org-mode/testing

# -*- mode:org -*-
#+TITLE: Org-mode Testing
#+PROPERTY: results silent

* Dependencies

The only dependency is [[http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/ErtTestLibrary][ERT]] the Emacs testing library which ships with
Emacs24.  If you are running an older version of Emacs and don't
already have ERT installed it can be installed from its old [[https://github.com/ohler/ert][git
repository]].

* Non-interactive batch testing from the command line

The simplest way to run the Org-mode test suite is from the command
line with the following invocation.  Note that the paths below are
relative to the base of the Org-mode directory.

Also note that many of the current tests uses babel evaluation...

#+BEGIN_SRC sh :dir (expand-file-name "..")
  # For Emacs earlier than 24, add -L /path/to/ert
  emacs -Q --batch \
        -L lisp/ -L testing/ -L testing/lisp -l lisp/org.el \
        -l lisp/org-id.el -l testing/org-test.el \
        --eval "(progn (org-reload) (setq org-confirm-babel-evaluate nil) \
        (org-babel-do-load-languages 'org-babel-load-languages \
        '((emacs-lisp . t) (shell . t) (org . t))))" \
        -f org-test-run-batch-tests
#+END_SRC

The options in the above command are explained below.

| -Q      | ignores any personal configuration ensuring a vanilla Emacs instance is used |
| --batch | runs Emacs in "batch" mode with no gui and termination after execution       |
| -l      | loads Org-mode and the org mode test suite defined in testing/org-test.el    |
| --eval  | reloads Org-mode and allows evaluation of code blocks by the tests           |
| -f      | actually runs the tests using the `org-test-run-batch-tests' function        |

* Interactive testing from within Emacs

To run the Org-mode test suite from a current Emacs instance simply
load and run the test suite with the following commands.

1) First load the test suite.
   #+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp :var here=(buffer-file-name)
     (add-to-list 'load-path (file-name-directory here))
     (require 'org-test)
   #+END_SRC

2) Load required Babel languages
   #+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
     (org-babel-do-load-languages
      'org-babel-load-languages
      (and
       (mapc (lambda (lang) (add-to-list 'org-babel-load-languages (cons lang t)))
             '(emacs-lisp shell org))
       org-babel-load-languages))
   #+END_SRC

3) Then run the test suite.  Babel evaluation confirmation is disabled
   and ~C-c C-c~ is enabled while running the tests.
   #+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
     (let (org-babel-no-eval-on-ctrl-c-ctrl-c
           org-confirm-babel-evaluate)
       (org-test-run-all-tests))
   #+END_SRC

   When a test fails, run it interactively and investigate the problem
   in the ERT results buffer.

   How to run one test:
   Use this as a demo example of a failing test
   #+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
     (ert-deftest test-org/org-link-escape-ascii-character-demo-of-fail ()
       (should (string= "%5B"  ;; expecting %5B is right
                        (org-link-escape "[")))
       (should (string= "%5C"  ;; expecting %5C is wrong, %5D right
                        (org-link-escape "]"))))
   #+END_SRC
   or evaluate the ert-deftest form of the test you want to run.  Then
   "M-x ert RET test-org/org-link-escape-ascii-character-demo-of-fail RET"
   When not visible yet switch to the ERT results buffer named
   "\*ert\*".  When a test failed the ERT results buffer shows the
   details of the first "should" that failed.  See
   (info "(ert)Running Tests Interactively") on how to re-run, start
   the debugger etc.

   How to run all tests of a single test file:
   "M-x ert-delete-all-tests RET", confirm.  Open the file
   ./lisp/test-*.el, "M-x eval-buffer RET", "M-x ert RET t RET"

   Consider to set pp-escape-newlines nil before running the test when
   looking at "should" in the ERT results buffer.  Especially when
   using "l" to look at passed test results and possibly missing an
   appropriate setting of pp-escape-newlines made only temporarily for
   the running time of the test as e. g. tests using
   org-test-table-target-expect-tblfm do.

* Troubleshooting

- If the value of the =org-babel-no-eval-on-ctrl-c-ctrl-c= is non-nil
  then it will result in some test failure, as there are tests which
  rely on this behavior.