Re: [boost] Testing macros..

Subject: Re: [boost] Testing macros..
From: Stewart, Robert (Robert.Stewart_at_[hidden])
Date: 2010-05-24 07:13:50

Rene Rivera wrote:
>
> Once upon a time I did a bunch of work towards a Boost Predef
> library.
> The goal was to have a consistent set of version and feature
> definitions
> as could be determined from the predefined macros of toolsets
> <https://svn.boost.org/svn/boost/sandbox/predef/>. But the
> work stalled
> for one basic reason.. How do I write tests for such a
> library? The only
> other library that approaches the domain of this one is Boost Config
> and, AFAICT, it doesn't test the macros themselves.

First, this looks very nice.

Second, BOOST_VERSION_NUMBER(0,0,1) is an awfully verbose way to write 1, don't you think?

Third, the only way to test this I can think of is to write tests that, effectively, repeat the preprocessor work done in the configuration files, but written in a less factored way and with static assertions to verify expected values.  The special cases don't seem to allow for anything automatic.  For example,

#ifdef _MSC_VER
BOOST_STATIC_ASSERT(BOOST_CXX_MSVC);
BOOST_STATIC_ASSERT(BOOST_CXX_MSVC_BUILD);
#  if _MSC_VER == 1400
BOOST_STATIC_ASSERT(BOOST_CXX_MSVC/100000 == 800);
#  elif _MSC_VER == 1510
BOOST_STATIC_ASSERT(BOOST_CXX_MSVC/100000 == 910);
#  elif ...
...
#  endif
#endif

(I glossed over the BOOST_CXX_MSVC_BUILD values just for simplicity.)

A test file for each compiler would avoid introducing too much noise in any given file, I should think.

_____
Rob Stewart                           robert.stewart_at_[hidden]
Software Engineer, Core Software      using std::disclaimer;
Susquehanna International Group, LLP  http://www.sig.com

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