From 0db3cb253d79567329909c7e62f9fe8bdb5d870a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Peter Eisentraut Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2000 15:26:40 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] * doc/src/sgml/regress.sgml: Update for new driver script. * doc/src/sgml/installation.sgml: ditto. * src/test/regress/README: Regenerate. * doc/src/sgml/docguide.sgml: Explain how it was done. Explain how INSTALL and HISTORY are (now) generated. * doc/src/sgml/Makefile: Implement HISTORY generation to be analoguous to INSTALL. --- doc/src/sgml/Makefile | 35 +- doc/src/sgml/docguide.sgml | 229 ++++++----- doc/src/sgml/installation.sgml | 24 +- doc/src/sgml/regress.sgml | 668 ++++++++++++--------------------- src/test/regress/README | 368 +++++++++--------- 5 files changed, 571 insertions(+), 753 deletions(-) diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/Makefile b/doc/src/sgml/Makefile index 7b74cccd00..44e1858110 100644 --- a/doc/src/sgml/Makefile +++ b/doc/src/sgml/Makefile @@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ # # # IDENTIFICATION -# $Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/Makefile,v 1.23 2000/10/10 22:01:50 momjian Exp $ +# $Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/Makefile,v 1.24 2000/10/17 15:26:39 petere Exp $ # #---------------------------------------------------------------------------- @@ -201,21 +201,30 @@ distclean: cp -p ../graphics/$@ . -# Generation of the INSTALL text file. Not fully automated, but better -# than nothing. -.PHONY: INSTALL -INSTALL: INSTALL.html +# +# Semi-automatic generation of some text files. +# + +INSTALL HISTORY: % : %.html @echo "|";\ echo "| You should now take \`$<', save it as a text file in Netscape,";\ - echo "| and put it in place of the existing \`INSTALL' file.";\ + echo "| and put it in place of the existing \`$@' file.";\ echo "|" - @rm -f tempfile.html tempfile.sgml -INSTALL.html: tempfile.html - sed -e 's/Chapter 1. *//g' < $< > $@ -tempfile.html: tempfile.sgml - jade -d $(HDSL) -V nochunks -t sgml $< > $@ +INSTALL.html HISTORY.html: %.html : tempfile_%.html + sed 's/Chapter 1. *//g' $< >$@ -tempfile.sgml: standalone-install.sgml installation.sgml - cat $+ > $@ +tempfile_INSTALL.html tempfile_HISTORY.html: tempfile_%.html : tempfile_%.sgml + jade -d $(HDSL) -V nochunks -t sgml $< >$@ + + +tempfile_INSTALL.sgml: standalone-install.sgml installation.sgml + cat $+ >$@ + +tempfile_HISTORY.sgml: release.sgml + ( echo ''; \ + cat $< ) >$@ + + +.INTERMEDIATE: tempfile_INSTALL.html tempfile_HISTORY.html tempfile_INSTALL.sgml tempfile_HISTORY.sgml diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/docguide.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/docguide.sgml index 543350af98..902260b108 100644 --- a/doc/src/sgml/docguide.sgml +++ b/doc/src/sgml/docguide.sgml @@ -1,5 +1,5 @@ @@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ Thomas Lockhart ./INSTALL - Installation instructions (text from sgml->rtf->text) + Installation instructions ./README @@ -848,6 +848,7 @@ End: + Building Documentation @@ -911,9 +912,8 @@ PSTYLE= /home/lockhart/SGML/db143.d/docbook/print % make install - - + Manpages @@ -966,9 +966,9 @@ $ make man - + - + Hardcopy Generation for v7.0 @@ -995,99 +995,6 @@ $ make man --> - - Text Hardcopy - - - INSTALL and HISTORY are - updated for each release. For historical reasons, these files are - in plain text, but are derived from the newer - SGML sources. - - - - Plain Text Generation - - - Both INSTALL and - HISTORY are generated from existing - SGML sources. They are extracted from the same - intermediate RTF file. - - - - - Generate RTF by typing: - -% cd doc/src/sgml -% make installation.rtf - - - - - - - Import installation.rtf into - Applix Words. - - - - - - Set the page width and margins. - - - - - - Adjust the page width in File.PageSetup to 10 inches. - - - - - - Select all text. - Adjust the right margin using the ruler to 9.5 inches. This - will give a maximum column width of 79 characters, within the - 80 columns upper limit goal. - - - - - - - - Lop off the parts of the document which are not needed. - - - - For INSTALL, remove all release notes from - the end of the text, except for those from the current release. - For HISTORY, remove all text up to the - release notes, preserving and modifying the title and ToC. - - - - - - Export the result as "ASCII Layout". - - - - - - Using emacs or vi, clean up the tabular information in - INSTALL. Remove the "mailto" - URLs for the porting contributors to shrink - the column heights. - - - - - - - Postscript Hardcopy - Several areas are addressed while generating Postscript hardcopy, including RTF repair, ToC generation, and page break @@ -1321,10 +1228,134 @@ exit + + + + Plain Text Files + + + Several files are distributed as plain text, for reading during + the installation process. The INSTALL file + corresponds to the chapter in the Administrator's + Guide, with some minor changes to account for the + different context. To recreate the file, change to the directory + doc/src/sgml and enter gmake + INSTALL. This will create a file + INSTALL.html that can be saved as text with + Netscape Navigator and put into the + place of the existing file. Netscape + seems to offer the best quality for HTML to + text conversions (over lynx and + w3m). + + + + The file HISTORY can be created similarly, + using the command gmake HISTORY. The table + of contents should be removed manually from the resulting text + file. + + + + Since it does not change very often, the generation of the file + src/test/regress/README is not fully + automated. After building the HTML version of + the Administrator's Guide, convert the + resulting files regress.htm and + regress-platform.htm to text, using + Netscape. Then paste the text files + together and edit them to taste (e.g., remove the navigation + bars, remove the references to other chapters). + + + + Toolsets diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/installation.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/installation.sgml index 44ab809973..dce049e57a 100644 --- a/doc/src/sgml/installation.sgml +++ b/doc/src/sgml/installation.sgml @@ -1,4 +1,4 @@ - + <![%flattext-install-include[<productname>PostgreSQL</> ]]>Installation Instructions @@ -744,20 +744,20 @@ All of PostgreSQL is successfully made. Ready to install. If you want to test the newly built server before you install it, you can run the regression tests at this point. The regression - tests are a test suite to verify that PostgreSQL runs on your machine - in the way the developers expected it to. Type + tests are a test suite to verify that PostgreSQL + runs on your machine in the way the developers expected it + to. Type -gmake -C src/test/regress all runcheck - +gmake check It is possible that some tests fail, due to differences in error - message wording or floating point results. The file - src/test/regress/README and - Administrator's Guide]]> - ]]> - contain detailed - information about interpreting the test results. You can repeat - this test at any later time by issuing the same command. + message wording or floating point results. + src/test/regress/README and the + Administrator's Guide contain]]> + contains]]> + detailed information about interpreting the test results. You can + repeat this test at any later time by issuing the same command. diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/regress.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/regress.sgml index fc761c68dd..c4f26365a4 100644 --- a/doc/src/sgml/regress.sgml +++ b/doc/src/sgml/regress.sgml @@ -1,481 +1,277 @@ + + - Regression Test + Regression Tests - Regression test instructions and analysis. + Regression test instructions and analysis - The PostgreSQL regression tests are a comprehensive set of tests for the - SQL implementation embedded in PostgreSQL. They test standard SQL - operations as well as the extended capabilities of PostgreSQL. + The regression tests are a comprehensive set of tests for the SQL + implementation in PostgreSQL. They test + standard SQL operations as well as the extended capabilities of + PostgreSQL. The test suite was + originally developed by Jolly Chen and Andrew Yu, and was + extensively revised and repackaged by Marc Fournier and Thomas + Lockhart. From PostgreSQL 6.1 onward + the regression tests are current for every official release. - There are two different ways in which the regression tests can be run: - the "sequential" method and the "parallel" method. 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. Another key difference is that the sequential - test procedure uses an already-installed postmaster, whereas the - parallel test procedure tests a system that has been built but not yet - installed. (The parallel test script actually does an installation into - a temporary directory and fires up a private postmaster therein.) + The regression test can be run against an already installed and + running server, or using a temporary installation within the build + tree. Furthermore, there is a parallel and a + sequential 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 + stand-alone, but there are technical reasons for + this. - Some properly installed and fully functional PostgreSQL installations - can "fail" some of these regression tests due to artifacts of floating point - representation and time zone support. The tests are currently evaluated - using a simple diff comparison against the - outputs generated on a reference system, so the results are sensitive to - small system differences. - When a test is reported as "failed", always examine the differences - between expected and actual results; you may well find that the differences - are not significant. + To run the regression tests after building but before installation, + type + +$ gmake check + + in the top-level directory. (Or you can change to + src/test/regress and run the command there.) + This will first build several auxiliary files, such as + platform-dependent expected files and some sample + user-defined trigger functions, and then run the test driver + script. At the end you should see something like + + +====================== + All 75 tests passed. +====================== + + + or otherwise a note about what tests failed. See below for more. + + + Because this test method runs a temporary server, it will not work + when you are the root user (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. + +root# chmod -R a+w src/test/regress +root# su - joeuser +joeuser$ gmake check + + (The only possible security risk here is that other + users might be able to alter the regression test results behind + your back. Use common sense when managing user permissions.) + + + Alternatively, run the tests after installation. + + + + + + On some systems, the default Bourne-compatible shell + (/bin/sh) 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: + + +$ gmake SHELL=/bin/ksh check + + + + + - The regression tests were originally developed by Jolly Chen and Andrew Yu, - and were extensively revised/repackaged by Marc Fournier and Thomas Lockhart. - From PostgreSQL v6.1 onward - the regression tests are current for every official release. + To run the tests after installation (see ), initialize a data area and start the + server, as explained in , then type + +$ gmake installcheck + + The server is expected to be running on the local host with the + default port number. - - Regression Environment + + Test Evaluation - The regression testing notes below assume the following (except where noted): - - - - Commands are Unix-compatible. See note below. - - - - - Defaults are used except where noted. - - - - - User postgres is the Postgres superuser. - - - - - The source path is /usr/src/pgsql (other paths are possible). - - - - - The runtime path is /usr/local/pgsql (other paths are possible). - - - + Some properly installed and fully functional + PostgreSQL installations can + fail some of these regression tests due to + artifacts of floating point representation and time zone + support. The tests are currently evaluated using a simple + diff comparison against the outputs + generated on a reference system, so the results are sensitive to + small system differences. When a test is reported as + failed, always examine the differences between + expected and actual results; you may well find that the + differences are not significant. Nonetheless, we still strive to + maintain accurate reference files across all supported platforms, + so it can be expected that all tests pass. - Normally, the regression tests should be run as the postgres user since - the 'src/test/regress' directory and sub-directories are owned by the - postgres user. If you run the regression test as another user the - 'src/test/regress' directory tree must be writeable by that user. + The actual outputs of the regression tests are in files in the + src/test/regress/results directory. The test + script uses diff to compare each output + file against the reference outputs stored in the + src/test/regress/expected directory. Any + differences are saved for your inspection in + src/test/regress/regression.diffs. (Or you + can run diff yourself, if you prefer.) - - It was formerly necessary to run the postmaster with system time zone - set to PST, but this is no longer required. You can run the regression - tests under your normal postmaster configuration. The test script will - set the PGTZ environment variable to ensure that timezone-dependent tests - produce the expected results. However, your system must provide - library support for the PST8PDT time zone, or the timezone-dependent - tests will fail. - To verify that your machine does have this support, type - the following: - - -setenv TZ PST8PDT -date - - - - - The "date" command above should have returned the current system time - in the PST8PDT time zone. If the PST8PDT database is not available, then - your system may have returned the time in GMT. If the PST8PDT time zone - is not available, you can set the time zone rules explicitly: - -setenv PGTZ PST8PDT7,M04.01.0,M10.05.03 - - - - - The directory layout for the regression test area is: - - - Directory Layout - - Kerberos - - - - - Directory - Description - - - - - Directory - Description - - - input - - Source files that are converted using - make all into - some of the .sql files in the - sql subdirectory. - - - - - output - - Source files that are converted using - make all into - .out files in the - expected subdirectory. - - - - - sql - - .sql files used to perform the - regression tests. - - - - - expected - - .out files that represent what we - expect the results to - look like. - - - - - results - - .out files that contain what the results - actually look - like. Also used as temporary storage for table copy testing. - - - - - tmp_check - - Temporary installation created by parallel testing script. - - - - -
- - - - - Regression Test Procedure - + + Error message differences + - Commands were tested on RedHat Linux version 4.2 using the bash shell. - Except where noted, they will probably work on most systems. Commands - like ps and tar vary - wildly on what options you should use on each - platform. Use common sense before typing in these commands. + Some of the regression tests involve intentional invalid input + values. Error messages can come from either the + PostgreSQL code or from the host + platform system routines. In the latter case, the messages may + vary between platforms, but should reflect similar + information. These differences in messages will result in a + failed regression test which can be validated by + inspection. + - - <productname>Postgres</productname> Regression Test + + Date and time differences - - - Prepare the files needed for the regression test with: - - cd /usr/src/pgsql/src/test/regress - gmake clean - gmake all - - You can skip "gmake clean" if this is the first time you - are running the tests. - - - This step compiles a C - program with PostgreSQL extension functions into a shared library. - Localized SQL scripts and output-comparison files are also created - for the tests that need them. The localization replaces macros in - the source files with absolute pathnames and user names. - - - - - - If you intend to use the "sequential" test procedure, which tests - an already-installed postmaster, be sure that the postmaster - is running. If it isn't already running, - start the postmaster in an available window by typing - - postmaster - - or start the postmaster daemon running in the background by typing - - cd - nohup postmaster > regress.log 2>&1 & - - The latter is probably preferable, since the regression test log - will be quite lengthy (60K or so, in - Postgres 7.0) and you might want to - review it for clues if things go wrong. - - - - Do not run postmaster from the root account. - - - - - - - - Run the regression tests. For a sequential test, type - - cd /usr/src/pgsql/src/test/regress - gmake runtest - - For a parallel test, type - - cd /usr/src/pgsql/src/test/regress - gmake runcheck - - The sequential test just runs the test scripts using your - already-running postmaster. - The parallel test will perform a complete installation of - Postgres into a temporary directory, - start a private postmaster therein, and then run the test scripts. - Finally it will kill the private postmaster (but the temporary - directory isn't removed automatically). - - - - - - You should get on the screen (and also written to file ./regress.out) - a series of statements stating which tests passed and which tests - failed. Please note that it can be normal for some of the tests to - "fail" due to platform-specific variations. See the next section - for details on determining whether a "failure" is significant. - - - Some of the tests, notably "numeric", can take a while, especially - on slower platforms. Have patience. - - - - - - After running the tests and examining the results, type - - cd /usr/src/pgsql/src/test/regress - gmake clean - - to recover the temporary disk space used by the tests. - If you ran a sequential test, also type - - dropdb regression - - - - - - - - Regression Analysis - - - The actual outputs of the regression tests are in files in the - ./results directory. The test script - uses diff to compare each output file - against the reference outputs stored in the - ./expected directory. Any differences are - saved for your inspection in - ./regression.diffs. (Or you can run - diff yourself, if you prefer.) - - - - The files might not compare exactly. The test script will report - any difference as a "failure", but the difference might be due - to small cross-system differences in error message wording, - math library behavior, etc. - "Failures" of this type do not indicate a problem with - Postgres. - - - Thus, it is necessary to examine the actual differences for each - "failed" test to determine whether there is really a problem. - The following paragraphs attempt to provide some guidance in - determining whether a difference is significant or not. + Most of the date and time results are dependent on the time zone + environment. The reference files are generated for time zone + PST8PDT (Berkeley, California) and there will be apparent + failures if the tests are not run with that time zone setting. + The regression test driver sets environment variable + PGTZ to PST8PDT to ensure + proper results. However, your system must provide library + support for the PST8PDT time zone, or the time zone-dependent + tests will fail. To verify that your machine does have this + support, type the following: + +$ env TZ=PST8PDT date + + The command above should have returned the current system time in + the PST8PDT time zone. If the PST8PDT database is not available, + then your system may have returned the time in GMT. If the + PST8PDT time zone is not available, you can set the time zone + rules explicitly: + +PGTZ='PST8PDT7,M04.01.0,M10.05.03'; export PGTZ + - - - Error message differences - - - Some of the regression tests involve intentional invalid input values. - Error messages can come from either the Postgres code or from the host - platform system routines. In the latter case, the messages may vary - between platforms, but should reflect similar information. These - differences in messages will result in a "failed" regression test which - can be validated by inspection. - - - - - - Date and time differences - - - Most of the date and time results are dependent on timezone environment. - The reference files are generated for timezone PST8PDT (Berkeley, - California) and there will be apparent failures if the tests are not - run with that timezone setting. The regression test driver sets - environment variable PGTZ to PST8PDT to ensure proper results. - - - Some of the queries in the "timestamp" test will fail if you run - the test on the day of a daylight-savings time changeover, or the - day before or after one. These queries assume that the intervals - between midnight yesterday, midnight today and midnight tomorrow are - exactly twenty-four hours ... which is wrong if daylight-savings time - went into or out of effect meanwhile. - + + There appear to be some systems which do not accept the + recommended syntax for explicitly setting the local time zone + rules; you may need to use a different PGTZ + setting on such machines. + - - There appear to be some systems which do not accept the recommended syntax - for explicitly setting the local time zone rules; you may need to use - a different PGTZ setting on such machines. - + + Some systems using older time zone libraries fail to apply + daylight-savings corrections to dates before 1970, causing + pre-1970 PDT times to be displayed in PST instead. This will + result in localized differences in the test results. + + + + Some of the queries in the timestamp test will + fail if you run the test on the day of a daylight-savings time + changeover, or the day before or after one. These queries assume + that the intervals between midnight yesterday, midnight today and + midnight tomorrow are exactly twenty-four hours -- which is wrong + if daylight-savings time went into or out of effect meanwhile. + + + + + Floating point differences + + + Some of the tests involve computing 64-bit (double + precision) numbers from table columns. Differences in + results involving mathematical functions of double + precision columns have been observed. The float8 and + geometry tests are particularly prone to small differences across + platforms, or even with different compiler optimization options. + Human eyeball comparison is needed to determine the real + significance of these differences which are usually 10 places to + the right of the decimal point. + - - Some systems using older timezone libraries fail to apply daylight-savings - corrections to pre-1970 dates, causing pre-1970 PDT times to be displayed - in PST instead. This will result in localized differences in the test - results. - - - + + Some systems signal errors from pow() and + exp() differently from the mechanism + expected by the current PostgreSQL + code. + + - - Floating point differences + + Polygon differences - - Some of the tests involve computing 64-bit (float8) numbers from table - columns. Differences in results involving mathematical functions of - float8 columns have been observed. The float8 - and geometry tests are particularly prone to small differences - across platforms. - Human eyeball comparison is needed to determine the real significance - of these differences which are usually 10 places to the right of - the decimal point. - + + Several of the tests involve operations on geographic data about + the Oakland/Berkeley, CA street map. The map data is expressed as + polygons whose vertices are represented as pairs of double + precision numbers (decimal latitude and + longitude). Initially, some tables are created and loaded with + geographic data, then some views are created which join two + tables using the polygon intersection operator + (##), then a select is done on the view. + - - Some systems signal errors from pow() and exp() differently from - the mechanism expected by the current Postgres code. - - - + + When comparing the results from different platforms, differences + occur in the 2nd or 3rd place to the right of the decimal + point. The SQL statements where these problems occur are the + following: + +SELECT * from street; +SELECT * from iexit; + + + - - Polygon differences + + The <quote>random</quote> test - - Several of the tests involve operations on geographic date about the - Oakland/Berkley CA street map. The map data is expressed as polygons - whose vertices are represented as pairs of float8 numbers (decimal - latitude and longitude). Initially, some tables are created and - loaded with geographic data, then some views are created which join - two tables using the polygon intersection operator (##), then a select - is done on the view. - - When comparing the results from different platforms, differences occur - in the 2nd or 3rd place to the right of the decimal point. The SQL - statements where these problems occur are the following: - - - QUERY: SELECT * from street; - QUERY: SELECT * from iexit; - - - - - - - Random differences - - - There is at least one case in the "random" test script that is - intended to produce - random results. This causes random to fail the regression test - once in a while (perhaps once in every five to ten trials). - Typing - - diff results/random.out expected/random.out - - should produce only one or a few lines of differences. You need - not worry unless the random test always fails in repeated attempts. - (On the other hand, if the random test is never - reported to fail even in many trials of the regress tests, you - probably should worry.) - - - - - - The "expected" files - - - The ./expected/*.out files were adapted from the original monolithic - expected.input file provided by Jolly Chen et al. Newer versions of these - files generated on various development machines have been substituted after - careful (?) inspection. Many of the development machines are running a - Unix OS variant (FreeBSD, Linux, etc) on Ix86 hardware. - - The original expected.input file was created on a SPARC Solaris 2.4 - system using the postgres5-1.02a5.tar.gz source tree. It was compared - with a file created on an I386 Solaris 2.4 system and the differences - were only in the floating point polygons in the 3rd digit to the right - of the decimal point. - - The original sample.regress.out file was from the postgres-1.01 release - constructed by Jolly Chen. It may - have been created on a DEC ALPHA machine as the Makefile.global - in the postgres-1.01 release has PORTNAME=alpha. - - - - + + There is at least one case in the random test + script that is intended to produce random results. This causes + random to fail the regression test once in a while (perhaps once + in every five to ten trials). Typing + +diff results/random.out expected/random.out + + should produce only one or a few lines of differences. You need + not worry unless the random test always fails in repeated + attempts. (On the other hand, if the random test is + never reported to fail even in many trials + of the regress tests, you probably should + worry.) + + + Platform-specific comparison files diff --git a/src/test/regress/README b/src/test/regress/README index 86428c9e1a..ced6bb9725 100644 --- a/src/test/regress/README +++ b/src/test/regress/README @@ -1,241 +1,223 @@ +REGRESSION TESTS -Introduction +The regression tests are a comprehensive set of tests for the SQL +implementation in PostgreSQL. They test standard SQL operations as +well as the extended capabilities of PostgreSQL. The test suite was +originally developed by Jolly Chen and Andrew Yu, and was extensively +revised and repackaged by Marc Fournier and Thomas Lockhart. From +PostgreSQL 6.1 onward the regression tests are current for every +official release. - The PostgreSQL regression tests are a comprehensive set of tests for the - SQL implementation embedded in PostgreSQL. They test standard SQL - operations as well as the extended capabilities of PostgreSQL. +The regression test can be run against an already installed and +running server, or using a temporary installation within the build +tree. Furthermore, there is a "parallel" and a "sequential" 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 "stand-alone", but there +are technical reasons for this. - The regression tests were originally developed by Jolly Chen and Andrew Yu, - and were extensively revised/repackaged by Marc Fournier and Thomas Lockhart. - From PostgreSQL v6.1 onward the regression tests are current for every - official release. +To run the regression tests after building but before installation, +type - Some properly installed and fully functional PostgreSQL installations - can fail some of these regression tests due to artifacts of floating point - representation and time zone support. The current tests are evaluated - using a simple "diff" algorithm, and are sensitive to small system - differences. For apparently failed tests, examining the differences - may reveal that the differences are not significant. +$ gmake check -Preparation +in the top-level directory. (Or you can change to src/test/regress and +run the command there.) This will first build several auxiliary files, +such as platform-dependent "expected" files and some sample +user-defined trigger functions, and then run the test driver +script. At the end you should see something like - To prepare for regression testing, do "make all" in the regression test - directory. This compiles a 'C' program with PostgreSQL extension functions - into a shared library. Localized SQL scripts and output-comparison - files are also created for the tests that need them. The localization - replaces macros in the source files with absolute pathnames and user names. +====================== + All 75 tests passed. +====================== - Normally, the regression tests should be run as the postgres user since - the 'src/test/regress' directory and sub-directories are owned by the - postgres user. If you run the regression test as another user the - 'src/test/regress' directory tree must be writeable to that user. +or otherwise a note about what tests failed. See the section called +Test Evaluation below for more. - It was formerly necessary to run the postmaster with system time zone - set to PST, but this is no longer required. You can run the regression - tests under your normal postmaster configuration. The test script will - set the PGTZ environment variable to ensure that timezone-dependent tests - produce the expected results. + Note: Because this test method runs a temporary server, it will + not work when you are the root user (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. -Directory Layout + root# chmod -R a+w src/test/regress + root# su - joeuser + joeuser$ gmake check - input/ .... .source files that are converted using 'make all' into - some of the .sql files in the 'sql' subdirectory + (The only possible "security risk" here is that other users might + be able to alter the regression test results behind your back. Use + common sense when managing user permissions.) - output/ ... .source files that are converted using 'make all' into - .out files in the 'expected' subdirectory + Alternatively, run the tests after installation. - sql/ ...... .sql files used to perform the regression tests + Tip: On some systems, the default Bourne-compatible shell + (/bin/sh) 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: - expected/ . .out files that represent what we *expect* the results to - look like + $ gmake SHELL=/bin/ksh check - results/ .. .out files that contain what the results *actually* look - like. Also used as temporary storage for table copy testing. +To run the tests after installation, initialize a data area and start +the server, then type -Running the regression test +$ gmake installcheck - If you have previously run the regression test for a different Postgres - release, make sure you have up-to-date comparison files by doing +The server is expected to be running on the local host with the +default port number. - make clean all +Test Evaluation - The regression test is invoked with the command: +Some properly installed and fully functional PostgreSQL installations +can "fail" some of these regression tests due to artifacts of floating +point representation and time zone support. The tests are currently +evaluated using a simple diff comparison against the outputs generated +on a reference system, so the results are sensitive to small system +differences. When a test is reported as "failed", always examine the +differences between expected and actual results; you may well find +that the differences are not significant. Nonetheless, we still strive +to maintain accurate reference files across all supported platforms, +so it can be expected that all tests pass. - make runtest - - or you can do - - make runcheck - - which invokes a parallel form of the regress tests, and does not - need an already-installed postmaster. Instead, runcheck creates - a temporary installation under the regress directory. - -Comparing expected/actual output - - The results are in files in the ./results directory. These results - can be compared with results in the ./expected directory using 'diff'. - (The test script now does this for you, and leaves the differences - in ./regression.diffs.) - - The files might not compare exactly. The following paragraphs attempt - to explain the differences. - - Once the output files have been verified for a particular platform, - it is possible to provide new platform-specific comparison files, - so that future test runs won't report bogus "failures". See - 'Platform-specific comparison files', below. +The actual outputs of the regression tests are in files in the +src/test/regress/results directory. The test script uses diff to +compare each output file against the reference outputs stored in the +src/test/regress/expected directory. Any differences are saved for +your inspection in src/test/regress/regression.diffs. (Or you can run +diff yourself, if you prefer.) Error message differences - Some of the regression tests involve intentional invalid input values. - Error messages can come from either the Postgres code or from the host - platform system routines. In the latter case, the messages may vary - between platforms, but should reflect similar information. These - differences in messages will result in a "failed" regression test which - can be validated by inspection. +Some of the regression tests involve intentional invalid input +values. Error messages can come from either the PostgreSQL code or +from the host platform system routines. In the latter case, the +messages may vary between platforms, but should reflect similar +information. These differences in messages will result in a "failed" +regression test which can be validated by inspection. -DATE/TIME differences +Date and time differences - Most of the date and time results are dependent on timezone environment. - The reference files are generated for timezone PST8PDT (Berkeley, - California) and there will be apparent failures if the tests are not - run with that timezone setting. The regression test driver sets - environment variable PGTZ to PST8PDT to ensure proper results. +Most of the date and time results are dependent on the time zone +environment. The reference files are generated for time zone PST8PDT +(Berkeley, California) and there will be apparent failures if the +tests are not run with that time zone setting. The regression test +driver sets environment variable PGTZ to PST8PDT to ensure proper +results. However, your system must provide library support for the +PST8PDT time zone, or the time zone-dependent tests will fail. To +verify that your machine does have this support, type the following: - There appear to be some systems which do not accept the recommended syntax - for explicitly setting the local time zone rules; you may need to use - a different PGTZ setting on such machines. +$ env TZ=PST8PDT date - Some systems using older timezone libraries fail to apply daylight-savings - corrections to pre-1970 dates, causing pre-1970 PDT times to be displayed - in PST instead. This will result in localized differences in the test - results. +The command above should have returned the current system time in the +PST8PDT time zone. If the PST8PDT database is not available, then your +system may have returned the time in GMT. If the PST8PDT time zone is +not available, you can set the time zone rules explicitly: -FLOATING POINT differences +PGTZ='PST8PDT7,M04.01.0,M10.05.03'; export PGTZ - Some of the tests involve computing 64-bit (FLOAT8) numbers from table - columns. Differences in results involving mathematical functions of - FLOAT8 columns have been observed. These differences occur where - different operating systems are used on the same platform ie: - BSDI and SOLARIS on Intel/86, and where the same operating system is - used used on different platforms, ie: SOLARIS on SPARC and Intel/86. +There appear to be some systems which do not accept the recommended +syntax for explicitly setting the local time zone rules; you may need +to use a different PGTZ setting on such machines. - Human eyeball comparison is needed to determine the real significance - of these differences which are usually 10 places to the right of - the decimal point. +Some systems using older time zone libraries fail to apply +daylight-savings corrections to dates before 1970, causing pre-1970 +PDT times to be displayed in PST instead. This will result in +localized differences in the test results. - Some systems signal errors from pow() and exp() differently from - the mechanism expected by the current Postgres code. +Some of the queries in the "timestamp" test will fail if you run the +test on the day of a daylight-savings time changeover, or the day +before or after one. These queries assume that the intervals between +midnight yesterday, midnight today and midnight tomorrow are exactly +twenty-four hours -- which is wrong if daylight-savings time went into +or out of effect meanwhile. -POLYGON differences +Floating point differences - Several of the tests involve operations on geographic data about the - Oakland/Berkley CA street map. The map data is expressed as polygons - whose vertices are represented as pairs of FLOAT8 numbers (decimal - latitude and longitude). Initially, some tables are created and - loaded with geographic data, then some views are created which join - two tables using the polygon intersection operator (##), then a select - is done on the view. +Some of the tests involve computing 64-bit (double precision) numbers +from table columns. Differences in results involving mathematical +functions of double precision columns have been observed. The float8 +and geometry tests are particularly prone to small differences across +platforms, or even with different compiler optimization options. Human +eyeball comparison is needed to determine the real significance of +these differences which are usually 10 places to the right of the +decimal point. - When comparing the results from different platforms, differences occur - in the 2nd or 3rd place to the right of the decimal point. The SQL - statements where these problems occur are the following: +Some systems signal errors from pow() and exp() differently from the +mechanism expected by the current PostgreSQL code. - QUERY: SELECT * from street; - QUERY: SELECT * from iexit; +Polygon differences -Random differences +Several of the tests involve operations on geographic data about the +Oakland/Berkeley, CA street map. The map data is expressed as polygons +whose vertices are represented as pairs of double precision numbers +(decimal latitude and longitude). Initially, some tables are created +and loaded with geographic data, then some views are created which +join two tables using the polygon intersection operator (##), then a +select is done on the view. - There is at least one test case in random.out which is intended to produce - random results. This causes random to fail the regression testing. - Typing "diff results/random.out expected/random.out" should produce only - one or a few lines of differences for this reason, but other floating - point differences on dissimilar architectures might cause many more - differences. See the release notes below. +When comparing the results from different platforms, differences occur +in the 2nd or 3rd place to the right of the decimal point. The SQL +statements where these problems occur are the following: -The 'expected' files +SELECT * from street; +SELECT * from iexit; - The ./expected/*.out files were adapted from the original monolithic - 'expected.input' file provided by Jolly Chen et al. Newer versions of these - files generated on various development machines have been substituted after - careful (?) inspection. Many of the development machines are running a - Unix OS variant (FreeBSD, Linux, etc) on Ix86 hardware. +The "random" test + +There is at least one case in the "random" test script that is +intended to produce random results. This causes random to fail the +regression test once in a while (perhaps once in every five to ten +trials). Typing + +diff results/random.out expected/random.out + +should produce only one or a few lines of differences. You need not +worry unless the random test always fails in repeated attempts. (On +the other hand, if the random test is never reported to fail even in +many trials of the regress tests, you probably should worry.) Platform-specific comparison files - Since some of the tests inherently produce platform-specific results, - we have provided a way to supply platform-specific result comparison - files. Frequently, the same variation applies to multiple platforms; - rather than supplying a separate comparison file for every platform, - there is a mapping file that defines which comparison file to use. - So, to eliminate bogus test "failures" for a particular platform, - you must choose or make a variant result file, and then add a line - to the mapping file, which is "resultmap". +Since some of the tests inherently produce platform-specific results, +we have provided a way to supply platform-specific result comparison +files. Frequently, the same variation applies to multiple platforms; +rather than supplying a separate comparison file for every platform, +there is a mapping file that defines which comparison file to use. So, +to eliminate bogus test "failures" for a particular platform, you must +choose or make a variant result file, and then add a line to the +mapping file, which is "resultmap". - Each line in the mapping file is of the form - testname/platformnamepattern=comparisonfilename - The test name is just the name of the particular regression test module. - The platform name pattern is a pattern in the style of expr(1) (that is, - a regular expression with an implicit ^ anchor at the start). It is matched - against the platform name as printed by config.guess. The comparison - file name is the name of the substitute result comparison file. +Each line in the mapping file is of the form + + testname/platformnamepattern=comparisonfilename + +The test name is just the name of the particular regression test +module. The platform name pattern is a pattern in the style of expr(1) +(that is, a regular expression with an implicit ^ anchor at the +start). It is matched against the platform name as printed by +config.guess. The comparison file name is the name of the substitute +result comparison file. + +For example: the int2 regress test includes a deliberate entry of a +value that is too large to fit in int2. The specific error message +that is produced is platform-dependent; our reference platform emits - For example: the int2 regress test includes a deliberate entry of a value - that is too large to fit in int2. The specific error message that is - produced is platform-dependent; our reference platform emits ERROR: pg_atoi: error reading "100000": Numerical result out of range - but a fair number of other Unix platforms emit + +but a fair number of other Unix platforms emit + ERROR: pg_atoi: error reading "100000": Result too large - Therefore, we provide a variant comparison file, int2-too-large.out, - that includes this spelling of the error message. To silence the - bogus "failure" message on HPPA platforms, resultmap includes - int2/hppa=int2-too-large - which will trigger on any machine for which config.guess's output - begins with 'hppa'. Other lines in resultmap select the variant - comparison file for other platforms where it's appropriate. -Current release notes (Thomas.Lockhart@jpl.nasa.gov) +Therefore, we provide a variant comparison file, int2-too-large.out, +that includes this spelling of the error message. To silence the bogus +"failure" message on HPPA platforms, resultmap includes - The regression tests have been adapted and extensively modified for the - v6.1 release of PostgreSQL. + int2/hppa=int2-too-large - Three new data types (datetime, timespan, and circle) have been added to - the native set of PostgreSQL types. Points, boxes, paths, and polygons - have had their output formats made consistant across the data types. - The polygon output in misc.out has only been spot-checked for correctness - relative to the original regression output. - - PostgreSQL v6.1 introduces a new, alternate optimizer which uses "genetic" - algorithms. These algorithms introduce a random behavior in the ordering - of query results when the query contains multiple qualifiers or multiple - tables (giving the optimizer a choice on order of evaluation). Several - regression tests have been modified to explicitly order the results, and - hence are insensitive to optimizer choices. A few regression tests are - for data types which are inherently unordered (e.g. points and time - intervals) and tests involving those types are explicitly bracketed with - "set geqo to 'off'" and "reset geqo". - - The interpretation of array specifiers (the curly braces around atomic - values) appears to have changed sometime after the original regression - tests were generated. The current ./expected/*.out files reflect this - new interpretation, which may not be correct! - - The float8 regression test fails on at least some platforms. This is due - to differences in implementations of pow() and exp() and the signaling - mechanisms used for overflow and underflow conditions. - - The "random" results in the random test should cause the "random" test - to be "failed", since the regression tests are evaluated using a simple - diff. However, "random" does not seem to produce random results on my - test machine (Linux/gcc/i686). - -Sample timing results - - Timing under Linux 2.0.27 seems to have a roughly 5% variation from run - to run, presumably due to the timing vagaries of multitasking systems. - - Time System - 06:12 Pentium Pro 180, 32MB, Linux 2.0.30, gcc 2.7.2 -O2 -m486 - 12:06 P-100, 48MB, Linux 2.0.29, gcc - 39:58 Sparc IPC 32MB, Solaris 2.5, gcc 2.7.2.1 -O -g +which will trigger on any machine for which config.guess's output +begins with 'hppa'. Other lines in resultmap select the variant +comparison file for other platforms where it's appropriate.