Unit tests for functors?

From: jpanzer_at_[hidden]
Date: 2001-07-03 15:11:34

Are there any unit tests for functors in the works for the Boost test
library?  Specifically, to test whether they really meet complex
requirements, such as strict weak ordering, for a given set of inputs?
This is something that static concept checking clearly can't do, but
it's important to get right, and I think it's expensive or impossible
for library code to try to validate such requirements.

I don't see anything like this in the current beta or published
libraries.  The Boost Test Library looks like a good platform to build
such a thing on top of, though.

Motivation: Recently an engineer in my group tracked down a mysterious
random crash problem to a bug in the comparison predicate used with a
map<> container.  Unfortunately this was my code :^).  I would love to
be able to write, as part of my unit test, something like this:

test_functor_concept<StrictWeakOrdering>(MyLessThan(),
ArgumentGenerator());

where I supply the functor (MyLessThan) and a generator functor that
creates test objects in a reproducible way for use by the test harness.
Perhaps a third argument specifying the amount of time to spend on the
testing would be useful. Anything like this already out there?

If not, and people think it useful, I might write it myself.  Please let
me know what you think.

--
John Panzer