FCTX (FAST C XUNIT TEST) README

Overview

Fast C Test (FCTX) is an all in one header file that lets you create tests fast in C/C++. With FCTX you can write and run a test as fast as you can think about it. There is no need to write a test and register a test. Once the test is written it will be executed at runtime. There is no need for post-processing to generate a compilable file, you can run and view the results. The FCTX only requires a ANSI C/C++ compiler to run, there are no third party requirements.

Simply include, write your test, and compile.

The FCTX principle design goal is to make it possible to quickly generate unit tests for C and C++ with little or no hassle.

It is just a header, you only need #include.

What's New

See the NEWS file for release notes.

Licensing

The official statement:

Copyright (c) 2008 Ian Blumel. All rights reserved.

This software is licensed as described in the file LICENSE, which you should have received as part of this distribution.

What that LICENSE file is essentially stating in plain English:

Please be a good, smart person, and use due diligence. I can make no claims that what you are using will not light your computer on fire. I can make no claims that everything written in FCTX will be 100% correct.

All I ask is that if FCT is extended or redistributed, that the original contributors be notified, and that a proper reference is appreciated.

Thanks.

Quick Start Guide

To get you started quickly you only need to have the "fct.h" header file somewhere handy on your system. In the distribution package, it can be found in the "include" directory.

What follows an overly simple example of testing:

/* First include the fct framework. */
#include "fct.h"

/* Include your API. In this case we are going to test strcmp. */
#include <string.h>

/* Now lets define our testing scope. */
FCT_BGN()
{
   /* A simple test case. No setup/teardown. */
   FCT_SUITE_BGN(simple)
   {
      /* An actual test case in the test suite. */
      FCT_TEST_BGN(strcmp_eq)
      {
         fct_chk(strcmp("durka", "durka") == 0);
      }
      FCT_TEST_END();


      FCT_TEST_BGN(chk_neq)
      {
         fct_chk(strcmp("daka", "durka") !=0 );
      }
      FCT_TEST_END();


   /* Every test suite must be closed. */
   }
   FCT_SUITE_END();   

/* Every FCT scope has an end. */
}
FCT_END();

Now you can compile the above file and generate a new EXE. If your new EXE was called "test.exe", you can run it with a "filtering prefix" to limit the tests executed, for example:

test strcmp_eq

would only execute the "strcmp_eq" test.

To define a SETUP/TEARDOWN structure you would do something similar to the above tests:

FCT_BGN()
{
   /* Optionally, define a scope for you data. */
   {
      void *data =NULL;
      FCT_FIXTURE_SUITE_BGN(Fixtures)
      {
            FCT_SETUP_BGN()
            {
               /* Initialize your data before a test is executed. */
               data = malloc(sizeof(10));
            }
            FCT_SETUP_END();

            FCT_TEARDOWN_BGN()
            {
               /* Clean up your data after a test is executed. */
               free(data);
               data = NULL;
            }
            FCT_TEARDOWN_END();

            FCT_TEST_BGN(silly_test_for_null)
            {
               fct_chk( data != NULL );
            }
            FCT_TEST_END();

            FCT_TEST_BGN(silly_test_for_null__again)
            {
               fct_chk( data != NULL );
            }
            FCT_TEST_END();

      }
      FCT_FIXTURE_SUITE_END();
   }
}
FCT_END();

Afterwards, you can compile and run this test, and the "data" will be setup and teared down after each test cycle.

Development Goal

To state it out loud: FCT is dedicated to reducing the overhead associated with generating tests in C and C++.

Building

Build your Own Test Suite

To build your own test suite: Its just a header, include into your test file, and run the compiler.

Build the FCT Tests

To build the tests themselves: use CMAKE (http://www.cmake.org/). On Linux or similar system do something like this (from the root source directory):

mkdir build
cd build
cmake ../

At this point you should have a Makefile in your "build" directory. Type "make help" for a list of targets.

On a Win32 Machine it depends what you want to ultimately work with. The following example illustrates creating a Visual Studio 9 solution:

mkdir msw
cd msw
cmake -G"Visual Studio 9 2008" ..\

At this point you should have a FCT.sln file within your MSW directory. If you wanted to generate a different project, type:

cmake --help

To get list of generators. For example, if you wanted to use MinGW, you could do something like:

mkdir mingw
cmake -G"MinGW Makefiles" ..\

and now you will have a Makefile configured to compile with MinGW.

imb / fctx