1 This is a simple regression testing framework for Arthur.

     2 

     3 There are three parts to it.

     4 

     5 1) datagenerator . which is the main part. it's used to 

     6    run all the tests, create output png files,

     7    measure rendering performance and output it in

     8    data.xml file. datagenerator reads in

     9    framework.ini to figure out where to look for tests.

    10    if the framework.ini file isn't in the current directory

    11    you have to specify its location with the -framework

    12    parameter. by default datagenerator generates output in the

    13    current directory - to specify output directory pass in

    14    -output parameter followed by a directory name. if the given

    15    directory doesn't exist it will be created. 

    16 

    17    it's recommended to always specify -iterations argument (followed

    18    by the number). if the argument has been specified datagenerator

    19    will try to render all testcases the given amount of times yielding 

    20    a lot more precise results.

    21 

    22    if one wants to test just a specified engine -engine argument

    23    should be specified (followed by the desired engine name).

    24 

    25    individual testsuites can be run with -suite paramenter.

    26    individual testcases from testcases can also be reran with

    27    -testcase paramenter.

    28 

    29    given files can also be tested individually. if the option -file

    30    is specified with a SVG file engines will be tested against just

    31    that file and output will be written directly to stdout (not files).

    32    it's useful when optimizing one engine with particular case in

    33    mind.

    34 

    35    Example command line:

    36    ./bin/datagenerator -framework data/framework.ini -output sampleout -iterations 5 -engine [ENGINE]

    37 

    38 2) htmlgenerator. which is used to generate html pages out of

    39    generated output (generated by datagenerator). htmlgenerator also

    40    reads in the framework.ini file. so the option -framework also

    41    applies. but htmlgenerator takes a mandatory directory name as the

    42    second argument. the mandatory directory name is the directory to

    43    which you output the files generated by datagenerator (either

    44    whatever followed the -output or the current directory)

    45 

    46    htmlgenerator will generate html pages that can be viewed to

    47    manually inspect the results.

    48 

    49    Example command line:

    50    ./bin/htmlgenerator -framework data/framework.ini sampleout

    51 

    52 3) performancediff. diffs the performance data between two output

    53    directories. so assuming you already have data for all the engines,

    54    you change something in an engine. to see the performance

    55    difference run

    56    ./bin/datagenerator -framework data/framework.ini -output newoutput -iterations 5

    57    and then

    58    ./bin/performancediff sampleout newoutput

    59    

    60    The performance results will be printed out.

    61 

    62    The two first columns are in ms. The last one is a 

    63    percentage of difference. 

    64 

    65    After the percentage a '+' or a '-' sign followed by a 

    66    number will be sometimes printed.

    67 

    68    '+' signifies the new results were mathematically better. '-' is of

    69    course just the opposite.

    70    the number following '+' is the minimum rendering time the engine

    71    spent rendering the given file up till this moment.

    72    the number following '-' is the maximum rendering time the engine

    73    spent rendering the given file up till this moment.

    74 

    75    (if the current results are out of the scope from within maximum and

    76    minimum number then the respective sign is printed out.)

    77 -------------------------------------------------------------------

    78 

    79 Note that the generated output directories can be copied from one

    80 machine to the other. htmlgenerator will generate webpages for all

    81 engines with valid data.xml files. So if you want add NativeWin32 and

    82 NativeMac engines you'll have to have someone with a windows and mac

    83 run datagenerator with "-engine NativeWin32" or "-engine NativeMac"

    84 options and then sending you the respective output directories.