phpman > perldoc > Test::Harness

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NAME
Test::Harness - Run Perl standard test scripts with statistics

VERSION
Version 3.43

SYNOPSIS
use Test::Harness;

runtests(@test_files);

DESCRIPTION
Although, for historical reasons, the Test::Harness distribution takes its name from this module
it now exists only to provide TAP::Harness with an interface that is somewhat backwards
compatible with Test::Harness 2.xx. If you're writing new code consider using TAP::Harness
directly instead.

Emulation is provided for "runtests" and "execute_tests" but the pluggable 'Straps' interface
that previous versions of Test::Harness supported is not reproduced here. Straps is now
available as a stand alone module: Test::Harness::Straps.

See TAP::Parser, TAP::Harness for the main documentation for this distribution.

FUNCTIONS
The following functions are available.

runtests( @test_files )
This runs all the given *@test_files* and divines whether they passed or failed based on their
output to STDOUT (details above). It prints out each individual test which failed along with a
summary report and a how long it all took.

It returns true if everything was ok. Otherwise it will "die()" with one of the messages in the
DIAGNOSTICS section.

execute_tests( tests => \@test_files, out => \*FH )
Runs all the given @test_files (just like "runtests()") but doesn't generate the final report.
During testing, progress information will be written to the currently selected output filehandle
(usually "STDOUT"), or to the filehandle given by the "out" parameter. The *out* is optional.

Returns a list of two values, $total and $failed, describing the results. $total is a hash ref
summary of all the tests run. Its keys and values are this:

bonus Number of individual todo tests unexpectedly passed
max Number of individual tests ran
ok Number of individual tests passed
sub_skipped Number of individual tests skipped
todo Number of individual todo tests

files Number of test files ran
good Number of test files passed
bad Number of test files failed
tests Number of test files originally given
skipped Number of test files skipped

If "$total->{bad} == 0" and "$total->{max} > 0", you've got a successful test.

$failed is a hash ref of all the test scripts that failed. Each key is the name of a test
script, each value is another hash representing how that script failed. Its keys are these:

name Name of the test which failed
estat Script's exit value
wstat Script's wait status
max Number of individual tests
failed Number which failed
canon List of tests which failed (as string).

$failed should be empty if everything passed.

EXPORT
&runtests is exported by "Test::Harness" by default.

&execute_tests, $verbose, $switches and $debug are exported upon request.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES THAT TAP::HARNESS::COMPATIBLE SETS
"Test::Harness" sets these before executing the individual tests.

"HARNESS_ACTIVE"
This is set to a true value. It allows the tests to determine if they are being executed
through the harness or by any other means.

"HARNESS_VERSION"
This is the version of "Test::Harness".

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES THAT AFFECT TEST::HARNESS
"HARNESS_PERL_SWITCHES"
Setting this adds perl command line switches to each test file run.

For example, "HARNESS_PERL_SWITCHES=-T" will turn on taint mode.
"HARNESS_PERL_SWITCHES=-MDevel::Cover" will run "Devel::Cover" for each test.

"-w" is always set. You can turn this off in the test with "BEGIN { $^W = 0 }".

"HARNESS_TIMER"
Setting this to true will make the harness display the number of milliseconds each test
took. You can also use prove's "--timer" switch.

"HARNESS_VERBOSE"
If true, "Test::Harness" will output the verbose results of running its tests. Setting
$Test::Harness::verbose will override this, or you can use the "-v" switch in the prove
utility.

"HARNESS_OPTIONS"
Provide additional options to the harness. Currently supported options are:

"j<n>"
Run <n> (default 9) parallel jobs.

"c" Try to color output. See "new" in TAP::Formatter::Base.

"a<file.tgz>"
Will use TAP::Harness::Archive as the harness class, and save the TAP to "file.tgz"

"fPackage-With-Dashes"
Set the formatter_class of the harness being run. Since the "HARNESS_OPTIONS" is
seperated by ":", we use "-" instead.

Multiple options may be separated by colons:

HARNESS_OPTIONS=j9:c make test

"HARNESS_SUBCLASS"
Specifies a TAP::Harness subclass to be used in place of TAP::Harness.

"HARNESS_SUMMARY_COLOR_SUCCESS"
Determines the Term::ANSIColor for the summary in case it is successful. This color defaults
to 'green'.

"HARNESS_SUMMARY_COLOR_FAIL"
Determines the Term::ANSIColor for the failure in case it is successful. This color defaults
to 'red'.

Taint Mode
Normally when a Perl program is run in taint mode the contents of the "PERL5LIB" environment
variable do not appear in @INC.

Because "PERL5LIB" is often used during testing to add build directories to @INC "Test::Harness"
passes the names of any directories found in "PERL5LIB" as -I switches. The net effect of this
is that "PERL5LIB" is honoured even in taint mode.