EMMA early access build 2.1.5320 available (new ctl tool)

EMMA is a fast Java code coverage tool based on low overhead bytecode
instrumentation. It is designed to support large scale enterprise software
projects as well as agile personal software processes.

The most significant change in this v2.1 stable build update is the addition of a
new tool, ctl. This tool allows remote control over EMMA runtime. Several
control commands are currently implemented:
- download coverage data to a local file,
- remotely dump coverage data,
- reset coverage data in a remote JVM.

J2EE/application server users should find the new capability very useful,
since it is now possible to collect coverage data without a JVM exit, across
the network, and without having to deal with classloading problems in exit
hook threads that plagued v2.0.

Following the usual EMMA design, this functionality is exposed in equal
measure via a new command line tool and a new ANT task. Because this is an
early access build, the official documentation has not been updated yet
(this will happen when v2.1 releases). Until then, see the update below for
the new tool usage details.

************************************************
CUMULATIVE LIST OF IMPLEMENTED FEATURE REQUESTS:
************************************************

2.1.5320

977714  support runtime coverage data collection without a JVM exit
http://sf.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=977714&group\_id=108932&atid=651900

1167510 reset coverage data
http://sf.net/tracker/?group\_id=108932&atid=651900&func=detail&aid=1167510

A new processor, CtlProcessor \(used by a new 'emma ctl' command line
tool and a new <ctl> ANT task\) can communicate with a JVM running
EMMA-instrumented classes via a TCP socket. On each invocation, the
processor dispatches a series of control commands such as
'coverage.get', 'coverage.dump', and 'coverage.reset', for example:

<emma>
<ctl connect="localhost:47653" >
<command name="coverage.get" args="mycoverage.ec" />
<command>coverage.reset</command> <\!-- alternate command syntax -->
</ctl>
</emma>
or
java -cp ... emma ctl -connect localhost:47653 \
-command coverage.get,mycoverage.ec \
-command coverage.reset

This will download current coverage data from a JVM at a given TCP address
and save it into a local file 'mycoverage.ec', followed by a coverage reset. 

The connection string above is in the form "host:port", where the host
defaults to 'localhost' and the port to 47653. Currently, there are
three commands with the following arguments:

coverage.get\[,<output pathname>\]\[,<merge>\]\[,<disable exit hook>\]
coverage.dump\[,<output pathname>\]\[,<merge>\]\[,<disable exit hook>\]
coverage.reset

The first one asks the server JVM to send its current coverage data to
the client ctl tool over the socket connection, the second one asks the
server JVM to dump coverage data on the \*server\* machine. Consequently,
the optional argument <pathname> \(defaults to 'coverage.ec'\) is
interpreted either on the client or on the server machine, depending on
the command used \(the two machines can even run different OSes\). The
<merge> boolean flag has the usual semantics. Finally, the last argument
indicates whether to disable the usual dump-coverage-on-JVM-exit
behavior. Set it to 'false' if you want v2.0 behavior.

The last command will zero out all coverage numbers, except for class
coverage \(class coverage corresponds to class loading, so it can't be
reset\). Subsequent code execution will induce new coverage, of
course. Neither command suspends the JVM.

A command sequence can contain any number of commands. Note that in ANT,
<command name="coverage.get" args="mycoverage.ec" /> is the same as
<command>coverage.get,mycoverage.ec</command>. Use commas to delimit
arguments. If you want to skip an argument, use comma delimiters to
indicate that you are happy with its default, e.g,
<command>coverage.get,,,false</command>.

NOTE: 'coverage.reset' currently resets all static initializers. This is
not correct \(since those can never execute again\) and will be fixed in
the future.

This new functionality is controlled by a new set of EMMA properties:

rt.control:         true
rt.control.host:    localhost
rt.control.port:    47653

2.1.5214

974340 make concurrent output file writing safer
http://sf.net/tracker/?group_id=108932&atid=651900&func=detail&aid=974340

v2.1 will default to using a machine-global mutex when writing to the
coverage output file. This mutex implementation is based on a UDP socket
and will work in any J2SE version. Locking behavior is controlled by a
new set of EMMA properties:

rt.filelock: true
rt.filelock.portbase: 59141
rt.filelock.maxtime: 120000
rt.filelock.retries: 11

File locking is enabled by default but can be disabled using
'rt.filelock' boolean property. The UDP port acquired is a sum of
'rt.filelockbase' and an offset (0-254) that is derived from the file's
canonical pathname. This ensures that concurrent JVMs writing to
*different* files are unlikely to serialize each other on the same
socket mutex.

'rt.filelock.maxtime' and 'rt.filelock.retries' specify for how long to
try getting the lock and in how many retry attempts, before erroring
out. The retry scheme is exponential backout.

2.1.5124

999764  'v'/'version' command line option
http://sf.net/tracker/?group\_id=108932&atid=651900&func=detail&aid=999764

The traditional -v|-version option is now accepted by all command line
tools, to help with issue submission.

977738  an option to auto-exclude empty classes
http://sf.net/tracker/?group\_id=108932&atid=651900&func=detail&aid=977738

v2.1 will default to automatically excluding all classes with no methods
\(javac has a flaw whereby it will emit such classes for certain code
patterns\). This behavior is controlled by a new boolean property
'instr.exclude\_empty\_classes' that defaults to 'true'. Because such
empty classes affect class coverage, users who wish to retain their
existing coverage numbers can turn this exclusion off. Note that all
other types of coverage are unaffected.

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CUMULATIVE LIST OF FIXED DEFECTS:
\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*

2.1.5320

1222865 <filter file=.../> fails inside dirs with whitespace
http://sf.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=1222865&group_id=108932&atid=651897

2.1.5214

1189166 AIOOBE when handling report properties
http://sf.net/tracker/?group\_id=108932&atid=651897&func=detail&aid=1189166

1015721 whitespace at end of property values
http://sf.net/tracker/?group\_id=108932&atid=651897&func=detail&aid=1015721

1077741 report tool problem with "/"-prefixed report locations
http://sf.net/tracker/?group\_id=108932&atid=651897&func=detail&aid=1077741

1002854 sourcepath and java file locations
http://sf.net/tracker/?group\_id=108932&atid=651897&func=detail&aid=1002854

2.1.5124

(none)