Formalize use of old Derby distributions in tests
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Key: DERBY-5475
URL: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/DERBY-5475
Project: Derby
Issue Type: Improvement
Components: Test
Affects Versions: 10.9.0.0
Reporter: Kristian Waagan
Assignee: Kristian Waagan
Priority: Minor
Some types of tests need old Derby distributions to perform the required
actions. Currently this includes the upgrade test and the compatibility test.
Instead of each test dealing with this in their own way, there should be
support for accessing old Derby distributions in the test framework.
I propose to add a Derby distribution repository in the test framework, with
the following guidelines and changes:
o keep it as simple as possible, which suggests it is the users responsibility
to keep the repository updated
o compatibility with the existing derbyTesting.oldReleasePath property
o make the tests requiring old distributions fail if there are no
distributions available
o establish a default location where the test framework will look for old
distributions if derbyTesting.oldReleasePath is unspecified
o the repository should not incur any costs when not used by the test(s) being
run
In favor of simplicity the repository will not download releases itself. The
user has to keep the repository contents up-to-date, which is as simple as
running 'svn up' each time a new Derby release is published. It is unclear if,
and what, the repository and/or relevant tests should do if the repository is
outdated. It seems useful to allow the user to make available only a subset of
the distributions, but maybe printing a warning is helpful to remind developers
that their repository is stale.
Another related issue, which will only be relevant some time in the future, is
whether a test framework of version X should make available distributions of
version X+n. Currently I'm leaning towards not doing that, but haven't really
looked into it.
See also thread on derby-dev: http://db.markmail.org/thread/44uyusa726cwjuk2
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