ATF(7) | Miscellaneous Information Manual | ATF(7)

# NAME

`ATF` — introduction to the Automated Testing Framework

# DESCRIPTION

IMPORTANT: If you are here because you want to know how to run the tests in /usr/tests, you most likely want to read the tests(7) manual page instead.

The Automated Testing Framework (`ATF`) is a collection of libraries and utilities designed to ease unattended application testing in the hands of developers and end users of a specific piece of software.

As regards developers, `ATF` provides the necessary means to easily create test suites composed of multiple test programs, which in turn are a collection of test cases. It also attempts to simplify the debugging of problems when these test cases detect an error by providing as much information as possible about the failure.

As regards users, it simplifies the process of running the test suites and, in special, encourages end users to run them often: they do not need to have source trees around nor any other development tools installed to be able to certify that a given piece of software works on their machine as advertised.

If your operating systems distributes `ATF`, it is possible that it provides an introductory tests(7) manual page. You are encouraged to read it now.

## License

`ATF` is distributed under the terms of the TNF License, a 2-clause BSD license. For more details please see:

    /usr/share/doc/atf/COPYING

## Components

`ATF` is a highly modular piece of software. It provides a couple of libraries to ease the implementation of test programs: one for the C and C++ languages and another one for shell scripts. It also includes multiple small utilities that follow the principle of doing a single thing but doing it right. This section outlines which these components are.

Public utilities:

atf-check(1)
  Executes a command and checks that its exit code, its standard output and its standard error output match pre-specified expected values.
atf-config(1)
  Queries static configuration information.
atf-report(1)
  Converts the output of `atf-run` to user-friendly and/or machine-parseable reports.
atf-run(1)
  Automates the execution of a series of test programs and collects their results in a unified report.
atf-sh(1)
  Shell interpreter for shell-based test programs.

Programming interfaces:

atf-c-api(3)
  C programming interface for test programs.
atf-c++-api(3)
  C++ programming interface for test programs.
atf-sh-api(3)
  POSIX shell programming interface for test programs.

Other:

atf-formats(5)
  Description of the machine-parseable data formats used by the tools.
atf-test-case(4)
  Generic description of test cases, independent of the language they are implemented in.
atf-test-program(1)
  Common interface provided by the test programs written using the `ATF` libraries.

## Recommended reading order

For end users wishing to run tests:

1. tests(7) (only if provided by your operating system).
2. atf-test-program(1)
3. atf-run(1)
4. atf-report(1)
5. atf-config(1)

For developers wanting to write their own tests:

1. Everything recommended to users.
2. atf-test-case(4)
3. atf-c-api(3)
4. atf-c++-api(3)
5. atf-sh-api(3)
6. atf-sh(1)
7. atf-check(1)

For those interested in `ATF` internals:

1. Everything recommended to users.
2. Everything recommended to developers.
3. atf-formats(5)

# SEE ALSO

tests(7)

# HISTORY

`ATF` started as a Google Summer of Code 2007 project mentored by The NetBSD Foundation. Its original goal was to provide a testing framework for The NetBSD Operating System, but it grew as an independent project because the framework itself did not need to be tied to a specific operating system.

For more details on this subject, please see:

    /usr/share/doc/atf/NEWS
    /usr/share/doc/atf/ROADMAP

# AUTHORS

For more details on the people that made `ATF` possible, please see:

    /usr/share/doc/atf/AUTHORS

August 28, 2010 | NetBSD 11.99