Testing

Tests are driven through make from the repository root. Python tests are the default and live in tests/ as test_*.py. C++ tests live in gtests/ as test_nopython_*.cpp and are reserved for behaviour that cannot or should not be reached from Python.

  • make pytest: run the full Python test suite.

  • make pytest PYTEST_OPTS="tests/test_buffer.py::SimpleArrayBasicTC": forward options verbatim to pytest to run a subset.

  • make run_pilot_pytest: Python tests that need the pilot GUI.

  • make gtest: build and run the full C++ test suite.

  • make pyprof: run the profiling benchmarks (see Profiling).

After make gtest has built the binary, a single C++ test can be run directly:

./build/rel<pyvminor>/gtests/run_gtest --gtest_filter=Suite.Test

where <pyvminor> is the active Python major and minor version, e.g. 314.

Automatic Testing on GitHub Actions

Continuous integration runs on GitHub Actions. The workflows live in .github/workflows/. Most checks run on every change, while the heavier and slowly-changing ones run on a nightly schedule. Each job drives the same make targets described above, so a failure can usually be reproduced locally.

The fast set runs on every pull request and master push:

  • check_skip: decides whether to skip the heavy jobs (see below).

  • lint: make cformat, cinclude, checkascii, checktws, flake8, and clang-tidy on the diff, on ubuntu and macOS.

  • standalone_buffer: the standalone buffer build on ubuntu.

  • build: make gtest plus make pytest with Qt off and on, and the pilot, on ubuntu and macOS (Release).

  • build_windows (Release): the Windows build and tests.

The heavy set runs on the nightly schedule only:

  • build_windows (Debug): the second Windows configuration.

  • nouse_install: the setup.py install packaging path.

  • the ASAN/UBSAN sanitizer build (-DUSE_SANITIZER=ON over the gtest suite).

  • profiling: the benchmark suite.

  • the Windows portable artifact.

The nightly run is the superset: the fast set plus these extras.

Compiler caches (ccache on Linux and macOS, sccache for MSVC on Windows) are saved by pushes to master and by nightly runs, and restored by pull requests. A pull request on a non-default base branch cannot read them and runs cold.

Skipping in a pull request

  • A pull request skips the heavy jobs when it carries the skip-ci label or a repository member writes [skip-ci] alone on a line of its description or a comment. A documentation-only pull request (only doc/**, *.md, *.rst, or contrib/prompt/**) skips them automatically.

  • A pull request that touches no C++ or build file skips the Windows build but still runs the Python build and lint.

Repository variables

These variables tune the workflows. Set them as repository variables (under Settings, then Secrets and variables, then Actions, then the Variables tab). Each is read with a default, so an unset variable keeps the default behavior.

  • MMGH_NIGHTLY: set to enable to let the nightly schedule run its jobs. Unset, every scheduled run is skipped.

  • MMGH_PUSH_RUN_BRANCH: which branches run the fast set on a push. Use * for all branches, or a branch name (matched as a substring). Unset, a push runs nothing.

  • MMGH_FORCE_PROFILE, MMGH_FORCE_NOUSE_INSTALL, MMGH_FORCE_SANITIZER: set any to enable to force that nightly-only job to run on any event, so it can be exercised from a pull request.

  • MMGH_TIMEOUT_BUILD (45), MMGH_TIMEOUT_LINT (45), MMGH_TIMEOUT_STANDALONE_BUFFER (10), MMGH_TIMEOUT_NOUSE_INSTALL (30), MMGH_TIMEOUT_PROFILE (30): per-job timeout-minutes. The number is the default used when the variable is unset. MMGH_TIMEOUT_BUILD is shared by the ubuntu, macOS, and sanitizer builds (default 45) and the Windows build, which defaults to 60 because its vcpkg plus MSVC compile runs slower than the others.

Behavior on a forked repository

  • A fork inherits neither these variables nor the secrets, so MMGH_NIGHTLY and MMGH_PUSH_RUN_BRANCH are unset there. By default only pull_request events run, so the fast set runs on a pull request opened in the fork, while pushes and the nightly schedule run nothing until the variables are set.

  • Scheduled workflows run only on the default branch, and GitHub keeps Actions disabled on a new fork until it is enabled (a public fork’s schedule also pauses after 60 days without activity).

  • To exercise a single nightly-only job on a fork, set the matching MMGH_FORCE_* variable and open a pull request.

  • A fork pull request on a non-default base branch runs cold, since it cannot read the warmed caches. The failure-notification job is guarded by github.event.repository.fork == false, so it never runs on a fork (and the email secrets it needs are unavailable there).