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>PostgreSQL 8.0.11 Documentation</TH
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><A
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></A
>Chapter 26. Regression Tests</H1
><DIV
CLASS="TOC"
><DL
><DT
><B
>Table of Contents</B
></DT
><DT
>26.1. <A
HREF="regress.html#REGRESS-RUN"
>Running the Tests</A
></DT
><DT
>26.2. <A
HREF="regress-evaluation.html"
>Test Evaluation</A
></DT
><DD
><DL
><DT
>26.2.1. <A
HREF="regress-evaluation.html#AEN22417"
>Error message differences</A
></DT
><DT
>26.2.2. <A
HREF="regress-evaluation.html#AEN22422"
>Locale differences</A
></DT
><DT
>26.2.3. <A
HREF="regress-evaluation.html#AEN22435"
>Date and time differences</A
></DT
><DT
>26.2.4. <A
HREF="regress-evaluation.html#AEN22445"
>Floating-point differences</A
></DT
><DT
>26.2.5. <A
HREF="regress-evaluation.html#AEN22459"
>Row ordering differences</A
></DT
><DT
>26.2.6. <A
HREF="regress-evaluation.html#AEN22470"
>The <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"random"</SPAN
> test</A
></DT
></DL
></DD
><DT
>26.3. <A
HREF="regress-platform.html"
>Platform-specific comparison files</A
></DT
></DL
></DIV
><A
NAME="AEN22350"
></A
><A
NAME="AEN22352"
></A
><P
> The regression tests are a comprehensive set of tests for the SQL
implementation in <SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
>. They test
standard SQL operations as well as the extended capabilities of
<SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
>.
</P
><DIV
CLASS="SECT1"
><H1
CLASS="SECT1"
><A
NAME="REGRESS-RUN"
>26.1. Running the Tests</A
></H1
><P
> The regression tests can be run against an already installed and
running server, or using a temporary installation within the build
tree. Furthermore, there is a <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"parallel"</SPAN
> and a
<SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"sequential"</SPAN
> mode for running the tests. The
sequential method runs each test script in turn, whereas the
parallel method starts up multiple server processes to run groups
of tests in parallel. Parallel testing gives confidence that
interprocess communication and locking are working correctly. For
historical reasons, the sequential test is usually run against an
existing installation and the parallel method against a temporary
installation, but there are no technical reasons for this.
</P
><P
> To run the regression tests after building but before installation,
type
</P><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>gmake check</PRE
><P>
in the top-level directory. (Or you can change to
<TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>src/test/regress</TT
> and run the command there.)
This will first build several auxiliary files, such as
some sample user-defined trigger functions, and then run the test driver
script. At the end you should see something like
</P><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
><SAMP
CLASS="COMPUTEROUTPUT"
>======================
All 96 tests passed.
======================</SAMP
></PRE
><P>
or otherwise a note about which tests failed. See <A
HREF="regress-evaluation.html"
>Section 26.2</A
> below before assuming that a
<SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"failure"</SPAN
> represents a serious problem.
</P
><P
> Because this test method runs a temporary server, it will not work
when you are the root user (since the server will not start as root).
If you already did the build as root, you do not have to start all
over. Instead, make the regression test directory writable by
some other user, log in as that user, and restart the tests.
For example
</P><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
><SAMP
CLASS="PROMPT"
>root# </SAMP
><KBD
CLASS="USERINPUT"
>chmod -R a+w src/test/regress</KBD
>
<SAMP
CLASS="PROMPT"
>root# </SAMP
><KBD
CLASS="USERINPUT"
>chmod -R a+w contrib/spi</KBD
>
<SAMP
CLASS="PROMPT"
>root# </SAMP
><KBD
CLASS="USERINPUT"
>su - joeuser</KBD
>
<SAMP
CLASS="PROMPT"
>joeuser$ </SAMP
><KBD
CLASS="USERINPUT"
>cd <TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>top-level build directory</I
></TT
></KBD
>
<SAMP
CLASS="PROMPT"
>joeuser$ </SAMP
><KBD
CLASS="USERINPUT"
>gmake check</KBD
></PRE
><P>
(The only possible <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"security risk"</SPAN
> here is that other
users might be able to alter the regression test results behind
your back. Use common sense when managing user permissions.)
</P
><P
> Alternatively, run the tests after installation.
</P
><P
> If you have configured <SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
> to install
into a location where an older <SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
>
installation already exists, and you perform <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>gmake check</TT
>
before installing the new version, you may find that the tests fail
because the new programs try to use the already-installed shared
libraries. (Typical symptoms are complaints about undefined symbols.)
If you wish to run the tests before overwriting the old installation,
you'll need to build with <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>configure --disable-rpath</TT
>.
It is not recommended that you use this option for the final installation,
however.
</P
><P
> The parallel regression test starts quite a few processes under your
user ID. Presently, the maximum concurrency is twenty parallel test
scripts, which means sixty processes: there's a server process, a
<SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>psql</SPAN
>, and usually a shell parent process for the
<SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>psql</SPAN
> for each test script.
So if your system enforces a per-user limit on the number of processes,
make sure this limit is at least seventy-five or so, else you may get
random-seeming failures in the parallel test. If you are not in
a position to raise the limit, you can cut down the degree of parallelism
by setting the <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>MAX_CONNECTIONS</TT
> parameter. For example,
</P><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>gmake MAX_CONNECTIONS=10 check</PRE
><P>
runs no more than ten tests concurrently.
</P
><P
> On some systems, the default Bourne-compatible shell
(<TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>/bin/sh</TT
>) gets confused when it has to manage
too many child processes in parallel. This may cause the parallel
test run to lock up or fail. In such cases, specify a different
Bourne-compatible shell on the command line, for example:
</P><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>gmake SHELL=/bin/ksh check</PRE
><P>
If no non-broken shell is available, you may be able to work around the
problem by limiting the number of connections, as shown above.
</P
><P
> To run the tests after installation (see <A
HREF="installation.html"
>Chapter 14</A
>),
initialize a data area and start the
server, as explained in <A
HREF="runtime.html"
>Chapter 16</A
>, then type
</P><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>gmake installcheck</PRE
><P>
or for a parallel test
</P><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>gmake installcheck-parallel</PRE
><P>
The tests will expect to contact the server at the local host and the
default port number, unless directed otherwise by <TT
CLASS="ENVAR"
>PGHOST</TT
> and
<TT
CLASS="ENVAR"
>PGPORT</TT
> environment variables.
</P
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