RUNPROVE(1)

📦
version 0.0132 · 3 versions
, in fedora 43

💖 RUNPROVE(1) 💖

okay bestie, welcome to the runprove manual page — it's a User Contributed Perl Documentation situation and honestly? iconic. sit down, hydrate, let's go ✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

runprove — a command-line tool for running tests against Test::Run. no cap, that's literally the whole vibe. 🧚

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

runprove [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.
        --ext=x     Extensions (defaults to .t)
    -h, --help      Display this help
    -H, --man       Longer manpage for runprove
    -I              Add libraries to @INC, as Perl's -I
    -l, --lib       Add lib to the path for your tests.
    -r, --recurse   Recursively descend into directories.
    -s, --shuffle   Run the tests in a random order.
    -T              Enable tainting checks
    -t              Enable tainting warnings
        --timer     Print elapsed time after each test file
    -v, --verbose   Display standard output of test scripts while running them.
    -V, --version   Display version info

💅 single-character options may be stacked, so you can squish them together like your fave bracelets. and if you want default options to just happen without typing them every time? set the PROVE_SWITCHES environment variable. periodt.

🦋 OVERVIEW 🦋

runprove is a command-line interface to the test-running functionality of Test::Run. run it with no arguments and it will run all the tests in the current directory. she's independent like that 💜

shell metacharacters may be used with command lines options and will be exanded via glob. (yes, the original says "exanded" — we keep the lore, bestie, no editing the source 🫶)

🥊 RUNPROVE VS. "MAKE TEST" 🥊

the way that runprove has a number of advantages over make test when doing development... let's break it down 👑

  • runprove 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. it's giving "works but why".

  • runprove is granular

runprove let your run only the files you want to check. running runprove t/live/ t/master.t checks every *.t in t/live, plus t/master.t. so specific. so slay. 🎯

  • prove has an easy verbose mode

runprove 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. one option vs. env var homework, iykyk.

  • runprove can run under taint mode

runprove's -T runs your tests under perl -T, and -t runs them under perl -t.

  • runprove can shuffle tests

you can use runprove's --shuffle option to try to excite problems that don't show up when tests are run in the same order every time. chaos as a debugging strategy, we love to see it 🌈

  • runprove doesn't rely on a make tool

not everyone wants to write a makefile, or use ExtUtils::MakeMaker to do so. runprove has no external dependencies. clean. minimal. glowing skin.

  • 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. relatable fr fr.

👑 COMMAND LINE OPTIONS 👑

💅 -b, --blib

adds blib/lib to the path for your tests, a la use blib. it's giving "use blib but make it a flag".

🔍 -d, --debug

include debug information about how runprove is being run. important bestie: this option doesn't show the output from the test scripts. that's handled by -v,--verbose. two different jobs, don't mix them up 🙈

🧪 -D, --dry

dry run: show the tests to run, but don't run them. window shopping for tests, no commitment ✨

📎 --ext=extension

specify extensions of the test files to run. by default, these are .t, but you may have other non-.t test files, most likely .sh shell scripts. the --ext is repeatable. stack 'em.

📚 -I

add libraries to @INC, as perl's -I. classic.

🎀 -l, --lib

add lib to @INC. equivalent to -Ilib. short and sweet, no notes.

🌀 -r, --recurse

descends into subdirectories of any directories specified, looking for tests. she goes deep.

🎲 -s, --shuffle

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. (we are quoting the author verbatim here, bestie, this is the actual text, we do not fix the manpage's own jokes 💀)

🚿 -t

runs test programs under perl's -t taint warning mode.

🛡️ -T

runs test programs under perl's -T taint mode.

⏱️ --timer

print elapsed time after each test file. so you know exactly how long the suffering took 💖

🗣️ -v, --verbose

display standard output of test scripts while running them. also sets TEST_VERBOSE in case your tests rely on them. two-for-one, main character energy.

⭐ -V, --version

display version info. say hi to the version, she says hi back.

🐛 BUGS 🐛

please report any bugs or feature requests to bug-test-run-cmdline@rt.cpan.org, or through the web interface at <http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=Test-Run-CmdLine>. i will be notified, and then you'll automatically be notified of progress on your bug as i make changes. it's a whole notification chain, we love accountability 🫶

📝 TODO 📝

  • shuffled tests must be recreatable. (yes bestie, that's the entire list. one item. it's on the vision board.)

🌈 AUTHORS 🌈

Andy Lester <andy@petdance.com> (Adapted to runprove by Shlomi Fish, <http://www.shlomifish.org/> ).

Copyright 2005 by Andy Lester <andy@petdance.com>.

this program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

see <http://www.perl.com/perl/misc/Artistic.html>.

okay that's the whole page bestie, you ate it, go run some tests 💅✨

this was perl v5.42.0 energy, dated 2025-07-25, straight out of the RUNPROVE(1) manual — mwah, no notes, bye 🎀🦋💖

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