• Typical (non-interactive) test strategy:
  • Run a few test cases.
    • Use pre-defined files or a waveform as input file.
  • Check the output.
    • When possible compare to a known output file.
      • Use the nxm.<opt>.test.filename.prm syntax for files in the test area.
    • When comparing output values consider using EQT (equals with tolerance) for cases where minor rounding errors are not a problem.
    • Where it makes sense (usually for record-based output) compare a few random rows against expected values.
      • Use FILE command to open the file and then use getDataTable(offset) to read an individual row.
  • Run more test cases for special options or switches.
  • Whenever a bug is discovered in an existing primitive add a test for that bug.
• Be sure to check out IF:
  • The NeXtMidas IF contains many tests that are useful when writing test macros. Some of these include:

    EQT	Numeric equality with a tolerance.
    FEXISTS	Tests to see if a file exists.
    REXISTS	Tests to see if a result exists.
    FEQ	Tests file equality.

  • For more details see the explain file for IF.

Don't Make This Mistake:
The byte ordering of a Data File (Blue File) is dependent on the host system. If you do a binary comparison (FEQ/B) between files created on different systems, the test may fail, even though the data in the file is correct. In general you should avoid the use FEQ/B when working with a Data File (Blue File).