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<a name="Test-Functions"></a>
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<p>
Next: <a href="Demonstration-Functions.html#Demonstration-Functions" accesskey="n" rel="next">Demonstration Functions</a>, Up: <a href="Test-and-Demo-Functions.html#Test-and-Demo-Functions" accesskey="u" rel="up">Test and Demo Functions</a> [<a href="index.html#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="Concept-Index.html#Concept-Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]</p>
</div>
<hr>
<a name="Test-Functions-1"></a>
<h3 class="section">B.1 Test Functions</h3>
<a name="XREFtest"></a><dl>
<dt><a name="index-test"></a><em></em> <strong>test</strong> <em><var>name</var></em></dt>
<dt><a name="index-test-1"></a><em></em> <strong>test</strong> <em><var>name</var> quiet|normal|verbose</em></dt>
<dt><a name="index-test-2"></a><em></em> <strong>test</strong> <em>("<var>name</var>", "quiet|normal|verbose", <var>fid</var>)</em></dt>
<dt><a name="index-test-3"></a><em></em> <strong>test</strong> <em>("<var>name</var>", "quiet|normal|verbose", <var>fname</var>)</em></dt>
<dt><a name="index-test-4"></a><em><var>success</var> =</em> <strong>test</strong> <em>(…)</em></dt>
<dt><a name="index-test-5"></a><em>[<var>n</var>, <var>nmax</var>, <var>nxfail</var>, <var>nbug</var>, <var>nskip</var>, <var>nrtskip</var>, <var>nregression</var>] =</em> <strong>test</strong> <em>(…)</em></dt>
<dt><a name="index-test-6"></a><em>[<var>code</var>, <var>idx</var>] =</em> <strong>test</strong> <em>("<var>name</var>", "grabdemo")</em></dt>
<dt><a name="index-test-7"></a><em></em> <strong>test</strong> <em>([], "explain", <var>fid</var>)</em></dt>
<dt><a name="index-test-8"></a><em></em> <strong>test</strong> <em>([], "explain", <var>fname</var>)</em></dt>
<dd>
<p>Perform built-in self-tests from the first file in the loadpath matching
<var>name</var>.
</p>
<p><code>test</code> can be called in either command or functional form. The exact
operation of test is determined by a combination of mode (interactive or
batch), reporting level (<code>"quiet"</code>, <code>"normal"</code>,
<code>"verbose"</code>), and whether a logfile or summary output variable is
used.
</p>
<p>The default mode when <code>test</code> is called from the command line is
interactive. In this mode, tests will be run until the first error is
encountered, or all tests complete successfully. In batch mode, all tests
are run regardless of any failures, and the results are collected for
reporting. Tests which require user interaction, i.e., demo blocks,
are never run in batch mode.
</p>
<p>Batch mode is enabled by either 1) specifying a logfile using the third
argument <var>fname</var> or <var>fid</var>, or 2) requesting an output argument
such as <var>success</var>, <var>n</var>, etc.
</p>
<p>The optional second argument determines the amount of output to generate and
which types of tests to run. The default value is <code>"normal"</code>.
Requesting an output argument will suppress printing the final summary
message and any intermediate warnings, unless verbose reporting is
enabled.
</p>
<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>"quiet"</code></dt>
<dd><p>Print a summary message when all tests pass, or print an error with the
results of the first bad test when a failure occurs. Don’t run tests which
require user interaction.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>"normal"</code></dt>
<dd><p>Display warning messages about skipped tests or failing xtests during test
execution.
Print a summary message when all tests pass, or print an error with the
results of the first bad test when a failure occurs. Don’t run tests which
require user interaction.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>"verbose"</code></dt>
<dd><p>Display tests before execution. Print all warning messages. In interactive
mode, run all tests including those which require user interaction.
</p></dd>
</dl>
<p>The optional third input argument specifies a logfile where results of the
tests should be written. The logfile may be a character string
(<var>fname</var>) or an open file descriptor ID (<var>fid</var>). To enable batch
processing, but still print the results to the screen, use <code>stdout</code> for
<var>fid</var>.
</p>
<p>When called with just a single output argument <var>success</var>, <code>test</code>
returns true if all of the tests were successful. If called with more
than one output argument then the number of successful tests (<var>n</var>),
the total number of tests in the file (<var>nmax</var>), the number of xtest
failures (<var>nxfail</var>), the number of tests failed due known bugs
(<var>nbug</var>), the number of tests skipped due to missing features
(<var>nskip</var>), the number of tests skipped due to run-time
conditions (<var>nrtskip</var>), and the number of regressions
(<var>nregression</var>) are returned.
</p>
<p>Example
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">test sind
⇒
PASSES 5 out of 5 tests
[n, nmax] = test ("sind")
⇒
n = 5
nmax = 5
</pre></div>
<p>Additional Calling Syntaxes
</p>
<p>If the second argument is the string <code>"grabdemo"</code>, the contents of
any built-in demo blocks are extracted but not executed. The text for all
code blocks is concatenated and returned as <var>code</var> with <var>idx</var> being
a vector of positions of the ends of each demo block. For an easier way to
extract demo blocks from files, See <a href="Demonstration-Functions.html#XREFexample">example</a>.
</p>
<p>If the second argument is <code>"explain"</code> then <var>name</var> is ignored and
an explanation of the line markers used in <code>test</code> output reports is
written to the file specified by <var>fname</var> or <var>fid</var>.
</p>
<p><strong>See also:</strong> <a href="#XREFassert">assert</a>, <a href="#XREFfail">fail</a>, <a href="Demonstration-Functions.html#XREFdemo">demo</a>, <a href="Demonstration-Functions.html#XREFexample">example</a>, <a href="Raising-Errors.html#XREFerror">error</a>.
</p></dd></dl>
<p><code>test</code> scans the named script file looking for lines which start
with the identifier ‘<samp>%!</samp>’. The prefix is stripped off and the rest
of the line is processed through the Octave interpreter. If the code
generates an error, then the test is said to fail.
</p>
<p>Since <code>eval()</code> will stop at the first error it encounters, you must
divide your tests up into blocks, with anything in a separate
block evaluated separately. Blocks are introduced by valid keywords like
<code>test</code>, <code>function</code>, or <code>assert</code> immediately following ‘<samp>%!</samp>’.
A block is defined by indentation as in Python. Lines beginning with
‘<samp>%!<whitespace></samp>’ are part of the preceeding block.
</p>
<p>For example:
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">%!test error ("this test fails!")
%!test "test doesn't fail. it doesn't generate an error"
</pre></div>
<p>When a test fails, you will see something like:
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example"> ***** test error ("this test fails!")
!!!!! test failed
this test fails!
</pre></div>
<p>Generally, to test if something works, you want to assert that it
produces a correct value. A real test might look something like
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">%!test
%! <var>a</var> = [1, 2, 3; 4, 5, 6]; B = [1; 2];
%! expect = [ <var>a</var> ; 2*<var>a</var> ];
%! get = kron (<var>b</var>, <var>a</var>);
%! if (any (size (expect) != size (get)))
%! error ("wrong size: expected %d,%d but got %d,%d",
%! size (expect), size (get));
%! elseif (any (any (expect != get)))
%! error ("didn't get what was expected.");
%! endif
</pre></div>
<p>To make the process easier, use the <code>assert</code> function. For example,
with <code>assert</code> the previous test is reduced to:
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">%!test
%! <var>a</var> = [1, 2, 3; 4, 5, 6]; <var>b</var> = [1; 2];
%! assert (kron (<var>b</var>, <var>a</var>), [ <var>a</var>; 2*<var>a</var> ]);
</pre></div>
<p><code>assert</code> can accept a tolerance so that you can compare results
absolutely or relatively. For example, the following all succeed:
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">%!test assert (1+eps, 1, 2*eps) # absolute error
%!test assert (100+100*eps, 100, -2*eps) # relative error
</pre></div>
<p>You can also do the comparison yourself, but still have assert
generate the error:
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">%!test assert (isempty ([]))
%!test assert ([1, 2; 3, 4] > 0)
</pre></div>
<p>Because <code>assert</code> is so frequently used alone in a test block, there
is a shorthand form:
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">%!assert (…)
</pre></div>
<p>which is equivalent to:
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">%!test assert (…)
</pre></div>
<p>Occasionally a block of tests will depend on having optional
functionality in Octave. Before testing such blocks the availability of
the required functionality must be checked. A <code>%!testif HAVE_XXX</code>
block will only be run if Octave was compiled with functionality
‘<samp>HAVE_XXX</samp>’. For example, the sparse single value decomposition,
<code>svds()</code>, depends on having the <small>ARPACK</small> library. All of the tests
for <code>svds</code> begin with
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">%!testif HAVE_ARPACK
</pre></div>
<p>Review <samp>config.h</samp> or <code>__octave_config_info__ ("build_features")</code>
to see some of the possible values to check.
</p>
<p>Sometimes during development there is a test that should work but is
known to fail. You still want to leave the test in because when the
final code is ready the test should pass, but you may not be able to
fix it immediately. To avoid unnecessary bug reports for these known
failures, mark the block with <code>xtest</code> rather than <code>test</code>:
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">%!xtest assert (1==0)
%!xtest fail ("success=1", "error")
</pre></div>
<p>In this case, the test will run and any failure will be reported.
However, testing is not aborted and subsequent test blocks will be
processed normally. Another use of <code>xtest</code> is for statistical
tests which should pass most of the time but are known to fail
occasionally.
</p>
<p>Each block is evaluated in its own function environment, which means
that variables defined in one block are not automatically shared
with other blocks. If you do want to share variables, then you
must declare them as <code>shared</code> before you use them. For example, the
following declares the variable <var>a</var>, gives it an initial value (default
is empty), and then uses it in several subsequent tests.
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">%!shared <var>a</var>
%! <var>a</var> = [1, 2, 3; 4, 5, 6];
%!assert (kron ([1; 2], <var>a</var>), [ <var>a</var>; 2*<var>a</var> ])
%!assert (kron ([1, 2], <var>a</var>), [ <var>a</var>, 2*<var>a</var> ])
%!assert (kron ([1,2; 3,4], <var>a</var>), [ <var>a</var>,2*<var>a</var>; 3*<var>a</var>,4*<var>a</var> ])
</pre></div>
<p>You can share several variables at the same time:
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">%!shared <var>a</var>, <var>b</var>
</pre></div>
<p>You can also share test functions:
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">%!function <var>a</var> = fn (<var>b</var>)
%! <var>a</var> = 2*<var>b</var>;
%!endfunction
%!assert (fn(2), 4)
</pre></div>
<p>Note that all previous variables and values are lost when a new
shared block is declared.
</p>
<p>Remember that <code>%!function</code> begins a new block and that
<code>%!endfunction</code> ends this block. Be aware that until a new block
is started, lines starting with ‘<samp>%!<space></samp>’ will be discarded as comments.
The following is nearly identical to the example above, but does nothing.
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">%!function <var>a</var> = fn (<var>b</var>)
%! <var>a</var> = 2*<var>b</var>;
%!endfunction
%! assert (fn(2), 4)
</pre></div>
<p>Because there is a space after ‘<samp>%!</samp>’ the <code>assert</code> statement does
not begin a new block and this line is treated as a comment.
</p>
<p>Error and warning blocks are like test blocks, but they only succeed
if the code generates an error. You can check the text of the error
is correct using an optional regular expression <code><pattern></code>.
For example:
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">%!error <passes!> error ("this test passes!")
</pre></div>
<p>If the code doesn’t generate an error, the test fails. For example:
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">%!error "this is an error because it succeeds."
</pre></div>
<p>produces
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example"> ***** error "this is an error because it succeeds."
!!!!! test failed: no error
</pre></div>
<p>It is important to automate the tests as much as possible, however
some tests require user interaction. These can be isolated into
demo blocks, which if you are in batch mode, are only run when
called with <code>demo</code> or the <code>verbose</code> option to <code>test</code>.
The code is displayed before it is executed. For example,
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">%!demo
%! <var>t</var> = [0:0.01:2*pi]; <var>x</var> = sin (<var>t</var>);
%! plot (<var>t</var>, <var>x</var>);
%! # you should now see a sine wave in your figure window
</pre></div>
<p>produces
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">funcname example 1:
<var>t</var> = [0:0.01:2*pi]; <var>x</var> = sin (<var>t</var>);
plot (<var>t</var>, <var>x</var>);
# you should now see a sine wave in your figure window
Press <enter> to continue:
</pre></div>
<p>Note that demo blocks cannot use any shared variables. This is so
that they can be executed by themselves, ignoring all other tests.
</p>
<p>If you want to temporarily disable a test block, put <code>#</code> in place
of the block type. This creates a comment block which is echoed
in the log file but not executed. For example:
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">%!#demo
%! <var>t</var> = [0:0.01:2*pi]; <var>x</var> = sin (<var>t</var>);
%! plot (<var>t</var>, <var>x</var>);
%! # you should now see a sine wave in your figure window
</pre></div>
<p>The following trivial code snippet provides examples for the use of
fail, assert, error, and xtest:
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">function <var>output</var> = must_be_zero (<var>input</var>)
if (<var>input</var> != 0)
error ("Nonzero input!")
endif
<var>output</var> = <var>input</var>;
endfunction
%!fail ("must_be_zero (1)")
%!assert (must_be_zero (0), 0)
%!error <Nonzero> must_be_zero (1)
%!xtest error ("This code generates an error")
</pre></div>
<p>When putting this in a file <samp>must_be_zero.m</samp>, and running the test, we see
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">test must_be_zero verbose
⇒
>>>>> /path/to/must_be_zero.m
***** fail ("must_be_zero (1)")
***** assert (must_be_zero (0), 0)
***** error <Nonzero> must_be_zero (1)
***** xtest error ("This code generates an error")
!!!!! known failure
This code generates an error
PASSES 3 out of 4 tests (1 expected failure)
</pre></div>
<a name="Block-type-summary_003a"></a>
<h4 class="subsubheading">Block type summary:</h4>
<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>%!test</code></dt>
<dt><code>%!test <MESSAGE></code></dt>
<dd><p>Check that entire block is correct. If <code><MESSAGE></code> is present, the
test block is interpreted as for <code>xtest</code>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>%!testif HAVE_XXX</code></dt>
<dt><code>%!testif HAVE_XXX, HAVE_YYY, …</code></dt>
<dt><code>%!testif HAVE_XXX, HAVE_YYY …; RUNTIME_COND</code></dt>
<dt><code>%!testif … <MESSAGE></code></dt>
<dd><p>Check block only if Octave was compiled with feature <code><span class="nolinebreak">HAVE_XXX</span></code><!-- /@w -->.
<code><span class="nolinebreak">RUNTIME_COND</span></code><!-- /@w --> is an optional expression to evaluate to check
whether some condition is met when the test is executed. If
<code><span class="nolinebreak">RUNTIME_COND</span></code><!-- /@w --> is false, the test is skipped. If <code><MESSAGE></code>
is present, the test block is interpreted as for <code>xtest</code>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>%!xtest</code></dt>
<dt><code>%!xtest <MESSAGE></code></dt>
<dd><p>Check block, report a test failure but do not abort testing. If
<code><MESSAGE></code> is present, then the text of the message is displayed
if the test fails, like this:
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">!!!!! Known bug: MESSAGE
</pre></div>
<p>If the message is an integer, it is interpreted as a bug ID for the
Octave bug tracker and reported as
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">!!!!! Known bug: https://octave.org/testfailure/?BUG-ID
</pre></div>
<p>in which BUG-ID is the integer bug number. The intent is to allow
clearer documentation of known problems.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>%!error</code></dt>
<dt><code>%!error <MESSAGE></code></dt>
<dt><code>%!warning</code></dt>
<dt><code>%!warning <MESSAGE></code></dt>
<dd><p>Check for correct error or warning message. If <code><MESSAGE></code> is
supplied it is interpreted as a regular expression pattern that is
expected to match the error or warning message.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>%!demo</code></dt>
<dd><p>Demo only executes in interactive mode.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>%!#</code></dt>
<dd><p>Comment. Ignore everything within the block
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>%!shared x,y,z</code></dt>
<dd><p>Declare variables for use in multiple tests.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>%!function</code></dt>
<dd><p>Define a function for use in multiple tests.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>%!endfunction</code></dt>
<dd><p>Close a function definition.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>%!assert (x, y, tol)</code></dt>
<dt><code>%!assert <MESSAGE> (x, y, tol)</code></dt>
<dt><code>%!fail (CODE, PATTERN)</code></dt>
<dt><code>%!fail <MESSAGE> (CODE, PATTERN)</code></dt>
<dd><p>Shorthand for <code>%!test assert (x, y, tol)</code> or
<code>%!test fail (CODE, PATTERN)</code>. If <code><MESSAGE></code> is present, the
test block is interpreted as for <code>xtest</code>.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<a name="test_002dmessage_002danchor"></a>
<p>When coding tests the Octave convention is that lines that begin with a block
type do not have a semicolon at the end. Any code that is within a block,
however, is normal Octave code and usually will have a trailing semicolon.
For example,
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">## bare block instantiation
%!assert (sin (0), 0)
</pre></div>
<p>but
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">## test block with normal Octave code
%!test
%! assert (sin (0), 0);
</pre></div>
<p>You can also create test scripts for built-in functions and your own C++
functions. To do so, put a file with the bare function name (no .m
extension) in a directory in the load path and it will be discovered by
the <code>test</code> function. Alternatively, you can embed tests directly in your
C++ code:
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">/*
%!test disp ("this is a test")
*/
</pre></div>
<p>or
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">#if 0
%!test disp ("this is a test")
#endif
</pre></div>
<p>However, in this case the raw source code will need to be on the load
path and the user will have to remember to type
<code>test ("funcname.cc")</code>.
</p>
<a name="XREFassert"></a><dl>
<dt><a name="index-assert"></a><em></em> <strong>assert</strong> <em>(<var>cond</var>)</em></dt>
<dt><a name="index-assert-1"></a><em></em> <strong>assert</strong> <em>(<var>cond</var>, <var>errmsg</var>)</em></dt>
<dt><a name="index-assert-2"></a><em></em> <strong>assert</strong> <em>(<var>cond</var>, <var>errmsg</var>, …)</em></dt>
<dt><a name="index-assert-3"></a><em></em> <strong>assert</strong> <em>(<var>cond</var>, <var>msg_id</var>, <var>errmsg</var>, …)</em></dt>
<dt><a name="index-assert-4"></a><em></em> <strong>assert</strong> <em>(<var>observed</var>, <var>expected</var>)</em></dt>
<dt><a name="index-assert-5"></a><em></em> <strong>assert</strong> <em>(<var>observed</var>, <var>expected</var>, <var>tol</var>)</em></dt>
<dd>
<p>Produce an error if the specified condition is not met.
</p>
<p><code>assert</code> can be called in three different ways.
</p>
<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>assert (<var>cond</var>)</code></dt>
<dt><code>assert (<var>cond</var>, <var>errmsg</var>)</code></dt>
<dt><code>assert (<var>cond</var>, <var>errmsg</var>, …)</code></dt>
<dt><code>assert (<var>cond</var>, <var>msg_id</var>, <var>errmsg</var>, …)</code></dt>
<dd><p>Called with a single argument <var>cond</var>, <code>assert</code> produces an error if
<var>cond</var> is false (numeric zero).
</p>
<p>Any additional arguments are passed to the <code>error</code> function for
processing.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>assert (<var>observed</var>, <var>expected</var>)</code></dt>
<dd><p>Produce an error if observed is not the same as expected.
</p>
<p>Note that <var>observed</var> and <var>expected</var> can be scalars, vectors,
matrices, strings, cell arrays, or structures.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><code>assert (<var>observed</var>, <var>expected</var>, <var>tol</var>)</code></dt>
<dd><p>Produce an error if observed is not the same as expected but equality
comparison for numeric data uses a tolerance <var>tol</var>.
</p>
<p>If <var>tol</var> is positive then it is an absolute tolerance which will produce
an error if <code>abs (<var>observed</var> - <var>expected</var>) > abs (<var>tol</var>)</code>.
</p>
<p>If <var>tol</var> is negative then it is a relative tolerance which will produce
an error if <code>abs (<var>observed</var> - <var>expected</var>) >
abs (<var>tol</var> * <var>expected</var>)</code>.
</p>
<p>If <var>expected</var> is zero <var>tol</var> will always be interpreted as an
absolute tolerance.
</p>
<p>If <var>tol</var> is not scalar its dimensions must agree with those of
<var>observed</var> and <var>expected</var> and tests are performed on an
element-by-element basis.
</p></dd>
</dl>
<p><strong>See also:</strong> <a href="#XREFfail">fail</a>, <a href="#XREFtest">test</a>, <a href="Raising-Errors.html#XREFerror">error</a>, <a href="Comparison-Ops.html#XREFisequal">isequal</a>.
</p></dd></dl>
<a name="XREFfail"></a><dl>
<dt><a name="index-fail"></a><em></em> <strong>fail</strong> <em>(<var>code</var>)</em></dt>
<dt><a name="index-fail-1"></a><em></em> <strong>fail</strong> <em>(<var>code</var>, <var>pattern</var>)</em></dt>
<dt><a name="index-fail-2"></a><em></em> <strong>fail</strong> <em>(<var>code</var>, "warning")</em></dt>
<dt><a name="index-fail-3"></a><em></em> <strong>fail</strong> <em>(<var>code</var>, "warning", <var>pattern</var>)</em></dt>
<dd>
<p>Return true if <var>code</var> fails with an error message matching
<var>pattern</var>, otherwise produce an error.
</p>
<p><var>code</var> must be in the form of a string that is passed to the Octave
interpreter via the <code>evalin</code> function, i.e., a (quoted) string constant
or a string variable.
</p>
<p>Note that if <var>code</var> runs successfully, rather than failing, the error
printed is:
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example"> expected error <.> but got none
</pre></div>
<p>If called with two arguments, the return value will be true only if
<var>code</var> fails with an error message containing <var>pattern</var>
(case sensitive). If the code fails with a different error than the one
specified in <var>pattern</var> then the message produced is:
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example"> expected <<var>pattern</var>>
but got <text of actual error>
</pre></div>
<p>The angle brackets are not part of the output.
</p>
<p>When called with the <code>"warning"</code> option <code>fail</code> will produce an
error if executing the code produces no warning.
</p>
<p><strong>See also:</strong> <a href="#XREFassert">assert</a>, <a href="Raising-Errors.html#XREFerror">error</a>.
</p></dd></dl>
<hr>
<div class="header">
<p>
Next: <a href="Demonstration-Functions.html#Demonstration-Functions" accesskey="n" rel="next">Demonstration Functions</a>, Up: <a href="Test-and-Demo-Functions.html#Test-and-Demo-Functions" accesskey="u" rel="up">Test and Demo Functions</a> [<a href="index.html#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="Concept-Index.html#Concept-Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]</p>
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