Provided by: libtest-perl-critic-progressive-perl_0.03-1_all 
NAME
Test::Perl::Critic::Progressive - Gradually enforce coding standards.
SYNOPSIS
To test one or more files, and/or all files in one or more directories:
use Test::Perl::Critic::Progressive qw( progressive_critic_ok );
progressive_critic_ok($file1, $file2, $dir1, $dir2);
To test all Perl files in a distribution:
use Test::Perl::Critic::Progressive qw( progressive_critic_ok );
progressive_critic_ok();
Recommended usage for public CPAN distributions:
use strict;
use warnings;
use Test::More;
eval { require Test::Perl::Critic::Progressive };
plan skip_all => 'T::P::C::Progressive required for this test' if $@;
Test::Perl::Critic::Progressive::progressive_critic_ok();
DESCRIPTION
Applying coding standards to large amounts of legacy code is a daunting task. Often
times, legacy code is so non-compliant that it seems downright impossible. But, if you
consistently chip away at the problem, you will eventually succeed!
Test::Perl::Critic::Progressive uses the Perl::Critic engine to prevent further
deterioration of your code and gradually steer it towards conforming with your chosen
coding standards.
The most effective way to use Test::Perl::Critic::Progressive is as a unit test that is
run under a continuous-integration system like CruiseControl or AntHill. Each time a
developer commits changes to the code, this test will fail and the build will break unless
it has the same (or fewer) Perl::Critic violations than the last successful test.
See the "NOTES" for more details about how this test works.
SUBROUTINES
All of the following subroutines can be exported upon request. Or you can export all of
them at once using the ':all' tag.
" progressive_critic_ok(@FILES [, @DIRECTORIES ]) "
" progressive_critic_ok() "
Uses Perl::Critic to analyze each of the given @FILES, and/or all Perl files beneath
the given list of @DIRECTORIES. If no arguments are given, it analyzes all the Perl
files in the blib/ directory. If the blib/ directory does not exist, then it tries
the lib/, bin/, script/, and scripts/ directory. The results of the analysis will be
stored as .perlcritic-history in the same directory where your test script is located.
The first time you run this test, it will always pass. But on each subsequent run,
the test will pass only if the number of violations found is less than or equal to the
number of violations found during the last passing test. If it does pass, then the
history file will be updated with the new analysis results. Once all the violations
are removed from the code, this test will always pass, unless a new violation is
introduced.
This subroutine emits its own Test::More plan, so you do not need to specify an
expected number of tests yourself.
" get_history_file() "
" set_history_file($FILE) "
These functions get or set the full path to the history file. This is where
Test::Perl::Critic::Progressive will store the results of each passing analysis. If
the $FILE does not exist, it will be created anew. The default is
"$Bin/.perlcritic-history" where $Bin is the directory that the calling test script is
located in.
" get_total_step_size() "
" set_total_step_size($INTEGER) "
These functions get or set the minimum acceptable decrease in the total number of
violations between each test. The default value is zero, which means that you are not
required to remove any violations, but you are also not allowed to add any. If you
set the step size to a positive number, the test will require you to remove $INTEGER
violations each time the test is run. In this case, the particular type of violation
that you eliminate doesn't matter. The larger the step size, the faster you'll have
to eliminate violations.
" get_step_size_per_policy() "
" set_step_size_per_policy(%ARGS) "
These functions get or set the minimum acceptable decrease in the number of violations
of a specific policy between each test. The %ARGS should be "$POLICY_NAME =>
$INTEGER" pairs, like this:
my %step_sizes = (
'ValuesAndExpressions::ProhibitLeadingZeros' => 2,
'Variables::ProhibitConditionalDeclarations' => 1,
'InputOutput::ProhibitTwoArgOpen' => 3,
);
set_step_size_per_policy( %step_sizes );
progressive_critic_ok();
The default step size for any given Policy is zero, which means that you are not
required to remove any violations, but you are also not allowed to add any. But if
you wish to focus on eliminating certain types of violations, then increasing the per-
policy step size will force you to decrease the number of violations of that
particular Policy, while ignoring other types of violations. The larger the step
size, the faster you'll have to eliminate violations.
" get_critic_args() "
" set_critic_args(%ARGS) "
These functions get or set the arguments given to Perl::Critic. By default,
Test::Perl::Critic::Progressive invokes Perl::Critic with its default configuration.
But if you have developed your code against a custom Perl::Critic configuration, you
will want to configure this test to do the same.
Any %ARGS given to "set_critic_args" will be passed directly into the Perl::Critic
constructor. So if you have developed your code using a custom .perlcriticrc file,
you can direct Test::Perl::Critic::Progressive to use a custom file too.
use Test::Perl::Critic::Progressive ( ':all' );
set_critic_args(-profile => 't/perlcriticrc);
progressive_critic_ok();
Now place a copy of your own .perlcriticrc file in the distribution as t/perlcriticrc.
Now, "progressive_critic_ok" will use this same Perl::Critic configuration. See the
Perl::Critic documentation for details on the .perlcriticrc file format.
Any argument that is supported by the Perl::Critic constructor can be passed through
this interface. For example, you can also set the minimum severity level, or include
& exclude specific policies like this:
use Test::Perl::Critic::Progressive ( ':all' );
set_critic_args( -severity => 2, -exclude => ['MixedCaseVars'] );
progressive_critic_ok();
See the Perl::Critic documentation for complete details on its options and arguments.
NOTES
The test is evaluated in two ways. First, the number of violations for each Policy must be
less than or equal to the number of the violations found during the last passing test,
minus the step size for that Policy. Second, the total number of violations must be less
than or equal the total number of violations found during the last passing test, minus the
total step size. This prevents you from simply substituting one kind of violation for
another.
You can use the total step size and the per-policy step size at the same time. For
example, you can set the total step size to 5, and set the per-policy step size for the
"TestingAndDebugging::RequireStrictures" Policy to 3. In which case, you'll have to
remove 5 violations between each test, but 3 of them must be violations of
"TestingAndDebugging::RequireStrictures".
Over time, you'll probably add new Policies to your Perl::Critic setup. When
Test::Perl::Critic::Progressive uses a Policy for the first time, any newly discovered
violations of that Policy will not be considered in the test. However, they will be
considered in subsequent tests.
If you are building a CPAN distribution, you'll want to add ^t/.perlcritic-history$ to the
MANIFEST.SKIP file. And if you are using a revision control system like CVS or
Subversion, you'll probably want to configure it to ignore the t/.perlcritic-history file
as well.
BUGS
If you find any bugs, please submit them to
<http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/Bugs.html?Dist=Test-Perl-Critic-Progressive>. Thanks.
SEE ALSO
criticism
Perl::Critic
Test::Perl::Critic
<http://www.perlcritic.com>
AUTHOR
Jeffrey Ryan Thalhammer <thaljef@cpan.org>
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 2007-2008 Jeffrey Ryan Thalhammer. All rights reserved.
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same
terms as Perl itself. The full text of this license can be found in the LICENSE file
included with this module.