Re: [Perlunit-devel] XML Generating Test Runner

[Andrew E. <an...@an...>]

Matthew Astley wrote:

> ...and if the dependencies aren't met, it's not the end of the world?
> 
> I guess the selftests would fail, and this can be inconvenient for
> installers (bug has been filed by Dave for t/try_examples.t).

We can just check for the presence of the XML releated modules, and skip 
the tests if they're not installed.

> I suspect CPAN packages don't support recommended dependencies, but I
> haven't looked into that.

No, I don't think it does either. But we could just not list the XML 
modules as dependencies, then die with something like "Install 
XML::Generator to use Test::Unit::Runner::XML" if the module's used with 
XML::Generator being installed.

>>It depends on Time::HiRes, 
> I'm now quite fond of using this when it's available and falling back
> on plain time() when it isn't, but it depends what you're up to.

I think it's worth leaving this dependency in, since Time::HiRes is such 
a frequently used module. Falling back to time() probably won't help 
much, since it's rare for a single unit test to run for more than a 
second. The elapsed time for each test would just be 0.

> - talk about it (if people turn up for talking)
> - commit it (nice and easy)
> - put the tests somewhere they won't break an install (probably a few
>   hours hacking about)
> - fix enough outstanding bugs to quiet the clamour of the users (!)
>   (probably more talking required)
> - make a release...  requires Piers' cooperation?

Sounds like a plan to me.

> Andrew, are you keen to see your code release ASAP or is it just a
> "make it available and people might find it handy" distribution?

I've got no reason to have the code released ASAP, I think it would be 
better to try to work it in to a proper release of Test::Unit itself. 
The tarball I linked to is purely for any interested readers of the list 
to look at.

If you're happy with the handling of dependencies described above, I'll 
implement it.

   -- Andrew (http://www.andreweland.org)