Re: [RFC][gdb/testsuite] Add gdbfail/envfail aliases for kfail/xfail

[Pedro Alves <palves@redhat.com>]

On 4/30/20 7:43 AM, Tom de Vries wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> The difference between an xfail and a kfail (in the context of gdb testing) is
> that:
> - a kfail marks a problem in gdb
> - an xfail marks a problem in the environment (compiler, libc, kernel)
> 
> However, this difference is not immediately obvious from the contrast between
> "known" and "expected".

I memorized the the X in xfail as "external", not "expected".
So I always think of them as "known" vs "external", which makes the
difference much more obvious, IMO.

I propose that the documentation references the "external" mnemonic to help.

KFAIL and XFAIL are documented in testsuite/README:

 XFAIL

 Short for "expected failure", this indicates a known problem with the
 environment.  This could include limitations of the operating system,
 compiler version, and other components.

Maybe some new entry on KFAIL/XFAIL at:

 https://sourceware.org/gdb/wiki/GDBTestcaseCookbook

would help too.

> 
> Add aliases gdbfail for kfail, and envfail for xfail, that are more intuitive
> to use.
> 
> Tested on x86_64-linux.
> 
> Any comments?

I think this isn't a good idea:

 - We still end up with XFAIL / KFAIL in result logs anyway.  People
   still need to know the difference.

 - It adds different ways to do the same thing.  I.e., more things
   to learn, when you still need to know about the old way anyway.

Thanks,
Pedro Alves