1Contributing to OpenBMC Test Automation
2=======================================
3Guide to working on OpenBMC test automation. This document will always be a
4work-in-progress, feel free to propose changes.
5
6Submitting changes via Gerrit server
7------------------------------------
8-   Reference [OpenBMC CLA signers](https://github.com/openbmc/openbmc-tools/blob/master/emilyshaffer/cla-signers/cla-signers)
9-   Reference [OpenBMC docs](https://github.com/openbmc/docs/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#submitting-changes-via-gerrit-server)
10
11Robot Coding Guidelines
12-----------------------
13-   For this project, we will write Robot keyword definitions in either Robot
14    or Python.  Robot code should be quite simple.  Therefore, if the algorithm
15    in question is the least bit complex, please write it in Python.
16-   Observe a maximum line length of 110 characters.
17-   Avoid trailing space at the end of any line of Robot code.
18-   Avoid the use of tabs.
19-   Robot supports delimiting cells with either two or more spaces or with a
20    pipe symbol (e.g. "\|"). Our team has chosen to use spaces rather than the
21    pipe character. Make sure all space delimiters in Robot code are the
22    **minimum** of two spaces. There may be some exceptions to this rule.
23
24    Exceptions to two-space delimiter rule:
25    - When you wish to line up resource, library or variable values:
26      ```
27      Library         Lib1
28      Resource        Resource1
29      *** Variables ***
30      ${var1}         ${EMPTY}
31      ```
32    - When you wish to line up fields for test templates:
33      ```
34      [Template]  Set System LED State
35      # LED Name  LED State
36      power       On
37      power       Off
38      ```
39    - When you wish to indent if/else or loop bodies for visual effect:
40      ```
41      Run Keyword If  '${this}' == '${that}'
42      ...    Log  Bla, bla...
43      ...  ELSE
44      ...    Run Keywords  Key1  parms
45      ...    AND  Key2  parms
46      ```
47-   Use spaces to make conditions more readable:
48
49    Correct example:
50    ```
51    Run Keyword If  '${var1}' == '${0}'  My Keyword
52    ```
53    Incorrect example:
54    ```
55    Run Keyword If  '${var1}'=='${0}'  My Keyword
56    ```
57-   When you define or call a Robot keyword, Robot pays no attention to spaces,
58    underscores or case.  However, our team will observe the following
59    conventions in both our definitions and our calls:
60    - Separate words with single spaces.
61    - Capitalize the first character of each word.
62    - Capitalize all characters in any word that is an acronym (e.g. JSON, BMC,
63      etc).
64
65    Examples:
66    ```
67    *** Keywords ***
68
69    This Is Correct
70
71        # This keyword name is correct.
72
73    this_is_incorrect
74
75        # This keyword name is incorrect because of 1) the
76        # underscores instead of spaces and 2) the failure to
77        # capitalize each word in the keyword.
78
79    soisthis
80
81        # This keyword name is incorrect because of 1) a failure to
82        # separate words with spaces and 2) a failure to capitalize
83        # each word in the keyword.
84
85    BMC Is An Acronym
86
87        # This keyword name is correct.  Note that "BMC" is an
88        # acronym and as such is entirely uppercase.
89    ```
90-   Documentation strings:
91    -  Each documentation string should be phrased as an **English command**.
92       Punctuate it correctly with the first word capitalized and a period at
93       the end.
94
95       Correct example:
96        ```
97        Boot BMC
98            [Documentation]  Boot the BMC.
99        ```
100        Incorrect example:
101        ```
102        Boot BMC
103            [Documentation]  This keyword boots the BMC.
104
105            # The doc string above is not phrased as a command.
106        ```
107    -   Doc strings should be just one terse, descriptive sentence.
108        Remember that this doc string shows up in the HTML log file.  Put
109        additional commentary below in standard comment lines.
110
111        Correct example:
112        ```
113        Stop SOL Console Logging
114
115            [Documentation]  Stop system console logging and return log output.
116        ```
117        Incorrect example:
118        ```
119        Stop SOL Console Logging
120
121            [Documentation]  Stop system console logging.  If there are multiple
122            ...              system console processes, they will all be
123            ...              stopped.  If there is no existing log file this
124            ...              keyword will return an error message to that
125            ...              effect (and write that message to targ_file_path,
126            ...              if specified).  NOTE: This keyword will not fail
127            ...              if there is no running system console process.
128
129            # This doc string is way too long.
130        ```
131-   Tags:
132    -   Create a tag for every test case with a tag name that mirrors the test case
133        name as follows:
134        ```
135        Create Intermediate File
136
137            [Tags]  Create_Intermediate_File
138        ```
139-   Description of argument(s):
140    -   As shown in the following example, if your keyword has any arguments, include
141        a "**Description of argument(s)**" section.  This effectively serves as the
142        help text for anyone wanting to use or understand your keyword.  Include
143        real data examples wherever possible and applicable.  Leave at least 2 spaces
144        between the argument name and the description.  Align all description text as
145        shown in the example below.
146
147        Example:
148        ```
149        Get URL List
150            [Documentation]  Return list of URLs under given URL.
151            [Arguments]  ${openbmc_url}  ${policy}
152
153            # Description of argument(s):
154            # openbmc_url  URL for list operation (e.g.
155            #              "/xyz/openbmc_project/inventory").
156            # policy       Power restore policy (e.g "RESTORE_LAST_STATE",
157            #              ${RESTORE_LAST_STATE}).
158        ```
159-   Variable assignments:
160
161    When assigning a variable as output from a keyword, do not precede the
162    equal sign with a space.
163
164    Correct examples:
165    ```
166    ${var1}=  Set Variable  ${1}
167    ${var1}=  My Keyword
168    ```
169    Incorrect examples:
170
171    ```
172    ${var1}=  Set Variable  ${1}
173    ${var1}=  My Keyword
174    ```
175-   General variable naming conventions:
176    -   Variable names should be lower case with few exceptions:
177        -   Environment variables should be all upper case.
178        -   Variables intended to be set by Robot -v parameters may be all
179            upper case.
180    -   Words within a variable name should be separated by underscores:
181
182        Correct examples:
183        ```
184        ${host_name}
185        ${program_pid}
186        ```
187        Incorrect examples:
188        ```
189        ${HostName}
190        ${ProgramPid}
191        ```
192-   Special variable naming conventions.
193
194    For certain very commonly used kinds of variables, please observe these
195    conventions in order to achieve consistency throughout the code.
196
197    -   hosts
198
199        When a variable is intended to contain **either** an IP address **or**
200        a host name (either long or short), please give it a suffix of "_host".
201
202        Examples:
203        ```
204        openbmc_host
205        os_host
206        pdu_host
207        openbmc_serial_host
208        ```
209    -   host names
210
211        For host names (long or short, e.g. "bmc1" or "bmc1.example.com"), use
212        a suffix of _host_name.
213
214        Examples:
215        ```
216        openbmc_host_name
217        os_host_name
218        pdu_host_name
219        openbmc_serial_host_name
220        ```
221    -   Short host names
222
223        For short host names (e.g. "bmc1"), use a suffix of _host_short_name.
224
225        Examples:
226        ```
227        openbmc_host_short_name
228        os_host_short_name
229        pdu_host_short_name
230        openbmc_serial_host_short_name
231        ```
232    -   IP addresses
233
234        For IP addresses, use a suffix of _ip.
235
236        Example:
237        ```
238        openbmc_ip
239        os_ip
240        pdu_ip
241        openbmc_serial_ip
242        ```
243    -   Files and directories:
244        -   Files:
245            -   If your variable is to contain only the file's name, use a suffix
246                of _file_name.
247
248                Examples:
249                ```
250                ffdc_file_name = "bmc1.170428.120200.ffdc"
251                ```
252            -   If your variable is to contain the path to a file, use a suffix of
253                _file_path.  Bear in mind that a file path can be relative or
254                absolute so that should not be a consideration in whether to use
255                the "_file_path" suffix.
256
257                Examples:
258                ```
259                status_file_path = "bmc1.170428.120200.status"
260                status_file_path = "subdir/bmc1.170428.120200.status"
261                status_file_path = "./bmc1.170428.120200.status"
262                status_file_path = "../bmc1.170428.120200.status"
263                status_file_path = "/home/user1/status/bmc1.170428.120200.status"
264                ```
265                To re-iterate, it doesn't matter whether the contents of the
266                variable are a relative or absolute path (as shown in the
267                examples above).  A file path is simply a value with enough
268                information in it for the program to find the file.
269
270            -   If the variable **must** contain an absolute path (which should be
271                the rare case), use a suffix _abs_file_path.
272
273        -   Directories:
274            -   Directory variables should follow the same conventions as file
275                variables.
276
277            -   If your variable is to contain only the directory's name, use a
278                suffix of _dir_name.
279
280                Example:
281                ```
282                ffdc_dir_name = "ffdc"
283                ```
284            -   If your variable is to contain the path to a directory, use a
285                suffix of _dir_path.  Bear in mind that a dir path can be
286                relative or absolute so that should not be a consideration in
287                whether to use _dir_path.
288
289                Examples:
290                ```
291                status_dir_path = "status/"
292                status_dir_path = "subdir/status"
293                status_dir_path = "./status/"
294                status_dir_path = "../status/"
295                status_dir_path = "/home/user1/status/"
296                ```
297                To re-iterate, it doesn't matter whether the contents of
298                the variable are a relative or absolute path (as shown in
299                the examples above).  A dir path is simply a value with
300                enough information in it for the program to find the
301                directory.
302
303            -   If the variable **must** contain an absolute path (which
304                should be the rare case), use a suffix _abs_dir_path.
305            -   IMPORTANT:  As a programming convention, do pre-
306                processing on all dir_path variables to ensure that they
307                contain a trailing slash.  If we follow that convention
308                religiously, that when changes are made in other parts of
309                the program, the programmer can count on the value having
310                a trailing slash.  Therefore they can safely do this kind
311                of thing:
312                ```
313                my_file_path = my_dir_path + my_file_name
314                ```
315    -   Setup/Teardown keywords
316
317        Use standardized names for setup and teardown keywords:
318        - Suite Setup Execution
319        - Suite Teardown Execution
320        - Test Setup Execution
321        - Test Teardown Execution
322-   Traditional comments (i.e. using the hashtag style comments)
323    -   Please leave one space following the hashtag.
324        ```
325        #wrong
326
327        # Right
328        ```
329    -   Please use proper English punction:
330        -   Capitalize the first word in the sentence or phrase.
331        -   End sentences (or stand-alone phrases) with a period.
332
333    -   Do not keep commented out code in your program.  Instead, remove it
334        entirely.
335-   Robot Template Test Cases
336    -   Follow this format for Robot template test cases:
337        Note: Documentation, Tags and Template lines are all required and should be coded in the order shown.
338        ```
339        Test Case Name
340            [Documentation]
341            [Tags]
342            [Template]
343            # arg1  arg2  etc.
344            <arg1>  <arg2>
345
346        Example:
347
348        Get Response Codes
349            [Documentation]  REST "Get" response status test.
350            [Tags]  Get_Response_Codes
351            [Template]  Execute Get And Check Response
352
353            # Expect status      URL Path
354            ${HTTP_OK}           /org/
355            ${HTTP_OK}           /xyz/
356            ${HTTP_OK}           /xyz/openbmc_project/
357            ${HTTP_OK}           /xyz/openbmc_project/state/enumerate
358            ${HTTP_NOT_FOUND}    /xyz/i/dont/exist/
359        ```
360
361Python Coding Guidelines
362-----------------------
363-   The minimum required Python version is 2.7.x.
364-   Run pycodestyle on all Python files and correct errors to follow the guidelines in
365    https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0008/.
366
367    Example as run from a Linux command line:
368    ```
369    pycodestyle my_pgm.py
370
371    my_pgm.py:41:1: E302 expected 2 blank lines, found 1
372    my_pgm.py:58:52: W291 trailing whitespace
373    ```
374-   Include doc strings in every function and follow the guidelines in
375    https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0257/.
376
377    Example:
378    ```
379        r"""
380        Return the function name associated with the indicated stack frame.
381
382        Description of argument(s):
383        stack_frame_ix                  The index of the stack frame whose
384                                        function name should be returned.  If
385                                        the caller does not specify a value,
386                                        this function will set the value to 1
387                                        which is the index of the caller's
388                                        stack frame.  If the caller is the
389                                        wrapper function "print_func_name",
390                                        this function will bump it up by 1.
391        """
392    ```
393-   As shown in the prior example, if your function has any arguments, include
394    a "Description of argument(s)" section.  This effectively serves as the
395    help text for anyone wanting to use or understand your function.  Include
396    real data examples wherever possible and applicable.
397-   Function definitions:
398    -   Put each function parameter on its own line:
399        ```
400        def func1(parm1,
401
402                  parm2):
403        ```
404-   Do not keep commented out code in your program.  Instead, remove it
405    entirely.
406-   When you define or call a Robot keyword, Robot pays no attention to spaces,
407    underscores or case.  However, our team will observe the following
408    conventions in both our definitions and our calls:
409    - Separate words with single spaces.
410    - Capitalize the first character of each word.
411    - Capitalize all characters in any word that is an acronym (e.g. JSON, BMC,
412      etc).
413
414    Examples:
415    ```
416    *** Keywords ***
417
418    This Is Correct
419
420        # This keyword name is correct.
421
422    this_is_incorrect
423
424        # This keyword name is incorrect because of 1) the
425        # underscores instead of spaces and 2) the failure to
426        # capitalize each word in the keyword.
427
428    soisthis
429
430        # This keyword name is incorrect because of 1) a failure to
431        # separate words with spaces and 2) a failure to capitalize
432        # each word in the keyword.
433
434    BMC Is An Acronym
435
436        # This keyword name is correct.  Note that "BMC" is an
437        # acronym and as such is entirely uppercase.
438    ```
439-   Documentation strings:
440    -  Each documentation string should be phrased as an **English command**.
441       Punctuate it correctly with the first word capitalized and a period at
442       the end.
443
444       Correct example:
445        ```
446        Boot BMC
447            [Documentation]  Boot the BMC.
448        ```
449        Incorrect example:
450        ```
451        Boot BMC
452            [Documentation]  This keyword boots the BMC.
453
454            # The doc string above is not phrased as a command.
455        ```
456    -   Doc strings should be just one terse, descriptive sentence.
457        Remember that this doc string shows up in the HTML log file.  Put
458        additional commentary below in standard comment lines.
459
460        Correct example:
461        ```
462        Stop SOL Console Logging
463
464            [Documentation]  Stop system console logging and return log output.
465        ```
466        Incorrect example:
467        ```
468        Stop SOL Console Logging
469
470            [Documentation]  Stop system console logging.  If there are multiple
471            ...              system console processes, they will all be
472            ...              stopped.  If there is no existing log file this
473            ...              keyword will return an error message to that
474            ...              effect (and write that message to targ_file_path,
475            ...              if specified).  NOTE: This keyword will not fail
476            ...              if there is no running system console process.
477
478            # This doc string is way too long.
479        ```
480-   Tags:
481    -   Create a tag for every test case with a tag name that mirrors the test case
482        name as follows:
483        ```
484        Create Intermediate File
485
486            [Tags]  Create_Intermediate_File
487        ```
488-   General variable naming conventions:
489    -   Variable names should be lower case with few exceptions:
490        -   Environment variables should be all upper case.
491        -   Variables intended to be set by Robot -v parameters may be all
492            upper case.
493    -   Words within a variable name should be separated by underscores:
494
495        Correct examples:
496        ```
497        ${host_name}
498        ${program_pid}
499        ```
500        Incorrect examples:
501        ```
502        ${HostName}
503        ${ProgramPid}
504        ```
505-   Special variable naming conventions.
506
507    For certain very commonly used kinds of variables, please observe these
508    conventions in order to achieve consistency throughout the code.
509
510    -   hosts
511
512        When a variable is intended to contain **either** an IP address **or**
513        a host name (either long or short), please give it a suffix of "_host".
514
515        Examples:
516        ```
517        openbmc_host
518        os_host
519        pdu_host
520        openbmc_serial_host
521        ```
522    -   host names
523
524        For host names (long or short, e.g. "bmc1" or "bmc1.example.com"), use
525        a suffix of _host_name.
526
527        Examples:
528        ```
529        openbmc_host_name
530        os_host_name
531        pdu_host_name
532        openbmc_serial_host_name
533        ```
534    -   Short host names
535
536        For short host names (e.g. "bmc1"), use a suffix of _host_short_name.
537
538        Examples:
539        ```
540        openbmc_host_short_name
541        os_host_short_name
542        pdu_host_short_name
543        openbmc_serial_host_short_name
544        ```
545    -   IP addresses
546
547        For IP addresses, use a suffix of _ip.
548
549        Example:
550        ```
551        openbmc_ip
552        os_ip
553        pdu_ip
554        openbmc_serial_ip
555        ```
556-   Files and directories:
557    -   Files:
558        -   If your variable is to contain only the file's name, use a suffix
559            of _file_name.
560
561            Examples:
562            ```
563            ffdc_file_name = "bmc1.170428.120200.ffdc"
564            ```
565        -   If your variable is to contain the path to a file, use a suffix of
566            _file_path.  Bear in mind that a file path can be relative or
567            absolute so that should not be a consideration in whether to use
568            the "_file_path" suffix.
569
570            Examples:
571            ```
572            status_file_path = "bmc1.170428.120200.status"
573            status_file_path = "subdir/bmc1.170428.120200.status"
574            status_file_path = "./bmc1.170428.120200.status"
575            status_file_path = "../bmc1.170428.120200.status"
576            status_file_path = "/home/user1/status/bmc1.170428.120200.status"
577            ```
578            To re-iterate, it doesn't matter whether the contents of the
579            variable are a relative or absolute path (as shown in the
580            examples above).  A file path is simply a value with enough
581            information in it for the program to find the file.
582
583        -   If the variable **must** contain an absolute path (which should be
584            the rare case), use a suffix _abs_file_path.
585
586    -   Directories:
587        -   Directory variables should follow the same conventions as file
588            variables.
589
590        -   If your variable is to contain only the directory's name, use a
591            suffix of _dir_name.
592
593            Example:
594            ```
595            ffdc_dir_name = "ffdc"
596            ```
597        -   If your variable is to contain the path to a directory, use a
598            suffix of _dir_path.  Bear in mind that a dir path can be
599            relative or absolute so that should not be a consideration in
600            whether to use _dir_path.
601
602            Examples:
603            ```
604            status_dir_path = "status/"
605            status_dir_path = "subdir/status"
606            status_dir_path = "./status/"
607            status_dir_path = "../status/"
608            status_dir_path = "/home/user1/status/"
609            ```
610            To re-iterate, it doesn't matter whether the contents of
611            the variable are a relative or absolute path (as shown in
612            the examples above).  A dir path is simply a value with
613            enough information in it for the program to find the
614            directory.
615
616        -   If the variable **must** contain an absolute path (which
617            should be the rare case), use a suffix _abs_dir_path.
618        -   IMPORTANT:  As a programming convention, do pre-
619            processing on all dir_path variables to ensure that they
620            contain a trailing slash.  If we follow that convention
621            religiously, that when changes are made in other parts of
622            the program, the programmer can count on the value having
623            a trailing slash.  Therefore they can safely do this kind
624            of thing:
625            ```
626            my_file_path = my_dir_path + my_file_name
627            ```
628-   Traditional comments (i.e. using the hashtag style comments)
629    -   Please leave one space following the hashtag.
630        ```
631        #wrong
632
633        # Right
634        ```
635    -   Please use proper English punction:
636        -   Capitalize the first word in the sentence or phrase.
637        -   End sentences (or stand-alone phrases) with a period.
638
639    -   Do not keep commented out code in your program.  Instead, remove it
640        entirely.
641
642Template Usage Guidelines
643-------------------------
644We have several templates in the templates/ sub-directory. If there is a
645template that applies to your programming situation (Python, bash, etc.),
646it should be used to create new programs as in the following example
647
648- Example:
649
650    ```
651    $ cd templates
652    $ cp python_pgm_template ../bin/my_new_program
653    ```
654
655These templates have much of your preliminary work done for you and will help
656us all follow a similar structure.
657
658- Features:
659    - Help text and arg parsing started for you.
660    - Support for "stock" parameters like "quiet", "debug", "test_mode".
661    - "exit_function" and "signal_handler" defined.
662    - "validate_parms" function pre-created.
663    - "main" function follows conventional startup sequence:
664
665        ```
666            if not gen_get_options(parser, stock_list):
667                return False
668
669            if not validate_parms():
670                return False
671
672            qprint_pgm_header()
673
674            # Your code here.
675        ```
676