Parameterized Test Units

Stride provides an easy way for passing parameters from the Stride Runner on the host to the test code executing on the target device.

Pass parameters via the command line to your constructor

 stride .. --run=MyTest(42)

Pass parameters using a name-value collection

 stride .. --run="MyOtherTest(/path/to/file.ini)"
 

This allows customization of the test behavior at runtime and is useful when you want to run the same test scenario with different sets of input data, as described by this pattern.

There are two ways you could pass parameters:

• as constructor arguments
• as a name-value collection

Constructor Arguments

Passing parameters as constructor arguments is very simple and natural, however could be quite challenging when you need to pass more than a couple.

How to use in your test code

To use parameters passed as constructor arguments you need to implement a public constructor in your C++ Test Unit (or extend the Initialization function of your C-Class Test Unit) with an argument list of C-string and numeric (integer or double) types:

C++ Test Unit

//MyTest.h
#include <srtest.h>

class MyTest
{
public;
    MyTest(int nParam, const char* szParam, double dParam)
        : m_nParam(nParam)
        , m_dParam(dParam)
    {
        strncpy(m_szParam, szParam, MAX_VALUE_LEN);
    }

    // Tests
    void Test1();
    ...
    ...
    ...
private:
    // typically, you will store parameter values into member variables for use by the member test methods
    int m_nParam;
    char m_szParam[MAX_VALUE_LEN];
    double m_dParam;
};

#ifdef _SCL
#pragma scl_test_class(MyTest)
#endif

NOTE: Don't declare more than one public constructor. This is typically not a problem for non-parameterized test classes, as a common default constructor is what's needed. Often you will begin with a non-parameterized test class and add the parameterization later as your testing gets more sophisticated. A common mistake here is to add a second public parameterized constructor to the class in addition to the original default constructor; this is perfectly legal in C++, but will not give you the desired result.

NOTE: Don't set default values for your constructor arguments. In the case of Stride, each test class is instantiated dynamically on demand by the harnessing code. The harnessing code does not know at build time whether constructor parameters will be omitted when the class is ultimately instantiated. (See bellow how constructor arguments are specified on the Stride Runner command line on the host computer.)

C-Class Test Unit

/*MyTest.h*/
#include <srtest.h>
  
typdef struct MyTest
{
    int m_nParam;
    char m_szParam[MAX_LEN];

    void (*Test1)(struct MyTest* self);
    ...
    ...
    ...
} MyTest;

void MyTest_Init(MyTest* self, int nParam, const char* szParam);

#ifdef _SCL
#pragma scl_test_cclass(MyTest, MyTest_Init)
#endif

/*MyTest.c*/
#include  "MyTest.h"
 
static void Test1(MyTest* self)
{
    ...
    ...
    ...
}

/* other test implementations */

void MyTest_Init(MyTest* self, int nParam, const char* szParam)
{
    self->m_nParam = nParam;
    strncpy(self->m_szParam, szParam, MAX_LEN);

    self->Test1 = Test1;
    ...
    ...
    ...
}

How to pass via the Runner

To pass parameter values as constructor arguments you need to specify them between parentheses characters immediately following the Test Unit name on the Stride Runner command line:

Number argument

Integer numbers could be specified as either decimal or hexadecimal. C++ true/false could also be specified.

--run=MyTest(17)
--run=MyTest(0x56)
--run=MyTest(21.95)
--run=MyTest(true)

String argument

String arguments must be enclosed with double quotes. Further, the double quotes should be escaped with a backslash as this is required by the command line processor.

--run="MyOtherTest(\"this is the parameter\")"
--run="FileTest(\"c:\\path\\to\\file\")"
--run="FileTest(\"/path/to/file\")"

Multiple arguments

--run="YetAnotherTest(19.58, -1, \"Encinitas, CA\", 92024, \"south\")"

NOTE: Be aware that the command line processor (console shell) imposes rules that requires any option's value containing special characters (e.g. space, ", ', |, \, /, *, ?...) to be enclosed within double-quotes. Within these quotes, all double-quote and backslash characters must be escaped with a preceding backslash.

NOTE: You can specify only some of the argument values, as any omitted will default to empty for C-string or 0 for numeric.

Name-Value Collection

Passing parameters as name-value collection is very powerful, however it requires explicit use of an API to obtain their values and as well a separate file on the host.

How to use in your test code

To use parameters passed as name-value collection you need to call srTest::GetParam for C++ (or srTestGetParam for C).

C++ Test Unit

//MyTest.h
#include <srtest.h>

class MyTest: public stride::srTest
{
public;
    MyTest()
        : m_lParam(0)
        , m_dParam(0.0)
    {
        m_lParam = GetParam("name1", -1);
        m_dParam = GetParam("section.name1", 0.5772156649);
        GetParam("name2", m_szParam, MAX_VALUE_LEN, "default value");
    }

    // Tests
    void Test1();
    ...
    ...
    ...
private:
    // typically, you will store parameter values into member variables for use by
    // the member test methods
    long m_lParam;
    double m_dParam;
    char m_szParam[MAX_VALUE_LEN];
};

#ifdef _SCL
#pragma scl_test_class(MyTest)
#endif

C-Class Test Unit

/*MyTest.h*/
#include <srtest.h>
  
typdef struct MyTest
{
    long m_lParam;
    char m_szParam[MAX_VALUE_LEN];

    void (*Test1)(struct MyTest* self);
    ...
    ...
    ...
} MyTest;

void MyTest_Init(MyTest* self);

#ifdef _SCL
#pragma scl_test_cclass(MyTest, MyTest_Init)
#endif

/*MyTest.c*/
#include  "MyTest.h"
 
static void Test1(MyTest* self)
{
    ...
    ...
    ...
}

/* other test implementations */

void MyTest_Init(MyTest* self)
{
    self->m_lParam = srTestGetParamLong("name1", -1);
    srTestGetParam("section.name2", self->m_szParam, MAX_VALUE_LEN, "default value");

    self->Test1 = Test1;
    ...
    ...
    ...
}

How to pass via the Runner

To pass parameter values as name-value collection you need to create an INI-formatted file and specify it (without double quite encloser) between parentheses characters immediately following the Test Unit name on the Stride Runner command line:

--run="MyTest(/path/to/file.ini)"

where "/path/to/file.ini" for example could be something like:

# line stating with a hash character are omitted

# global values
name1 = 17
name2 = this is a parameter
complex.name1 = something else

# section grouped valies
[section]
name1 = 13.86
name2 = yet another one

NOTE: The content of the INI-formatted file will be converted to a flat name-value collection, as any name "X" in section "Y" the file will appear under "Y.X" name in the collection. In case a name is repeated, only its last value will be present.

NOTE: String values are not required to be double quote enclosed.