DH_OCTAVE_CHECK(1)

📦
version 1.16.2 · 5 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

💖 DH_OCTAVE_CHECK 💖

okay bestie, welcome to section 1 of the dh-octave manual — this one's all about dh_octave_check, the little helper that runs your Octave add-on package's test suite so you don't have to. buckle up 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

dh_octave_check — automatically run an Octave add-on package test suite 🧪

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

dh_octave_check

no args, no flags, no drama. she just goes. 💅

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so here's the vibe: dh_octave_check runs all the automated tests that live in both *.m files and C++ files sitting in the sub-directories of the current directory. and like — the current directory should be the top-level source directory of an Octave add-on package. that part matters, okay? that's the whole main character position. 👑

and if debian/check.m exists? she runs that script too. no notes. ✨

💜 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES 💜

some parts of how dh_octave_check does her thing can be controlled through the environment variables listed below. and you've got two ways to set them:

  • with the "export" directive in "debian/rules", or
  • via the "debian/checkvars" file

using the shell syntax VARIABLE=value. also, that debian/checkvars file? it gets sourced by dh_octave_check. so like, it's not just sitting there being cute, it's actually being read. 🫶

  • DH_OCTAVE_EXCLUDE_TEST — a space-separated list with the names of the files whose unit tests should not be run. (yes, the "do not test these" list. the anti-squad. 🙈)
  • DH_OCTAVE_TEST_OPT — the optional second argument for Octave's test function. the allowed values are "quiet", "normal", and "verbose". pick your volume level bestie 🔥
  • DH_OCTAVE_TEST_ENV — prefix for calling the Octave command. it can be used for setting environment variables to Sensible values (for instance "LD_PRELOAD=") and specifying another program under which Octave must be run (like "xvfb-run"). lowkey the most underrated one here 💅
  • octave — name of the Octave binary to run. default is "octave-cli". (she's got a default, she's prepared. 🎀)
  • octave_options — command line options for Octave. default is "--no-history --silent --no-init-file --no-window-system". yes, all four, no cap. ⭐

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

and then the lore drop: this program is meant to be used together with debhelper for Debian packages derived from Octave add-on packages. it's recommended to enable it by adding the dh-sequence-octave virtual package to Build-Depends, Build-Depends-Arch or Build-Depends-Indep. ✨

that's equivalent to adding dh-octave to the same field and adding --with=octave to the dh sequencer in debian/rules — except that only -arch/-indep/profiled builds are affected. and honestly? it's also slightly more simple in the most common case. the way that shortcut just ✨ate✨ 💖

side note from me to you: if you need the full debhelper context, debhelper(7) and dh(1) are right there in the list. iykyk 🦋

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Rafael Laboissière <rafael@debian.org> — the icon who wrote this fr fr 🌸

and that's the tea, bestie 🍓 this page ships with dh-octave version 1.16.2, dated 2026-07-18. go forth and test your Octave add-on packages, you absolute legend 💜🫶✨

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