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Common Test
Release Notes
Version 1.4.7

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Chapters

- Common Test Release Notes
  - Top of chapter
  - Common_Test 1.4.7
  - Common_Test 1.4.6
  - Common_Test 1.4.5
  - Common_Test 1.4.2
  - Common_Test 1.4.1
  - Common_Test 1.4
  - Common_Test 1.3.6
  - Common_Test 1.3.5
  - Common_Test 1.3.4
  - Common_Test 1.3.3
  - Common_Test 1.3.2
  - Common_Test 1.3.1
  - common_test 1.3.0

# 1 Common Test Release Notes

### 1.1 Common_Test 1.4.7

#### Fixed Bugs and Malfunctions

- The auto compilation feature of Common Test did not recognize if a header file included in a test suite was modified (if the dir start flag/option was used). This has been fixed.

  Own Id: OTP-8396 Aux Id: seq11488, OTP-8311

#### Improvements and New Features

- The tc_status value in the Config list for a test case that has failed because of a timetrap timeout, has changed from {tc_status,timeout} to {tc_status,timetrap_timeout}.

  Own Id: OTP-8302

- The documentation is now possible to build in an open source environment after a number of bugs are fixed and some features are added in the documentation build process.

  - The arity calculation is updated.

  - The module prefix used in the function names for bif's are removed in the generated links so the links will look like "http://www.erlang.org/doc/man/erlang.html#append_element-2" instead of "http://www.erlang.org/doc/man/erlang.html#erlang:append_element-2".

  - Enhanced the menu positioning in the html documentation when a new page is loaded.

  - A number of corrections in the generation of man pages (thanks to Sergei Golovan)

  - The legal notice is taken from the xml book file so OTP's build process can be used for non OTP applications.

  Own Id: OTP-8343

- It is now possible to include the ct.hrl using the -include_lib directive. (Thanks to Fred Hebert.)

  Own Id: OTP-8379

- The telnet client in Common Test sent [IAC,DO,NOP] to the server in attempt to keep the connection alive. This is not a valid sequence according to the standard, and some telnet servers would terminate the connection because of it. The client has been changed to send [IAC,NOP] every 10 secs instead, which should be a valid sequence. The client does not negotiate this type of "keep alive" message with the server, and if it causes problems, the user may disable the keep alive feature by adding {keep_alive,false} to the telnet configuration data for the server/connection. Please see the ct_telnet and unix_telnet manual pages for details.

  Own Id: OTP-8450 Aux Id: OTP-8311

### 1.2 Common_Test 1.4.6

#### Fixed Bugs and Malfunctions

- If the init_per_testcase/2 function fails, the test case now gets marked and counted as auto skipped, not user skipped (which would previously happen).

  Own Id: OTP-8289

#### Improvements and New Features

- The documentation is now built with open source tools (xsltproc and fop) that exists on most platforms. One visible change is that the frames are removed.

  Own Id: OTP-8201

- For a failed test case, the tc_done event is supposed to report info on the form {failed,Error}. Only Error was reported, however, which has now been fixed.

  Own Id: OTP-8235 Aux Id: seq-11414

- It is now possible to fail a test case from the end_per_testcase/2 function, by returning {fail,Reason}.

  Own Id: OTP-8284

- It is now possible to fail a test case by having the end_tc/3 framework function return {fail,Reason} for the test case.

  Own Id: OTP-8285

- The test_server framework API (e.g. the end_tc/3 function) has been modified. See the test_server_ctrl documentation for details.

  Own Id: OTP-8286 Aux Id: OTP-8285, OTP-8287

- Various updates of the test events have been implemented. The data field for some events, such as tc_done and tc_auto_skip has been modified to make pattern matching on the data easier and more consistent. Also the order in which some events are received has been altered. E.g. the tc_auto_skip event for a test case now comes after the tc_done for the failed configuration function (not before) which makes more sense. Note that no new events have been added and that the event record remains unchanged.

  Own Id: OTP-8287 Aux Id: OTP-8235

- The marquee used for test names on the all_runs.html page has been removed on request. Note that the test name field has the full text string in a title tag, which is displayed when hovering the mouse pointer over it (i.e. if the web browser supports title tags).

  Own Id: OTP-8288

- It is now possible to refresh the top level index files in an arbitrary log directory by specifying a {refresh_logs,LogDir} tuple in the ct:run_test/1 options list. Also the -refresh_logs flag for the run_test script has been extended to take an optional LogDir argument, i.e. -refresh_logs [LogDir]. If no LogDir is specified, current working directory is assumed, unless the log directory is set with the -logdir flag.

  Own Id: OTP-8290

- It was previously required that test suites were located under a test object (or OTP application) sub-directory named "test" (or under a directory named "<testobject>_test"). This has been changed so that Common Test now looks for suites primarily in a test sub-directory only if the directory exists. Otherwise it will assume the suites are stored in the same directory the user specifies with e.g. the 'dir' start flag/option.

  Own Id: OTP-8294

### 1.3 Common_Test 1.4.5

#### Fixed Bugs and Malfunctions

- The Common Test logger process crashed if a test case in a sequence (declared with sequences/0) failed. This fault has been corrected.

  Own Id: OTP-8089 Aux Id: seq11334

#### Improvements and New Features

- Various updates and fixes in Common Test and Test Server.

  Own Id: OTP-8045 Aux Id: OTP-8089,OTP-8105,OTP-8163

- Errors in coverage data collection and analysis were difficult to detect. The logging has been improved so that more information about e.g. imported and missing modules is printed to the html log files.

  Own Id: OTP-8163 Aux Id: seq11374

- The Common Test HTML overview pages have been improved. It is now possible to see if a test case has been skipped explicitly or because a configuration function has failed. Also, the history page (all_runs.html) now has scrolling text displaying the test names. The old format (showing names as a truncated string) can still be generated by means of the flag/option 'basic_html'.

  Own Id: OTP-8177

### 1.4 Common_Test 1.4.2

#### Improvements and New Features

- Various corrections and improvements of Common Test and Test Server.

  Own Id: OTP-7981

### 1.5 Common_Test 1.4.1

#### Improvements and New Features

- Minor updates and corrections.

  Own Id: OTP-7897

### 1.6 Common_Test 1.4

#### Improvements and New Features

- A support client module for SSH and SFTP, ct_ssh, has been introduced in Common Test.

  Own Id: OTP-7838

- Test case groups have been introduced. With this feature it's possible to execute groups (possibly nested) of test cases, each group wrapped with a call to function init_per_group/2 and end_per_group/2. Group definitions are done by means of the new call-back function groups/0, which should return a list of definitions. A group definition contains a name tag, a list of properties and a list of test cases (including possible nested group definitions). The properties make it possible to execute test cases in parallel, in sequence and in shuffled order. It is also possible to repeat test cases according to different criterias. The properties can be combined, making it possible to e.g. repeat a conf case a certain number of times and execute the test cases in different (random) order every time. Available properties are: parallel, sequence, shuffle, repeat, repeat_until_all_ok, repeat_until_any_ok, repeat_until_any_fail and repeat_until_all_fail. Please see the Common Test User's Guide for details.

  Own Id: OTP-7839 Aux Id: OTP-7511

- It is now possible to use DES3 encrypted configuration files with Common Test.

  Own Id: OTP-7842 Aux Id: OTP-7838

- In previous versions of Common Test, only one FTP connection could be opened per configuration target name. This has been updated so that multiple connections may be opened. The possibility to use named connections is still supported.

  Own Id: OTP-7853 Aux Id: OTP-7838

- The Erlang mode for Emacs has been updated with new and modified skeletons for Common Test and TS. Syntax for test case groups in Common Test (and conf cases with properties in TS) has been added and a new minimal Common Test suite skeleton has been introduced.

  Own Id: OTP-7856

### 1.7 Common_Test 1.3.6

#### Fixed Bugs and Malfunctions

- When running a test which includes all suites in a test directory, if the auto compilation would fail for one suite, all following suites would be excluded from the test. This was an unwanted behaviour and has been corrected. Now all suites will always be compiled and only the failing ones excluded from the test (and logged as missing).

  Own Id: OTP-7750 Aux Id: OTP-7803

- The step functionality in Common Test (based on interaction with Debugger) was broken. This has been fixed, and some new step features have also been added. Please see the Common Test User's Guide for details.

  Own Id: OTP-7800 Aux Id: seq11106

#### Improvements and New Features

- It is now possible for the user to specify include directories that Common Test will pass along to the compiler when suite and help modules are being compiled (which Common Test performs automatically before running tests).

  Own Id: OTP-7803 Aux Id: OTP-7750

### 1.8 Common_Test 1.3.5

#### Fixed Bugs and Malfunctions

- If the Erlang runtime system was started without access to an erlang shell (e.g. -noshell), compilation errors would cause a crash in the Common Test application. Without access to a shell, Common Test can not prompt the user to choose to continue or abort the test session, but must assume that the session should proceed.

  Own Id: OTP-7749 Aux Id: seq11175, seq11180

#### Improvements and New Features

- It is now possible for the Common Test user to disable the auto-compile feature. This is done by specifying the run_test flag -no_auto_compile, or the ct:run_test/1 option {auto_compile,false}.

  Own Id: OTP-7663

- A new function, ct:get_config/3, has been added to Common Test that makes it possible to - if a particular config variable has been defined in multiple config files - return all matching values for the variable. The order of the elements in the returned list is the same as the specified order of the config files.

  Own Id: OTP-7758 Aux Id: seq11158

- Because a telnet connection was always identified by a config variable alias, it was impossible to open multiple connections using the same telnet host data entry in the config file. This limitation has been removed by making it possible to associate a connection with handle value only (i.e. multiple connections may be opened using the same config variable). See ct_telnet:open/4 for details.

  Own Id: OTP-7781

- A new syntax for defining default config data values has been introduced. In previous versions of Common Test, to define and access a default value for a config variable (in the suite info- or test case info function), an alias name had to be used. With the new syntax you may define default values without reference to aliases, like this: {default_config,VarName,DefaultValue}. Please see the User's Guide for more info.

  Own Id: OTP-7782

- In previous versions of Common Test, whenever a config variable got associated with a name (by means of a require statement), the config variable name was replaced with the new name. This introduced unwanted dependencies between test cases (e.g. if one test case would introduce a new name, the following test cases could no longer access the config data by means of the original variable). This functionality has now been updated so that when new names are introduced with require, they become aliases (references) instead of replacements. Hence, config data elements can always, at any time, be accessed by means of the original config variable names.

  Own Id: OTP-7783

### 1.9 Common_Test 1.3.4

#### Improvements and New Features

- Common Test now uses the re application instead of the previous rx driver to perform regular expression matching on telnet strings. Since re works on all supported operating systems, it is now possible to run telnet sessions also on platforms such as e.g. Windows (which was not the case with the previous rx driver). Note that the rx driver is obsolete from now on, and will be removed from Common Test after OTP R12B.

  Own Id: OTP-7528

### 1.10 Common_Test 1.3.3

#### Improvements and New Features

- Various updates and improvements, plus some minor bug fixes, have been implemented in Common Test and Test Server.

  Own Id: OTP-7112

- It is now possible, by means of the new function ct:abort_current_testcase/1 or test_server_ctrl:abort_current_testcase/1, to abort the currently executing test case.

  Own Id: OTP-7518 Aux Id: OTP-7112

### 1.11 Common_Test 1.3.2

#### Improvements and New Features

- The configure test of the rx lib in Common Test was not performed during the general OTP application configuration phase. This made e.g. autoconf impossible. This has been changed to correspond with the normal OTP build procedure.

  Own Id: OTP-7379

### 1.12 Common_Test 1.3.1

#### Improvements and New Features

- The rx library, included with common_test, failed to build on on some architectures because the -fPIC compiler option was missing.

  Own Id: OTP-7111

### 1.13 common_test 1.3.0