Re: [Boost-build] Leave target on failure?

Subject: Re: [Boost-build] Leave target on failure?
From: Johan Nilsson (r.johan.nilsson_at_[hidden])
Date: 2009-12-27 13:10:36

"Vladimir Prus" <ghost_at_[hidden]> skrev i meddelandet news:200912232053.59926.ghost_at_cs.msu.su...
> On Monday 07 December 2009 13:25:31 Johan Nilsson wrote:
> 
>> Hi,
>> 
>> I've discovered a "minor" design flaw in my NUnit generator under 
>> development (same as previously discussed here).
>> 
>> The generator generates two main outputs (if XML output is activated):
>> 
>> - The "target name".nunit file, used to detect if the tests are up-to-date 
>> and were run successfully.
>> - The XML report, used to store details on tests run and their success.
>> 
>> Now, when one or more of the tests fail at runtime, the XML report is 
>> deleted as well - which is obviously not what I'd like. What would be the 
>> best design for allowing to leave the XML report behind, if:
>> 
>> 1. The tests are actually run (no problems with e.g. the test runner not 
>> being able to find or load the shared libraries containing the tests, or 
>> their runtime dependencies).
>> 2. One or more of the tests fail at runtime (the test runner then exits with 
>> a non-zero status code).
>> 
>> If (1) above fails, i.e. there is a problem with the actual runner 
>> execution, I think the XML report should get deleted as no tests were 
>> actually created.
>> 
>> Any comments / design suggestions?
> 
> I have looked at the build engine code and now at least capable of asking semi-intelligent
> questions. 
> 
> I think I can implement, inside bjam, a mechanism to leave a given target even
> if the action to update it fails -- so this should help with leaving XML report
> if the runner returns non-zero exit status. That's not exactly the behaviour you
> want.
> 
> To implement the behaviour you want, how can we distinguish between cases (1) 
> and (2) above? Does runner return different error codes? Or there's some other
> approach?

I need to think about this. "Unfortunately" I'll be offline for a while during holidays, so I will get back to this later.

Thanks / Johan