[PATCH v2 00/12] test: Add support for passing arguments to C unit tests

[Tom Rini]

On Sun, Apr 12, 2026 at 05:19:37AM -0600, Simon Glass wrote:

> Some tests have two parts: a Python test which handles setup, such as
> creating filesystem images or configuring the environment, and a C
> test which does the bulk of the work including assertions. At present
> there is no way to pass information between these two parts, so
> things like paths and device names must be hard-coded in the C test.
> 
> This tends to make people write tests in Python, but this is not ideal
> for several reasons:
> 
> - Python lacks access to things like return codes and has to scan the
>   console output to figure out what happened
> - Python lacks access to internal state, so it cannot directly check
>   the result of an operation
> - Python is ~100x slower due to console interaction, etc.
> - C tests can be stepped through in gdb, which is much harder with
>   Python driving the console
> - C tests can exercise internal APIs directly (e.g. fs_read(),
>   fs_size()) rather than going through the command layer, so they
>   test more precisely what they intend to
> 
> This series adds infrastructure for passing typed, runtime arguments
> from Python to C unit tests, using a name=value format on the ut
> command line.
> 
> The series includes:
> 
> - Regex assertion helpers for matching variable output in tests
> 
> - A private buffer in unit_test_state for test-local temporary data
> 
> - Argument-type definitions (string, integer, boolean) with optional
>   flags and default values
> 
> - A new UNIT_TEST_ARGS() macro for declaring tests with typed
>   arguments
> 
> - Argument parsing in the test framework, accepting name=value format
> 
> - Updates to the ut command to pass arguments through to tests
> 
> - Type-checked accessor macros ut_str(), ut_int(), and ut_bool()
>   with bounds validation
> 
> - Tests for the argument feature covering type checking, optional
>   arguments, and argument-parsing failures
> 
> - Documentation for the test-parameter feature
> 
> - C-based filesystem tests as an example of the hybrid approach,
>   with Python wrappers that pass filesystem type, image path, and
>   expected MD5 values to the C tests
> 
> Note: This series depends on:
> 
>    https://patchwork.ozlabs.org/project/uboot/list/?series=496972
> 
> Changes in v2:
> - Correct double signoff

Reposting a series this large, on the weekend, the day after v1, because
you made a trivial mistake is bad form. You should just acknowledge that
in the cover letter and wait for feedback.

And since I'm seeing over 100 emails from you this weekend, this
matters.

-- 
Tom
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