of "*" characters *at least* four characters long
    423 (the recommended length is 20), and ``<trailing delineator>`` is an arbitrary
    424 (unparsed) string.
    425 
    426 The following is an example of a test run output which consists of four tests A,
    427 B, C, and D, and a log message for the failing test C:
    428 
    429 .. code-block:: none
    430 
    431   PASS: A (1 of 4)
    432   PASS: B (2 of 4)
    433   FAIL: C (3 of 4)
    434   ******************** TEST 'C' FAILED ********************
    435   Test 'C' failed as a result of exit code 1.
    436   ********************
    437   PASS: D (4 of 4)
    438 
    439 LIT EXAMPLE TESTS
    440 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    441 
    442 The :program:`lit` distribution contains several example implementations of
    443 test suites in the *ExampleTests* directory.
    444 
    445 SEE ALSO
    446 --------
    447 
    448 valgrind(1)
    449