• NAME
• VERSION
• SYNOPSIS
• DESCRIPTION
• METHODS
• Class Methods
• new
• Instance Methods
• next
• run
• INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
• Result types
• Common type methods
• type
• as_string
• raw
• is_plan
• is_test
• is_comment
• is_bailout
• is_yaml
• is_unknown
• is_ok
• plan methods
• plan
• directive
• explanation
• pragma methods
• pragmas
• comment
• bailout methods
• explanation
• unknown methods
• test methods
• ok
• number
• description
• directive
• explanation
• is_ok
• is_actual_ok
• is_unplanned
• has_skip
• has_todo
• in_todo
• TOTAL RESULTS
• Individual Results
• passed
• failed
• actual_passed
• actual_ok
• actual_failed
• todo
• todo_passed
• todo_failed
• skipped
• Pragmas
• pragma
• pragmas
• Summary Results
• plan
• good_plan
• is_good_plan
• tests_planned
• tests_run
• skip_all
• start_time
• end_time
• has_problems
• version
• exit
• wait
• parse_errors
• get_select_handles
• delete_spool
• CALLBACKS
• TAP GRAMMAR
• BACKWARDS COMPATABILITY
• Differences
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• AUTHORS
• BUGS
• COPYRIGHT & LICENSE

NAME

TAP::Parser - Parse TAP output

VERSION

Version 3.10

SYNOPSIS

    use TAP::Parser;

    my $parser = TAP::Parser->new( { source => $source } );

    while ( my $result = $parser->next ) {
        print $result->as_string;
    }

DESCRIPTION

TAP::Parser is designed to produce a proper parse of TAP output. For an example of how to run tests through this module, see the simple harnesses examples/.

There's a wiki dedicated to the Test Anything Protocol:

http://testanything.org

It includes the TAP::Parser Cookbook:

http://testanything.org/wiki/index.php/TAP::Parser_Cookbook

METHODS

Class Methods

new

 my $parser = TAP::Parser->new(\%args);

Returns a new TAP::Parser object.

The arguments should be a hashref with one of the following keys:

• source
  
This is the preferred method of passing arguments to the constructor. To determine how to handle the source, the following steps are taken.

If the source contains a newline, it's assumed to be a string of raw TAP output.

If the source is a reference, it's assumed to be something to pass to the the TAP::Parser::Iterator::Stream manpage constructor. This is used internally and you should not use it.

Otherwise, the parser does a -e check to see if the source exists. If so, it attempts to execute the source and read the output as a stream. This is by far the preferred method of using the parser.

 foreach my $file ( @test_files ) {
     my $parser = TAP::Parser->new( { source => $file } );
     # do stuff with the parser
 }

• tap
  
The value should be the complete TAP output.
• exec
  
If passed an array reference, will attempt to create the iterator by passing a the TAP::Parser::Source manpage object to the TAP::Parser::Iterator::Source manpage, using the array reference strings as the command arguments to IPC::Open3::open3:

 exec => [ '/usr/bin/ruby', 't/my_test.rb' ]

Note that source and exec are mutually exclusive.

The following keys are optional.

• callback
  
If present, each callback corresponding to a given result type will be called with the result as the argument if the run method is used:

 my %callbacks = (
     test    => \&test_callback,
     plan    => \&plan_callback,
     comment => \&comment_callback,
     bailout => \&bailout_callback,
     unknown => \&unknown_callback,
 );

 my $aggregator = TAP::Parser::Aggregator->new;
 foreach my $file ( @test_files ) {
     my $parser = TAP::Parser->new(
         {
             source    => $file,
             callbacks => \%callbacks,
         }
     );
     $parser->run;
     $aggregator->add( $file, $parser );
 }

• switches
  
If using a Perl file as a source, optional switches may be passed which will be used when invoking the perl executable.

 my $parser = TAP::Parser->new( {
     source   => $test_file,
     switches => '-Ilib',
 } );

• test_args
  
Used in conjunction with the source option to supply a reference to an @ARGV style array of arguments to pass to the test program.
• spool
  
If passed a filehandle will write a copy of all parsed TAP to that handle.
• merge
  
If false, STDERR is not captured (though it is 'relayed' to keep it somewhat synchronized with STDOUT.)

If true, STDERR and STDOUT are the same filehandle. This may cause breakage if STDERR contains anything resembling TAP format, but does allow exact synchronization.

Subtleties of this behavior may be platform-dependent and may change in the future.

Instance Methods

next

  my $parser = TAP::Parser->new( { source => $file } );
  while ( my $result = $parser->next ) {
      print $result->as_string, "\n";
  }

This method returns the results of the parsing, one result at a time. Note that it is destructive. You can't rewind and examine previous results.

If callbacks are used, they will be issued before this call returns.

Each result returned is a subclass of the TAP::Parser::Result manpage. See that module and related classes for more information on how to use them.

run

  $parser->run;

This method merely runs the parser and parses all of the TAP.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

If you've read this far in the docs, you've seen this:

    while ( my $result = $parser->next ) {
        print $result->as_string;
    }

Each result returned is a the TAP::Parser::Result manpage subclass, referred to as result types.

Result types

Basically, you fetch individual results from the TAP. The six types, with examples of each, are as follows:

• Version
  

 TAP version 12

• Plan
  

 1..42

• Pragma
  

 pragma +strict

• Test
  

 ok 3 - We should start with some foobar!

• Comment
  

 # Hope we don't use up the foobar.

• Bailout
  

 Bail out!  We ran out of foobar!

• Unknown
  

 ... yo, this ain't TAP! ...

Each result fetched is a result object of a different type. There are common methods to each result object and different types may have methods unique to their type. Sometimes a type method may be overridden in a subclass, but its use is guaranteed to be identical.

Common type methods

type

Returns the type of result, such as comment or test.

as_string

Prints a string representation of the token. This might not be the exact output, however. Tests will have test numbers added if not present, TODO and SKIP directives will be capitalized and, in general, things will be cleaned up. If you need the original text for the token, see the raw method.

raw

Returns the original line of text which was parsed.

is_plan

Indicates whether or not this is the test plan line.

is_test

Indicates whether or not this is a test line.

is_comment

Indicates whether or not this is a comment. Comments will generally only appear in the TAP stream if STDERR is merged to STDOUT. See the merge option.

is_bailout

Indicates whether or not this is bailout line.

is_yaml

Indicates whether or not the current item is a YAML block.

is_unknown

Indicates whether or not the current line could be parsed.

is_ok

  if ( $result->is_ok ) { ... }

Reports whether or not a given result has passed. Anything which is not a test result returns true. This is merely provided as a convenient shortcut which allows you to do this:

 my $parser = TAP::Parser->new( { source => $source } );
 while ( my $result = $parser->next ) {
     # only print failing results
     print $result->as_string unless $result->is_ok;
 }

plan methods

 if ( $result->is_plan ) { ... }

If the above evaluates as true, the following methods will be available on the $result object.

plan

  if ( $result->is_plan ) {
     print $result->plan;
  }

This is merely a synonym for as_string.

directive

 my $directive = $result->directive;

If a SKIP directive is included with the plan, this method will return it.

 1..0 # SKIP: why bother?

explanation

 my $explanation = $result->explanation;

If a SKIP directive was included with the plan, this method will return the explanation, if any.

pragma methods

 if ( $result->is_pragma ) { ... }

If the above evaluates as true, the following methods will be available on the $result object.

pragmas

Returns a list of pragmas each of which is a + or - followed by the pragma name.

=head2 C<commment> methods

 if ( $result->is_comment ) { ... }

If the above evaluates as true, the following methods will be available on the $result object.

comment

  if ( $result->is_comment ) {
      my $comment = $result->comment;
      print "I have something to say:  $comment";
  }

bailout methods

 if ( $result->is_bailout ) { ... }

If the above evaluates as true, the following methods will be available on the $result object.

explanation

  if ( $result->is_bailout ) {
      my $explanation = $result->explanation;
      print "We bailed out because ($explanation)";
  }

If, and only if, a token is a bailout token, you can get an ``explanation'' via this method. The explanation is the text after the mystical ``Bail out!'' words which appear in the tap output.

unknown methods

 if ( $result->is_unknown ) { ... }

There are no unique methods for unknown results.

test methods

 if ( $result->is_test ) { ... }

If the above evaluates as true, the following methods will be available on the $result object.

ok

  my $ok = $result->ok;

Returns the literal text of the ok or not ok status.

number

  my $test_number = $result->number;

Returns the number of the test, even if the original TAP output did not supply that number.

description

  my $description = $result->description;

Returns the description of the test, if any. This is the portion after the test number but before the directive.

directive

  my $directive = $result->directive;

Returns either TODO or SKIP if either directive was present for a test line.

explanation

  my $explanation = $result->explanation;

If a test had either a TODO or SKIP directive, this method will return the accompanying explantion, if present.

  not ok 17 - 'Pigs can fly' # TODO not enough acid

For the above line, the explanation is not enough acid.

is_ok

  if ( $result->is_ok ) { ... }

Returns a boolean value indicating whether or not the test passed. Remember that for TODO tests, the test always passes.

Note: this was formerly passed. The latter method is deprecated and will issue a warning.

is_actual_ok

  if ( $result->is_actual_ok ) { ... }

Returns a boolean value indicating whether or not the test passed, regardless of its TODO status.

Note: this was formerly actual_passed. The latter method is deprecated and will issue a warning.

is_unplanned

  if ( $test->is_unplanned ) { ... }

If a test number is greater than the number of planned tests, this method will return true. Unplanned tests will always return false for is_ok, regardless of whether or not the test has_todo (see the TAP::Parser::Result::Test manpage for more information about this).

has_skip

  if ( $result->has_skip ) { ... }

Returns a boolean value indicating whether or not this test had a SKIP directive.

has_todo

  if ( $result->has_todo ) { ... }

Returns a boolean value indicating whether or not this test had a TODO directive.

Note that TODO tests always pass. If you need to know whether or not they really passed, check the is_actual_ok method.

in_todo

  if ( $parser->in_todo ) { ... }

True while the most recent result was a TODO. Becomes true before the TODO result is returned and stays true until just before the next non- TODO test is returned.

TOTAL RESULTS

After parsing the TAP, there are many methods available to let you dig through the results and determine what is meaningful to you.

Individual Results

These results refer to individual tests which are run.

passed

 my @passed = $parser->passed; # the test numbers which passed
 my $passed = $parser->passed; # the number of tests which passed

This method lets you know which (or how many) tests passed. If a test failed but had a TODO directive, it will be counted as a passed test.

failed

 my @failed = $parser->failed; # the test numbers which failed
 my $failed = $parser->failed; # the number of tests which failed

This method lets you know which (or how many) tests failed. If a test passed but had a TODO directive, it will NOT be counted as a failed test.

actual_passed

 # the test numbers which actually passed
 my @actual_passed = $parser->actual_passed;

 # the number of tests which actually passed
 my $actual_passed = $parser->actual_passed;

This method lets you know which (or how many) tests actually passed, regardless of whether or not a TODO directive was found.

actual_ok

This method is a synonym for actual_passed.

actual_failed

 # the test numbers which actually failed
 my @actual_failed = $parser->actual_failed;

 # the number of tests which actually failed
 my $actual_failed = $parser->actual_failed;

This method lets you know which (or how many) tests actually failed, regardless of whether or not a TODO directive was found.

todo

 my @todo = $parser->todo; # the test numbers with todo directives
 my $todo = $parser->todo; # the number of tests with todo directives

This method lets you know which (or how many) tests had TODO directives.

todo_passed

 # the test numbers which unexpectedly succeeded
 my @todo_passed = $parser->todo_passed;

 # the number of tests which unexpectedly succeeded
 my $todo_passed = $parser->todo_passed;

This method lets you know which (or how many) tests actually passed but were declared as ``TODO'' tests.

todo_failed

  # deprecated in favor of 'todo_passed'.  This method was horribly misnamed.

This was a badly misnamed method. It indicates which TODO tests unexpectedly succeeded. Will now issue a warning and call todo_passed.

skipped

 my @skipped = $parser->skipped; # the test numbers with SKIP directives
 my $skipped = $parser->skipped; # the number of tests with SKIP directives

This method lets you know which (or how many) tests had SKIP directives.

Pragmas

pragma

Get or set a pragma. To get the state of a pragma:

  if ( $p->pragma('strict') ) {
      # be strict
  }

To set the state of a pragma:

  $p->pragma('strict', 1); # enable strict mode

pragmas

Get a list of all the currently enabled pragmas:

  my @pragmas_enabled = $p->pragmas;

Summary Results

These results are ``meta'' information about the total results of an individual test program.

plan

 my $plan = $parser->plan;

Returns the test plan, if found.

good_plan

Deprecated. Use is_good_plan instead.

is_good_plan

  if ( $parser->is_good_plan ) { ... }

Returns a boolean value indicating whether or not the number of tests planned matches the number of tests run.

Note: this was formerly good_plan. The latter method is deprecated and will issue a warning.

And since we're on that subject ...

tests_planned

  print $parser->tests_planned;

Returns the number of tests planned, according to the plan. For example, a plan of '1..17' will mean that 17 tests were planned.

tests_run

  print $parser->tests_run;

Returns the number of tests which actually were run. Hopefully this will match the number of $parser->tests_planned.

skip_all

Returns a true value (actually the reason for skipping) if all tests were skipped.

start_time

Returns the time when the Parser was created.

end_time

Returns the time when the end of TAP input was seen.

has_problems

  if ( $parser->has_problems ) {
      ...
  }

This is a 'catch-all' method which returns true if any tests have currently failed, any TODO tests unexpectedly succeeded, or any parse errors occurred.

version

  $parser->version;

Once the parser is done, this will return the version number for the parsed TAP. Version numbers were introduced with TAP version 13 so if no version number is found version 12 is assumed.

exit

  $parser->exit;

Once the parser is done, this will return the exit status. If the parser ran an executable, it returns the exit status of the executable.

wait

  $parser->wait;

Once the parser is done, this will return the wait status. If the parser ran an executable, it returns the wait status of the executable. Otherwise, this mererely returns the exit status.

parse_errors

 my @errors = $parser->parse_errors; # the parser errors
 my $errors = $parser->parse_errors; # the number of parser_errors

Fortunately, all TAP output is perfect. In the event that it is not, this method will return parser errors. Note that a junk line which the parser does not recognize is not an error. This allows this parser to handle future versions of TAP. The following are all TAP errors reported by the parser:

• Misplaced plan
  
The plan (for example, '1..5'), must only come at the beginning or end of the TAP output.
• No plan
  
Gotta have a plan!
• More than one plan
  

 1..3
 ok 1 - input file opened
 not ok 2 - first line of the input valid # todo some data
 ok 3 read the rest of the file
 1..3

Right. Very funny. Don't do that.

• Test numbers out of sequence
  

 1..3
 ok 1 - input file opened
 not ok 2 - first line of the input valid # todo some data
 ok 2 read the rest of the file

That last test line above should have the number '3' instead of '2'.

Note that it's perfectly acceptable for some lines to have test numbers and others to not have them. However, when a test number is found, it must be in sequence. The following is also an error:

 1..3
 ok 1 - input file opened
 not ok - first line of the input valid # todo some data
 ok 2 read the rest of the file

But this is not:

 1..3
 ok  - input file opened
 not ok - first line of the input valid # todo some data
 ok 3 read the rest of the file

get_select_handles

Get an a list of file handles which can be passed to select to determine the readiness of this parser.

delete_spool

Delete and return the spool.

  my $fh = $parser->delete_spool;

CALLBACKS

As mentioned earlier, a ``callback'' key may be added to the TAP::Parser constructor. If present, each callback corresponding to a given result type will be called with the result as the argument if the run method is used. The callback is expected to be a subroutine reference (or anonymous subroutine) which is invoked with the parser result as its argument.

 my %callbacks = (
     test    => \&test_callback,
     plan    => \&plan_callback,
     comment => \&comment_callback,
     bailout => \&bailout_callback,
     unknown => \&unknown_callback,
 );

 my $aggregator = TAP::Parser::Aggregator->new;
 foreach my $file ( @test_files ) {
     my $parser = TAP::Parser->new(
         {
             source    => $file,
             callbacks => \%callbacks,
         }
     );
     $parser->run;
     $aggregator->add( $file, $parser );
 }

Callbacks may also be added like this:

 $parser->callback( test => \&test_callback );
 $parser->callback( plan => \&plan_callback );

The following keys allowed for callbacks. These keys are case-sensitive.

• test
  
Invoked if $result->is_test returns true.
• version
  
Invoked if $result->is_version returns true.
• plan
  
Invoked if $result->is_plan returns true.
• comment
  
Invoked if $result->is_comment returns true.
• bailout
  
Invoked if $result->is_unknown returns true.
• yaml
  
Invoked if $result->is_yaml returns true.
• unknown
  
Invoked if $result->is_unknown returns true.
• ELSE
  
If a result does not have a callback defined for it, this callback will be invoked. Thus, if all of the previous result types are specified as callbacks, this callback will never be invoked.
• ALL
  
This callback will always be invoked and this will happen for each result after one of the above callbacks is invoked. For example, if the Term::ANSIColor manpage is loaded, you could use the following to color your test output:

 my %callbacks = (
     test => sub {
         my $test = shift;
         if ( $test->is_ok && not $test->directive ) {
             # normal passing test
             print color 'green';
         }
         elsif ( !$test->is_ok ) {    # even if it's TODO
             print color 'white on_red';
         }
         elsif ( $test->has_skip ) {
             print color 'white on_blue';

         }
         elsif ( $test->has_todo ) {
             print color 'white';
         }
     },
     ELSE => sub {
         # plan, comment, and so on (anything which isn't a test line)
         print color 'black on_white';
     },
     ALL => sub {
         # now print them
         print shift->as_string;
         print color 'reset';
         print "\n";
     },
 );

• EOF
  
Invoked when there are no more lines to be parsed. Since there is no accompanying the TAP::Parser::Result manpage object the TAP::Parser object is passed instead.

TAP GRAMMAR

If you're looking for an EBNF grammar, see the TAP::Parser::Grammar manpage.

BACKWARDS COMPATABILITY

The Perl-QA list attempted to ensure backwards compatability with the Test::Harness manpage. However, there are some minor differences.

Differences

• TODO plans
  
A little-known feature of the Test::Harness manpage is that it supported TODO lists in the plan:

 1..2 todo 2
 ok 1 - We have liftoff
 not ok 2 - Anti-gravity device activated

Under the Test::Harness manpage, test number 2 would pass because it was listed as a TODO test on the plan line. However, we are not aware of anyone actually using this feature and hard-coding test numbers is discouraged because it's very easy to add a test and break the test number sequence. This makes test suites very fragile. Instead, the following should be used:

 1..2
 ok 1 - We have liftoff
 not ok 2 - Anti-gravity device activated # TODO

• 'Missing' tests
  
It rarely happens, but sometimes a harness might encounter 'missing tests:

 ok 1
 ok 2
 ok 15
 ok 16
 ok 17

the Test::Harness manpage would report tests 3-14 as having failed. For the TAP::Parser, these tests are not considered failed because they've never run. They're reported as parse failures (tests out of sequence).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

All of the following have helped. Bug reports, patches, (im)moral support, or just words of encouragement have all been forthcoming.

• Michael Schwern
  
• Andy Lester
  
• chromatic
  
• GEOFFR
  
• Shlomi Fish
  
• Torsten Schoenfeld
  
• Jerry Gay
  
• Aristotle
  
• Adam Kennedy
  
• Yves Orton
  
• Adrian Howard
  
• Sean & Lil
  
• Andreas J. Koenig
  
• Florian Ragwitz
  
• Corion
  
• Mark Stosberg
  
• Matt Kraai
  

AUTHORS

Curtis ``Ovid'' Poe <ovid@cpan.org>

Andy Armstong <andy@hexten.net>

Eric Wilhelm @ <ewilhelm at cpan dot org>

Michael Peters <mpeters at plusthree dot com>

Leif Eriksen <leif dot eriksen at bigpond dot com>

BUGS

Please report any bugs or feature requests to bug-tapx-parser@rt.cpan.org, or through the web interface at http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html. We will be notified, and then you'll automatically be notified of progress on your bug as we make changes.

Obviously, bugs which include patches are best. If you prefer, you can patch against bleed by via anonymous checkout of the latest version:

 svn checkout http://svn.hexten.net/tapx

COPYRIGHT & LICENSE

Copyright 2006-2008 Curtis ``Ovid'' Poe, all rights reserved.

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.