Subject: Feature Request: Automake script based tests to print the test name before running it
From: Kasper k <[email-masked]>
To: "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2021 03:01:30 +0000
List-Id: <debbugs-submit.debbugs.gnu.org>

Hello automake devs,

In script based testsuites (https://www.gnu.org/software/automake/manual/html_node/Scripts_002dbased-Testsuites.html#Scripts_002dbased-Testsuites), when we run `make check` it prints one of the following string for each test: PASS <testname>, FAIL <testname>, XFAIL <testname> or SKIP <testname>.

However, in some cases (long running test, flaky test, other inconclusive ones for more involved reasons), it is essential to know which test is currently in flight. Especially in CI systems, where flakiness every now and then, due to external factors, is almost unavoidable.

It would be very helpful if a new option AM_TESTS_NAME=1 is provided, which would change the stdout output from:

    <blank stdout and wait for test execution to complete>
     PASS (or FAIL/XFAIL/SKIP) $name

to something like:

    RUNNING $name
    <blank stdout and wait for test execution to complete>
     PASS (or FAIL/XFAIL/SKIP) $name

this way we can easily find out the name of test (or multiple of them; in case of parallel execution) which is (are) currently running.

Thanks,
/K