[U-Boot] [PATCH 01/14] test: Add a README

[Teddy Reed]

Hi Simon,

On Sun, Jul 3, 2016 at 8:40 AM, Simon Glass <sjg at chromium.org> wrote:
> Add a few notes about how testing works in U-Boot.
>
> Signed-off-by: Simon Glass <sjg at chromium.org>

Reviewed-by: Teddy Reed <teddy.reed at gmail.com>

> ---
>
>  test/README | 82 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>  1 file changed, 82 insertions(+)
>  create mode 100644 test/README
>
> diff --git a/test/README b/test/README
> new file mode 100644
> index 0000000..dfd83d6
> --- /dev/null
> +++ b/test/README
> @@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
> +Testing in U-Boot
> +=================
> +
> +U-Boot has a large amount of code. This file describes how this code is
> +tested and what tests you should write when adding a new feature.
> +
> +
> +Sandbox
> +-------
> +U-Boot can be built as a user-space application (e.g. for Linux). This
> +allows test to be executed without needing target hardware. The 'sandbox'
> +target provides this feature and it is widely used in tests.
> +
> +
> +Pytest Suite
> +------------
> +
> +Many tests are available using the pytest suite, in test/py. This can run
> +either on sandbox or on real hardware. It relies on the U-Boot console to
> +inject test commands and check the result. It is slower to run than C code,
> +but provides the ability to unify lots of test and summarise their results.

lots of tests

> +
> +You can run the tests on sandbox with:
> +
> +       ./test/py/test.py --bd sandbox --build
> +
> +This will produce HTML output in build-sandbox/test-log.html
> +
> +See test/py/README.md for more information about the pytest suite.
> +
> +
> +tbot
> +----
> +
> +Tbot provides a way to execute tests on target hardware. It is intended for
> +trying out both U-Boot and Linux (and potentially other software) on a
> +number of boards automatically. It can be used to create a continuous test
> +environment. See tools/tbot/README for more information.
> +
> +
> +Ad-hoc tests
> +------------
> +
> +There are several ad-hoc tests which run outside the pytest environment:
> +
> +   test/fs     - File system test (shell script)
> +   test/image  - FIT and lagacy image tests (shell script and Python)

s/lagacy/legacy/

> +   test/stdint - A test that stdint.h can be used in U-Boot (shell script)
> +   trace       - Test for the tracing feature (shell script)
> +   vboot       - Test for verified boot (shell script)
> +
> +The above should be converted to run as part of the pytest suite.

Is this a NOTE or a TODO?

> +
> +
> +When to write tests
> +-------------------
> +
> +If you add code to U-Boot without a test you are taking a risk. Even if you
> +perform thorough manual testing at the time of submission, it may break when
> +future changes are made to U-Boot. It may even break when applied to mainline,
> +if other changes interact with it. A good mindset is that untested code
> +probably doesn't work and should be deleted.
> +
> +You can assume that the Pytest suite will be run before patches are accepted
> +to mainline, so this provides protection against future breakage.
> +
> +On the other hand there is quite a bit of code that is not covered with tests,
> +or is covered sparingly. So here are some suggestions:
> +
> +- If you are adding a new uclass, add a sandbox driver and a test that uses it
> +- If you are modifying code covered by an existing test, add a new test case
> +  to cover your changes
> +- If the code you are modifying has not tests, consider writing one. Even a
> +  very basic test is useful, and may be picked up and enhanced by others. It
> +  is much easier to add onto a test - writing a new large test can seem
> +  daunting to most contributors.
> +
> +
> +Future work
> +-----------
> +
> +Converting existing shell scripts into pytest tests.
> --
> 2.8.0.rc3.226.g39d4020
>
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Thank for these docs! I wonder if a clone/mirror of the repo on Github
can be set up to run the sandbox/Pytest tests in TravisCI with minimum
effort? :)

-Teddy

-- 
Teddy Reed V