X-Git-Url: https://git.notmuchmail.org/git?p=notmuch;a=blobdiff_plain;f=test%2FREADME;h=d12cff24e2bd7a0796446e76c9e1559da46db1d4;hp=bde6db0c04a4979ea29ac1451e5d0e6b80b8fb50;hb=71521f06b00a01c5b0eaea5f5f624fe57ed7f426;hpb=bed6022ed1076803d89260762dd4d90e639f2756

diff --git a/test/README b/test/README
index bde6db0c..d12cff24 100644
--- 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
@@ -43,7 +56,7 @@ The following command-line options are available when running tests:
 	run the tests with this option in parallel.
 
 --root=<dir>::
-	This runs the testsuites specified under a seperate directory.
+	This runs the testsuites specified under a separate directory.
 	However, caution is advised, as not all tests are maintained
 	with this relocation in mind, so some tests may behave
 	differently.
@@ -56,12 +69,12 @@ 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.
+You can choose an emacs binary (and corresponding emacsclient) 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
+	TEST_EMACS=my-special-emacs TEST_EMACSCLIENT=my-emacsclient make test
+	TEST_EMACS=my-special-emacs TEST_EMACSCLIENT=my-emacsclient ./emacs
+	make test TEST_EMACS=my-special-emacs TEST_EMACSCLIENT=my-emacsclient
 
 Skipping Tests
 --------------
@@ -163,12 +176,19 @@ library for your script to use.
    will generate a failure and print the difference of the two
    strings.
 
- test_expect_equal_file <output> <expected>
+ test_expect_equal_file <file1> <file2>
+
+   Identical to test_expect_equal, except that <file1> and <file2>
+   are files instead of strings.  This is a much more robust method to
+   compare formatted textual information, since it also notices
+   whitespace and closing newline differences.
+
+ test_expect_equal_json <output> <expected>
 
-   Identical to test_exepect_equal, except that <output> and
-   <expected> are files instead of strings.  This is a much more
-   robust method to compare formatted textual information, since it
-   also notices whitespace and closing newline differences.
+   Identical to test_expect_equal, except that the two strings are
+   treated as JSON and canonicalized before equality testing.  This is
+   useful to abstract away from whitespace differences in the expected
+   output and that generated by running a notmuch command.
 
  test_debug <script>
 
@@ -189,6 +209,14 @@ library for your script to use.
    tests that may run in the same Emacs instance.  Use `let' instead
    so the scope of the changed variables is limited to a single test.
 
+ test_emacs_expect_t <emacs-lisp-expressions>
+
+  This function executes the provided emacs lisp script within
+  emacs in a manner similar to 'test_emacs'. The expressions should
+  return the value `t' to indicate that the test has passed. If the
+  test does not return `t' then it is considered failed and all data
+  returned by the test is reported to the tester.
+
  test_done
 
    Your test script must have test_done at the end.  Its purpose
@@ -232,3 +260,16 @@ variables which are useful in writing tests:
     generated script that should be called instead of notmuch to do
     the counting.  The notmuch_counter_value() function prints the
     current counter value.
+
+There are also functions which remove various environment-dependent
+values from notmuch output; these are useful to ensure that test
+results remain consistent across different machines.
+
+ notmuch_search_sanitize
+ notmuch_show_sanitize
+ notmuch_show_sanitize_all
+ notmuch_json_show_sanitize
+
+   All these functions should receive the text to be sanitized as the
+   input of a pipe, e.g.
+   output=`notmuch search "..." | notmuch_search_sanitize`