NAME

prove -- A command-line tool for running tests against TAP::Harness::Compatible

SYNOPSIS

prove [options] [files/directories]

OPTIONS

    -b, --blib        Adds blib/lib to the path for your tests, a la "use blib"
    -d, --debug       Includes extra debugging information
    -D, --dry         Dry run: Show the tests to run, but don't run them
    -h, --help        Display this help
    -H, --man         Longer manpage for prove
    -I                Add libraries to @INC, as Perl's -I
    -l, --lib         Add lib to the path for your tests
        --perl        Sets the name of the Perl executable to use
    -r, --recurse     Recursively descend into directories
    -s, --shuffle     Run the tests in a random order
        --strap       Define strap class to use
    -T                Enable tainting checks
    -t                Enable tainting warnings
        --timer       Print elapsed time after each test file
        --directives  Only print results with directives (TODO or SKIP)
    -v, --verbose     Display standard output of test scripts while running them
    -V, --version     Display version info
    -w                Report on warnings

Single-character options may be stacked. Default options may be set by specifying the PROVE_SWITCHES environment variable.

OVERVIEW

prove is a command-line interface to the test-running functionality of TAP::Harness::Compatible. With no arguments, it will run all tests in the current directory.

Shell metacharacters may be used with command lines options and will be exanded via File::Glob::bsd_glob.

PROVE VS. "MAKE TEST"

prove has a number of advantages over make test when doing development.

prove is designed as a development tool
Perl users typically run the test harness through a makefile via make test. That's fine for module distributions, but it's suboptimal for a test/code/debug development cycle.
prove is granular
prove lets your run against only the files you want to check. Running prove t/live/ t/master.t checks every *.t in t/live, plus t/master.t.
prove has an easy verbose mode
prove has a -v option to see the raw output from the tests. To do this with make test, you must set HARNESS_VERBOSE=1 in the environment.
prove can run under taint mode
prove's -T runs your tests under perl -T, and -t runs them under perl -t.
prove can shuffle tests
You can use prove's --shuffle option to try to excite problems that don't show up when tests are run in the same order every time.
prove doesn't rely on a make tool
Not everyone wants to write a makefile, or use ExtUtils::MakeMaker to do so. prove has no external dependencies.
Not everything is a module
More and more users are using Perl's testing tools outside the context of a module distribution, and may not even use a makefile at all.

COMMAND LINE OPTIONS

-b, --blib

Adds blib/lib to the path for your tests, a la "use blib".

-d, --debug

Include debug information about how prove is being run. This option doesn't show the output from the test scripts. That's handled by -v,--verbose.

-D, --dry

Dry run: Show the tests to run, but don't run them.

-l, --lib

Add lib to @INC. Equivalent to -Ilib.

--perl

Sets the HARNESS_PERL environment variable, which controls what Perl executable will run the tests.

-r, --recurse

Descends into subdirectories of any directories specified, looking for tests.

Sometimes tests are accidentally dependent on tests that have been run before. This switch will shuffle the tests to be run prior to running them, thus ensuring that hidden dependencies in the test order are likely to be revealed. The author hopes the run the algorithm on the preceding sentence to see if he can produce something slightly less awkward.