Document external dependencies in the test suite

[notmuch] / test / README

diff --git a/test/README b/test/README
index 7b2e96d466a7a1403fa78f03940ffacf15abdd14..44ff653aa2bd5b56c73b795ee06341b7d87f7bba 100644 (file)
--- a/test/README
+++ b/test/README
@@ -6,6 +6,19 @@ When fixing bugs or enhancing notmuch, you are strongly encouraged to
 add tests in this directory to cover what you are trying to fix or
 enhance.
 
+Prerequisites
+-------------
+Some tests require external dependencies to run. Without them, they
+will be skipped, or (rarely) marked failed. Please install these, so
+that you know if you break anything.
+
+  - dtach(1)
+  - emacs(1)
+  - emacsclient(1)
+  - gdb(1)
+  - gpg(1)
+  - python(1)
+
 Running Tests
 -------------
 The easiest way to run tests is to say "make test", (or simply run the
@@ -56,6 +69,13 @@ can be specified as follows:
 
        make test OPTIONS="--verbose"
 
+You can choose an emacs binary to run the tests in one of the
+following ways.
+
+       TEST_EMACS=my-special-emacs make test
+       TEST_EMACS=my-special-emacs ./emacs
+       make test TEST_EMACS=my-special-emacs
+
 Skipping Tests
 --------------
 If, for any reason, you need to skip one or more tests, you can do so