Re: [Boost-users] [test] Still SIGCHLD issues?

Subject: Re: [Boost-users] [test] Still SIGCHLD issues?
From: Johan Nilsson (r.johan.nilsson_at_[hidden])
Date: 2009-11-17 03:01:45

Gennadiy Rozental wrote:
> Boris Schaeling <boris <at> highscore.de> writes:
>
>>> Thanks for the pointer. I was hoping for a provided run-time
>>> solution, which would have been the best.
>>
>> Yes, I agree.
>
> If nothing else works, you can reset signal handler yourself inside
> the test case.
>
>>> If stuck with a compile-time solution, it would IMHO have been more
>>> lenient having to define e.g. BOOST_TEST_HANDLE_NON_ZERO_CHILD_CODE
>>> and BOOST_TEST_HANDLE_SIGCHLD rather than having this new behaviour
>>> by default. I really can't currently imagine a scenario where I
>>> would want this enabled.
>
> Boost.Test is trying to catch all kinds of failures. Child proces
> crashing or returning non-zero error code is usual indication of an
> error.

I'm not convinced. As for signalling a crashing child process (if it can be 
detected) as a fatal error, yes.

As for treating a non-zero "error" code from the result of executing a child 
process as a fatal error, no (IIUC it is not an error code, it is a 
status/exit code that _could_ indicate an error or simply a non-positive 
result). As an example, the "ls" program uses a non-zero status code to 
indicate that the searched for files were not found. Is this a fatal error - 
I don't think so. It's an analogy to the C++ debate on whether to use status 
codes vs using exceptions.

If you are still not convinced, would it then be possible for you to add a 
supported mechanism to selectively disable/enable the interpretations of 
such events as fatal errors or not? BOOST_TEST_CATCH_SYSTEM_ERRORS is just 
too coarse a mechanism.

As a side note: I've been searching the archives for the boost 
developers/users list and found no posts where the users where complaining 
about _not_ having SIGCHLD handled. I have though found a couple of ones 
where people have been complaining about the opposite since the introduction 
of the feature.

Best regards,
Johan