The JDK Test Framework: Tag Language Specification Comments and questions to: jtreg-comments@sun.com 1.25 06/10/24 This is a specification document, not a tutorial. For more basic information please consult the jtreg faq at http://openjdk.dev.java.net/jtreg. LEADING COMMENTS AND DEFINING FILES A particular test may involve several files of various types, but the test is specified in just one of them. Let this be called the _defining_ file of the test. The defining file of a test may be one of several types of files. Test tags must be enclosed in a comment at the head of the file, optionally preceeded by comments which do not contain test tags. The comment in the defining file which includes the test tags is called the _leading_ comment. The following types of defining files are recognized: A Java source file, with file extension ".java". Only the "/*" to "*/" comment syntax is recognized. On each comment line leading asterisks, if any, are ignored. A Bourne shell file, with file extension ".sh". The leading comment is the first contiguous set of lines each of whose first character is '#'. The comment is terminated by the first line whose first character is not '#'. Note that shell tests should not contain "# !/bin/sh" on the first line; they are intended to be run only via explicit invocation of a shell. An HTML file, with file extension ".html". The leading comment is enclosed within the usual "<!--" to "-->" HTML tag. The contents of a leading comment are parsed into a sequence of tokens. A token is a maximal contiguous sequence of non-whitespace characters. Whitespace characters, which include newline and carriage-return characters, are significant only insofar as they separate tokens. The first token in the leading comment in the defining file of a test must be "@test". The harness discovers defining files by looking for such tokens. A file without comments is not a defining file. A file whose leading comment does not start with "@test" is not a defining file. TAG SYNTAX Within a leading comment, a tag consists of a tag token followed by some number of arguments. A tag token is any token whose first character is '@'. There is at present no syntax for quoting a leading '@' character. Case is significant when comparing tag tokens; all tag tokens defined here are in lower case. It is an error for the leading comment of a defining file to contain any tag token not defined here. As a special case, the token "@(#)" is not treated as a tag token. This token may appear in the arguments to an @test tag as part of the SCCS identification string. The arguments of a tag are simply the tokens that follow it. The argument tokens of a tag extend from the first token after the tag token to the end of the comment, the end of the file, or the next tag token, whichever comes first. Argument tokens are separated by whitespace; if commas are used, they will be considered to be part of the tokens to which they are adjacent. INFORMATIONAL TAGS Informational tags document the test. They do not affect the operation of the harness, but may be used by the harness in generating reports. @test <token>* -- Defining-file identifier; <token>* is typically SCCS identification info @bug <bugid>+ -- Bugtraq bug numbers @summary <token>+ -- Textual summary @author <token>+ -- Original author Any particular informational tag may occur at most once in a given test. DECLARATIVE TAGS Declarative tags govern the execution of the tags that follow them. @library <path|jar>+ Add one or more pathnames or jar filenames to the library-directory list. Each argument must be relative using forward slashes and ".." to denote parent directories. The names are prepended to the list from right to left. When the harness runs a test it adds the library list to the class path used by the virtual machine. The class path will consist of the test-class directory, the current test-source directory, the library list with each element resolved against the test-class directory, and the system class directories or zip/jar files of the build being tested. The class path will be computed in the same fashion when the harness compiles a class. Classes in library directories are not automatically compiled. A test that relies upon library classes should contain appropriate @build directives to ensure that the classes will be compiled. The @library tag may be used more than once. It may only be used before the first @run tag. The @library tag and the library list have nothing to do with the search path (i.e., the PATH environment variable) defined in shell actions. @key <keyword>+ Label this test with the given keyword(s). Some harnesses allow tests to be selected via boolean expressions on keywords. The list of acceptable keywords may be specified in the TEST.ROOT file (see below). The @key tag may be used at most once in a given test. ACTION TAGS Action tags tell the harness how to perform the test. They are executed in the order in which they are given. Each action either passes or fails. If an action fails, no following actions, if any, are performed. A test passes if, and only if, all of its actions pass. Action tags begin with the tag token "@run", and have the following syntax: @run <type><option>* <arg>* The <type> describes the basic type of the action; the <option>s further describe how the action is to be performed. The <arg>s are passed to the test in a manner appropriate to the <type>. The first token after the "@run" token contains both the action type and options, if any. To parse the type and the options, this token is broken down into subtokens. A subtoken is either the character '=', the character '/', or a maximal contiguous sequence of characters not containing either of these characters. The type of an action tag is named by the first subtoken of the tag's first token. The remaining subtokens of the first token form the options. Options have the syntax /<name> or /<name>=<value> where <name> and <value> are a single subtokens. The <value> may be enclosed in double quotes to prevent the usual interpretation of '=', '/', and whitespace. ACTION OPTIONS Not all action types support all options. /fail Negate the result of the action. If the action fails it is treated as though it passed, and vice versa. /timeout=<seconds> Specify the timeout value. The default timeout is two minutes. If an action does not finish before the timeout expires, it fails. The timeout period applies to the entire action, not to particular steps of the action. The /timeout option may not be given in conjunction with the /manual option. /ref=<file> Capture the standard output and error of the action and compare it to the content of <file>, which is in the same directory as the test. The action succeeds only if the output matches the content of the file. Even if /fail is specified, the output must match in order for the action to pass. /othervm Some test harnesses run tests in the same VM as the harness itself. This option forces the action to be run in a fresh VM subprocess. Use this option if you need to specify VM options, or if the action might crash the VM. /manual[=(yesno|done)] Indicates that this is a manual action requiring user interaction. If the harness has been instructed to run only automatic actions, then this action will be skipped and will be considered to have passed. The /manual option may not be given in conjunction with the /timeout option. If no option value is given, then the harness assumes that the test itself will handle whatever user interaction is necessary. If "yesno" is given, then the harness will ask the user whether the action is to pass or fail. If "done" is given, then the harness will wait until the user indicates that the test has completed. When the harness queries the user it does so in a manner appropriate to the action type; e.g., for applet actions it will either display "pass" or "fail" buttons or a single "done" button. In the failure case, some harnesses may provide a way for the user to submit text describing the failure. /policy=<file> Define the Java system property "java.security.policy" to have the value "=${TESTSRC}/<file>", where TESTSRC is the name of the directory containing the defining file of the test. This definition has the effect of making the given file the sole source of security policies to be used by the security manager. In particular, the system security policy and the user's security policy will be ignored. If the /secure option is not used then the default security manager will be installed. Property expansion will be performed in the policy file as usual; in particular, the "test.src" and "test.classes" properties will name the source and class directories of the test being run (see DIRECTORY CONTEXT below). This option may only be used in conjunction with the /othervm option. /secure=<class> Specify a subclass of java.lang.SecurityManager to be installed as the security manager. An appropriate @build tag should be provided to ensure that the class is compiled. If the /secure option is used without the /policy option then the system's built-in policy, equivalent to the original sandbox policy, will be assumed. This option may only be used in conjunction with the /othervm option. CLASS NAMES AS ACTION ARGUMENTS Some actions take one or more class names as arguments. Each such argument is the name of a class, not the name of a class file, so the ".class" suffix should not be given. A class name may be a simple class name (e.g., "Foo"), or a simple class name preceded by a package name (e.g., "bar.Foo", "baz.bar.Foo"). If a class in a non-Java package is specified, then the source file for that class must be in the corresponding directory relative to the directory containing the defining file of the test. CLASS-NAME WILDCARDS Some actions take either class names or class-name wildcards as arguments. A class-name wildcard is either "*", meaning all classes in the default package, or "<package-name>.*", meaning all classes in the named package. ACTION TYPES build <classname-or-wildcard>+ Build classes on demand. Each argument may be a class name, as described above, or a class-name wildcard. To locate a source file for a named class, the harness takes the first matching file found by looking in the test-source directory and then in each directory of the library-directory list. To locate the source files denoted by a wildcard, the harness evaluates the wildcard relative to test-source directory and relative to each directory of the library-directory list, taking all matches. Each discovered class will be compiled if its corresponding class file doesn't exist or is older than its source file. Intended primarily for use before main and applet actions that require more than one class to be compiled. Passes only if the compiler finishes without error, or if none of the specified classes need to be compiled. clean <classname-or-wildcard>+ Remove the class files for the named classes, if they exist. Each argument may be a class name or a class-name wildcard. Intended primarily for compiler tests. Always passes. compile[/fail][/ref=<file>][/timeout=<seconds>] <arg>+ Invoke the compiler on the given <arg>s, which may include any compiler option other than the "-d" option. Equivalent to "javac <arg>+", therefore to specify source files the ".java" suffix must be included. Source file names should be relative pathnames using forward slashes and ".." to denote parent directories; they are interpreted relative to the directory containing the defining file of the test. Standard output and standard error are concatenated (not interleaved) so that /ref may be used. Intended primarily for compiler tests; non-compiler tests should generally use build actions. The timeout period, if specified, applies to the entire compile action, not to the compilation of each individual source file. Passes only if the compiler finishes without error. The use of the -classpath and -sourcepath options as arguments to the compile action is discouraged; the @library tag is often more appropriate. main[/fail][/manual][/othervm][/policy=<file>][/secure=<class>] [/timeout=<seconds>] <vm-opt>* <class> <arg>* Invoke the main method of the specified class, passing any arguments after the class name. Roughly equivalent to "java <vm-opt>* <class> <arg>*". All initial argument tokens beginning with a dash are considered to be VM options; the first argument not beginning with a dash is the <class> to be invoked, and any remaining arguments are passed to the main method of that class. Passes only if the main method returns normally and does not cause an exception to be thrown, from the main thread or from any other thread. A "main" action is considered to be finished when the main method returns; if a test involves multiple threads, some synchronization may be necessary to ensure that the other threads finish their work before the thread running the main method returns. The named <class> will be compiled on demand, just as though an "@run build <class>" action had been inserted before this action. If this action requires classes other than <class> to be up to date, insert an appropriate build action before this action. If any <vm-opt>s are given then /othervm should be specified. If the /manual option is specified then the harness will skip this action when instructed to run only automatic tests; no arguments to the /manual option are supported. The use of the -classpath option as an argument to a main/othervm action is discouraged; the @library tag is often more appropriate. The setting of the system properties "java.security.manager" and "java.security.policy" in main/othervm actions is also discouraged; the /policy and /secure options should be used instead. applet[/fail][/manual[=(yesno|done)]][/othervm][/policy=<file>] [/secure=<class>][/timeout=<sec>] <html-file> Run the applet described by the first <APPLET> HTML tag in the given <html-file>, ignoring any other <APPLET> tags. The applet action is roughly equivalent to "appletviewer <html-file>"; the major difference is that the applet is not run in the restricted security environment implemented by the appletviewer. Intended primarily for tests of graphics functionality; tests of the appletviewer itself can be written using shell actions. Passes if the applet does not throw any exceptions from any thread and, if the /manual option is specified with a value of "yesno", the user indicates that the test passes. The class named in the <APPLET> tag will be compiled on demand, just as though an "@run build <class>" action had been inserted before this action. If this action requires classes other the class named in the <APPLET> tag to be up to date, insert an appropriate build action before this action. If /manual is not specified, then the applet will be run by invoking its init, start, and setVisible(true) methods (in that order), delaying for a few seconds, and then invoking its stop and destroy methods (in that order). The /manual option may be specified to indicate that the test requires human interaction. In this case the HTML file itself will be displayed; it should contain any instructions for the user. When displaying the HTML file, a harness may or may not interpret HTML tags other than the <APPLET> tag; thus the instructions should be written in a way that does not depend upon HTML rendering. If /manual is specified alone, i.e., without any value argument, then the applet will be run just as in the non-manual case. The harness will skip this action, and treat it as though it had passed, when instructed to run only automatic tests. If /manual=yesno is specified, then the harness will ask the user whether the test passes or fails, typically by displaying "pass" and "fail" buttons. The applet will be run by invoking its init, start, and setVisible(true) methods (in that order), waiting for the user to click on "pass" or "fail", and then invoking the applet's stop and destroy methods (in that order). If /manual=done is specified, then the harness will wait for the user to indicate that the test is complete, typically by displaying a "done" button. The applet will be run by invoking its init, start, and setVisible(true) methods (in that order), waiting for the user to click on "done", and then invoking the applet's stop and destroy methods (in that order). The setting of the system properties "java.security.manager" and "java.security.policy" in applet/othervm actions is also discouraged; the /policy and /secure options should be used instead. shell[/fail][/manual][/timeout=<seconds>] <script> <arg>* Invoke the Bourne shell to run <script> on the given <arg>s. The <script> argument should the name of a file relative to the test source directory (see below), using "/" to separate directories and ".." to refer to parent directories. Passes only if the script exits with an exit status of 0. The environment variables TESTSRC, TESTCLASSES, and TESTJAVA will be defined (see below). On Unix systems, the PATH will be set to /bin:/usr/bin and the DISPLAY, HOME, LANG, LC_ALL, LC_TYPE, TZ, LPDEST, PRINTER, and XMODIFIERS variables will be propagated if they are set. On Windows systems, PATH will be set to the MKS toolkit or Cygwin binary directory and WINDIR, SYSTEMROOT, and SYSTEMDRIVE will be propagated if they are set. The environment variable TESTVMOPTS will contain the set of VM options passed from the test harness invocation. If the /manual option is specified then the harness will skip this action when instructed to run only automatic tests; no arguments to the /manual option are supported. ignore <word>* Ignore this and all following @run tags. A test harness may treat this test as a failure or as some other type of error. The <word> tokens, if any, should describe why the test is being ignored. These tokens may be displayed by the harness in some appropriate fashion. DIRECTORY CONTEXT Each test is run in a context that defines the following directories. Working directory: The directory in which the harness is running. Source directory: The directory containing the defining file of the test, as well as any associated files (e.g., input data files). Generally not the same as the working directory. Class directory: The directory into which class files compiled from source files in the source directory are compiled. May be the source directory, or may be some other directory. Java home directory: The directory containing the JDK build or release being tested. A test may create temporary files in the working directory as needed. Test harnesses will typically delete such files before or after each test is run. In order to work properly when run standalone, however, tests should not rely upon this behavior. This can be done having each test's initialization code delete any files that the test may have created in a previous invocation. For each source directory in the test hierarchy there is a corresponding class directory, which may or may not the same as the source directory. Classes in different source directories are, therefore, in different name spaces and need their names will not collide. Simple test harnesses may place class files in source directories, while more sophisticated harnesses will generally place class files in a parallel directory hiearchy. The names of the source, class, and Java home directories of a test are made available to shell-action scripts via the environment variables TESTSRC, TESTCLASSES, and TESTJAVA, respectively. The directory names do not have trailing separators. The names of the source and class directories of a test are made available to main and applet actions via the system properties "test.src" and "test.classes", respectively. The directory names do not have trailing separators. Main and applet actions can read data files defined in the test's source directory using this idiom: File f = new File(System.getProperty("test.src", "."), "foo"); InputStream in = new FileInputStream(f); By defaulting the directory to ".", this technique allows the test to be run standalone in its source directory. SOURCE-DIRECTORY STRUCTURE and TEST.ROOT This specification places no constraints upon the structure of a tree of source directories. Some test harnesses may be able to provide more robust behavior or more succinct reports when they can identify the root of such a tree. The root of a test-source tree must therefore be identified by placing a file named TEST.ROOT in the root directory. Exactly one such file must exist in every test-source tree. The TEST.ROOT file contains test-suite configuration information. It is in the standard Java property-file format as described in the specification of the java.util.Properties class. The only property currently supported is "keys," which should be bound to a space-separated list of the keywords that are allowable in the containing test suite. A harness that supports keyword-based test selection should reject any test containing keywords that are not present in this list. If this property is not present then no keywords should be accepted. DEFAULTS If no @run tags are present in a defining file, a default is assumed depending upon the file's filename extension. For a ".java" file, "@run main <name>" is assumed, where <name> is the name of the file without the ".java" suffix. For a ".sh" file, "@run shell <file>" is assumed. For an ".html" file, "@run applet <file>" is assumed. SHORTHANDS @build <classname>+ == @run build <classname>+ @clean <classname>+ == @run clean <classname>+ @compile<option>* <arg>+ == @run compile<option>* <arg>+ @ignore <word>* == @run ignore <word>* EXAMPLES Run Foo in a separate VM, with the heap limited to 2MB and the verifier turned on: /* @test * @run main/othervm -mx2m -verify Foo arg1 arg2 */ Run Foo in the same VM, with a two-second timeout: /* @test * @run main/timeout=2 Foo */ Compile Foo with debugging, expecting failure, and check the error message against a reference file: /* @test @compile/fail/ref=Foo.ref -debug Foo.java */ Remove Bar's class file, if it exists, then compile Foo, then compile Bar, and finally run Bar, which is expected to fail: /* @test @clean Bar @compile Foo.java @compile Bar.java @run main/fail Bar */ Run the applet described in the file Foo.html, waiting for the user to indicate success or failure. /* @test * @run applet/manual=yesno Foo.html */ Run the class Snidely with the security manager Pinkerton, using the paranoid.sp policy file: /* @test @build Pinkerton @run main/othervm/secure=Pinkerton/policy=paranoid.sp Snidely */ Run the class SnowWhite using classes in the library directory dwarfs: /* @test @library ../dwarfs @build Bashful Doc Dopey Grumpy Happy Sleepy Sneezy @run main SnowWhite */