The ct_run program

ct_run

ct_run
Program used for starting Common Test from the OS command line.

The ct_run program is automatically installed with Erlang/OTP and the Common Test application (for more information, see section Installation in the User's Guide). The program accepts different start flags. Some flags trigger ct_run to start Common Test and pass on data to it. Some flags start an Erlang node prepared for running Common Test in a particular mode.

The interface function ct:run_test/1, corresponding to the ct_run program, is used for starting Common Test from the Erlang shell (or an Erlang program). For details, see the ct manual page.

ct_run also accepts Erlang emulator flags. These are used when ct_run calls erl to start the Erlang node (this makes it possible to add directories to the code server path, change the cookie on the node, start more applications, and so on).

With the optional flag -erl_args, options on the ct_run command line can be divided into two groups:

  • One group that Common Test is to process (those preceding -erl_args).
  • One group that Common Test is to ignore and pass on directly to the emulator (those following -erl_args).

Options preceding -erl_args that Common Test does not recognize are also passed on to the emulator untouched. By -erl_args the user can specify flags with the same name, but with different destinations, on the ct_run command line.

If flags -pa or -pz are specified in the Common Test group of options (preceding -erl_args), relative directories are converted to absolute and reinserted into the code path by Common Test. This is to avoid problems loading user modules when Common Test changes working directory during test runs. However, Common Test ignores flags -pa and -pz following -erl_args on the command line. These directories are added to the code path normally (that is, on specified form).

Exit status is set before the program ends. Value 0 indicates a successful test result, 1 indicates one or more failed or auto-skipped test cases, and 2 indicates test execution failure.

If ct_run is called with option -help, it prints all valid start flags to stdout.

 ct_run -dir TestDir1 TestDir2 .. TestDirN |
  [-dir TestDir] -suite Suite1 Suite2 .. SuiteN
  [-group Groups1 Groups2 .. GroupsN] [-case Case1 Case2 .. CaseN]
  [-step [config | keep_inactive]]
  [-config ConfigFile1 ConfigFile2 .. ConfigFileN]
  [-userconfig CallbackModule1 ConfigString1 and CallbackModule2
   ConfigString2 and .. CallbackModuleN ConfigStringN]
  [-decrypt_key Key] | [-decrypt_file KeyFile]
  [-label Label]
  [-logdir LogDir]
  [-logopts LogOpts]
  [-verbosity GenVLevel | [Category1 VLevel1 and
   Category2 VLevel2 and .. CategoryN VLevelN]]
  [-silent_connections [ConnType1 ConnType2 .. ConnTypeN]]
  [-stylesheet CSSFile]
  [-cover CoverCfgFile]
  [-cover_stop Bool]
  [-event_handler EvHandler1 EvHandler2 .. EvHandlerN] |
  [-event_handler_init EvHandler1 InitArg1 and
   EvHandler2 InitArg2 and .. EvHandlerN InitArgN]
  [-include InclDir1 InclDir2 .. InclDirN]
  [-no_auto_compile]
  [-abort_if_missing_suites]
  [-multiply_timetraps Multiplier]
  [-scale_timetraps]
  [-create_priv_dir auto_per_run | auto_per_tc | manual_per_tc]
  [-repeat N] |
  [-duration HHMMSS [-force_stop [skip_rest]]] |
  [-until [YYMoMoDD]HHMMSS [-force_stop [skip_rest]]]
  [-basic_html]
  [-no_esc_chars]
  [-keep_logs all | NLogs]
  [-ct_hooks CTHModule1 CTHOpts1 and CTHModule2 CTHOpts2 and ..
   CTHModuleN CTHOptsN]
  [-exit_status ignore_config]
  [-help]
 ct_run -spec TestSpec1 TestSpec2 .. TestSpecN
  [-join_specs]
  [-config ConfigFile1 ConfigFile2 .. ConfigFileN]
  [-userconfig CallbackModule1 ConfigString1 and CallbackModule2
   ConfigString2 and .. and CallbackModuleN ConfigStringN]
  [-decrypt_key Key] | [-decrypt_file KeyFile]
  [-label Label]
  [-logdir LogDir]
  [-logopts LogOpts]
  [-verbosity GenVLevel | [Category1 VLevel1 and
   Category2 VLevel2 and .. CategoryN VLevelN]]
  [-allow_user_terms]
  [-silent_connections [ConnType1 ConnType2 .. ConnTypeN]]
  [-stylesheet CSSFile]
  [-cover CoverCfgFile]
  [-cover_stop Bool]
  [-event_handler EvHandler1 EvHandler2 .. EvHandlerN] |
  [-event_handler_init EvHandler1 InitArg1 and
   EvHandler2 InitArg2 and .. EvHandlerN InitArgN]
  [-include InclDir1 InclDir2 .. InclDirN]
  [-no_auto_compile]
  [-abort_if_missing_suites]
  [-multiply_timetraps Multiplier]
  [-scale_timetraps]
  [-create_priv_dir auto_per_run | auto_per_tc | manual_per_tc]
  [-repeat N] |
  [-duration HHMMSS [-force_stop [skip_rest]]] |
  [-until [YYMoMoDD]HHMMSS [-force_stop [skip_rest]]]
  [-basic_html]
  [-no_esc_chars]
  [-keep_logs all | NLogs]
  [-ct_hooks CTHModule1 CTHOpts1 and CTHModule2 CTHOpts2 and ..
   CTHModuleN CTHOptsN]
  [-exit_status ignore_config]
 ct_run -refresh_logs [-logdir LogDir] [-basic_html]
  [-keep_logs all | NLogs]
 ct_run -shell
  [-config ConfigFile1 ConfigFile2 ... ConfigFileN]
  [-userconfig CallbackModule1 ConfigString1 and CallbackModule2
   ConfigString2 and .. and CallbackModuleN ConfigStringN]
  [-decrypt_key Key] | [-decrypt_file KeyFile]
 ct_run -ctmaster

For information about the start flags, see section Running Tests and Analyzing Results in the User's Guide.