V1 test system questions

From: Vladimir Prus (ghost_at_[hidden])
Date: 2003-09-24 08:53:39

I've some question about the way V1 regression system works (I'm just in 
process of porting it to V2).

1. The 'run-test' rule contains the following:

# Move important data from the test target to the executable
gRUN_LD_LIBRARY_PATH($(executable)) = $(gRUN_LD_LIBRARY_PATH($(parent))) ;
gRUN_PATH($(executable)) = $(gRUN_PATH($(parent))) ;

Who sets this data on 'parent'?

2. It seems like for "RUN" tests, the output is first sent to ".output" file 
which is then copied to ".run". Why the extra copy is needed?

3. The 'capture-run-output' rule contains:

INCLUDES $(target) : $(target:S=.output) ;

First, I don't understand why this statement is needed. Second, while .output 
is in dependency graph, I don't see any updating actions for it, or NOCARE 
statements for it. So, bjam should complain that the target is not found. 
But, it does not. Anybody knows why?

4. The ".test" file constains the name of sources. Why is this necessary?

5. The link and link-fail rules are not used in Boost testsuite. Are they 
implemented for completeness only or they are used somewhere?

TIA,
Volodya