PROVE(1)	       Perl Programmers Reference Guide 	      PROVE(1)



NAME
       prove -- A command-line tool for running tests against Test::Harness

SYNOPSIS
       prove [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 dont run them.
	       --ext=x	   Extensions (defaults to .t)
	   -h, --help	   Display this help
	   -H, --man	   Longer manpage for prove
	   -I		   Add libraries to @INC, as Perls -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.  Default options may be set by
       specifying the PROVE_SWITCHES environment variable.

OVERVIEW
       prove is a command-line interface to the test-running functionality of
       "Test::Harness".  With no arguments, it will run all tests in the cur
       rent directory.

       Shell metacharacters may be used with command lines options and will be
       exanded via "glob".

PROVE VS. "MAKE TEST"
       prove has a number of advantages over "make test" when doing develop
       ment.

       * prove is designed as a development tool
	   Perl users typically run the test harness through a makefile via
	   "make test".  Thats fine for module distributions, but its subop
	   timal for a test/code/debug development cycle.

       * prove is granular
	   prove lets your run against only the files you want to check.  Run
	   ning "prove t/live/ t/master.t" checks every *.t in t/live, plus
	   t/master.t.

       * prove has an easy verbose mode
	   prove 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.

       * prove can run under taint mode
	   proves "-T" runs your tests under "perl -T", and "-t" runs them
	   under "perl -t".

       * prove can shuffle tests
	   You can use proves "--shuffle" option to try to excite problems
	   that dont show up when tests are run in the same order every time.

       * prove doesnt rely on a make tool
	   Not everyone wants to write a makefile, or use ExtUtils::MakeMaker
	   to do so.  prove has no external dependencies.

       * Not everything is a module
	   More and more users are using Perls testing tools outside the con
	   text of a module distribution, and may not even use a makefile at
	   all.

COMMAND LINE OPTIONS
       -b, --blib

       Adds blib/lib to the path for your tests, a la "use blib".

       -d, --debug

       Include debug information about how prove is being run.	This option
       doesnt show the output from the test scripts.  Thats handled by
       -v,--verbose.

       -D, --dry

       Dry run: Show the tests to run, but dont run them.

       --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.

       -I

       Add libraries to @INC, as Perls -I.

       -l, --lib

       Add "lib" to @INC.  Equivalent to "-Ilib".

       -r, --recurse

       Descends into subdirectories of any directories specified, looking for
       tests.

       -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.

       -t

       Runs test programs under perls -t taint warning mode.

       -T

       Runs test programs under perls -T taint mode.

       --timer

       Print elapsed time after each test file

       -v, --verbose

       Display standard output of test scripts while running them.  Also sets
       TEST_VERBOSE in case your tests rely on them.

       -V, --version

       Display version info.

BUGS
       Please use the CPAN bug ticketing system at .  You
       can also mail bugs, fixes and enhancements to "".

TODO
	  Shuffled tests must be recreatable

AUTHORS
       Andy Lester ""

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright 2005 by Andy Lester "".

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

       See .



perl v5.8.8			  2008-04-25			      PROVE(1)