[eclipselink-dev] I need your views (Test Build changes)...

[Eric Gwin <eric.gwin@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Two idealogical items were brought up this week regarding the test 
builds (I've specifically added an assumed third (disallowing classes)):

1. What to test against:
   - Most tests used to throw the kitchen sink into the classpath to 
get them to work (eclipselink.jar, bundles, and classes
     as well as all possible dependencies)
   - SDO and MOXy always test nightly against the eclipselink.jar only
   - To get the rest of the tests working, without a recompile of the 
product, tests  have been added to verify the existence
      of  eclipselink, the bundles, and the classes. Then one set is 
used in the classpath (in order of preference):
         eclipselink.jar, the bundles, or classes
      - The same target is executed regardless of classpath.
 - I included the bundle set in anticipation of testing against OSGi 
platforms, and because we seem to be promoting the
    targeted use of eclipselink as an added configuration (therefore we 
will need the capability of certifying the bundles)
 - Given the new directive for testing to not recompile the product it 
seems, it can easily be extended to include
   "tests should only be run against product jars" (eclipselink, or 
bundles) when using ant (eclipse testing
   remain unaffected).

2. Dynamic vs Static Testing
   Rather than running a test target against any available set of 
product classes (eclipselink.jar, the bundles, or class dirs), a
   preference has been stated to use static targets for a configuration 
set.
   - The reason is to ensure that you are testing against what you 
think you are. For example "test-srg-using-jar" would only
      and always run the SRG against the product jar, 
"test-srg-using-bundles" and "test-srg-using-classes" would only test
     against the bundle jars and classes respectively.
      - The down-side is that scripts would need to be focused for a 
specific methodology, and couldn't be reused for multiple purposes.

To limit impact on testing and development I had been approaching the 
reorg design utilizing a dynamic approach. I can see the benefit for 
going to a static approach, but I need your input first.

I can also see a benefit to disallowing class testing, but the rigidity 
may cause problems later. Certainly product-only defaults can be setup.

Irregardless of the outcome, I plan on continuing to test availability 
first and report a missing dependency in the effort to increase 
usability and robustness, as well as reduce debug time.

Anyone have strong preferences?
-Should the tests dynamically target the product using a single target, 
or should configuration-specific static targets be used?
-Should testing against jars be enforced? If so does this include 
testing jars (vs allowing test classes) (in some cases this is
already necessary, in others it is not)?

-Eric