Bruno Haible wrote: > Hi Jim, > >> diff --git a/tests/test-update-copyright.sh b/tests/test-update-copyright.sh >> index 2d1022a..607928d 100755 >> --- a/tests/test-update-copyright.sh >> +++ b/tests/test-update-copyright.sh >> @@ -16,6 +16,10 @@ >> # You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License >> # along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>. >> >> +# Skip this test if Perl is too old. FIXME: 5.6.0 is just a guess. >> +# We have a report that 5.004_05 is inadequate and that 5.8.8 works. >> +perl -e 'require 5.6.0' || exit 77 >> + >> diffout=`diff -u /dev/null /dev/null 2>&1` >> if test x"$diffout" = x"" && test $? -eq 0; then >> compare() { diff -u "$@"; } > > A little down in this test, there is a check whether perl exists at all. > It makes no sense IMO to test the perl version, risking a message to stderr > if it is missing, and then afterwards to test whether perl exists. > > Also, when the test is skipped, we should output an explanation why. > This explanation has already uncovered bugs. A message like > "Perl v5.8.0 required--this is only v5.6.0, stopped at -e line 1." > sounds more like an error message than like an explanation why a test is > being skipped. > > How about this proposed change? ... > > + # Skip this test if Perl is too old. FIXME: 5.8.0 is just a guess. > + # We have a report that 5.6.1 is inadequate and that 5.8.0 works. > + perl -e 'require 5.8.0' 2>/dev/null || { > + echo '$0: skipping this test; Perl version is too old' 1>&2 > + exit 77 > + }
Hi Bruno, Thanks. Moving the new test down is a definite improvement. However, I'd prefer to continue to report the offending version of Perl and the minimum required version. One way to do that would be to not suppress stderr.
