Passing a duration time from 1 subroutine to another

[gasjunkie_jabz]

hello, I am trying to pass a duration time for running a series of tests to a cleanup subroutine. I am running a loop of different tests (sub run_test)and documenting the duration for each test ran within sub run_tests. I am getting the correct time for each. My problem is trying to pass the same duration time to a cleanup subroutine (sub cleanup_test), which happens after all the tests are completed. below are the 2 subroutines:

 
sub run_test{

    my ($self, @tests) = @_;
    
    # Setup test system.
    $self->_setup_test_system();

    # Run each test.
    TEST:
    for my $test_name (@tests) {

    # Setup everything necessary for current test.
    $self->setup_test_system($test_name);

    # Run each testcase for current test.
    TESTCASE:

    while ($self->__fetch_next()){              
    my $start = gettimeofday();
    my $is_pass = $self->_run_testcase();
    my $end = gettimeofday();
    my $duration =  $end - $start; 
    if (!$is_pass && $self->{_abort_on_failure}) {              
     print "\nFailure occurred,for $test_name.\n";
     last TESTCASE;   # Exit loop
    } 
}

I would like to pass my $duration to this cleanup subroutine:

sub cleanup_test{
  my ($self, $result) = @_;
    
  # Update statistics
  $self->{_test_statistics}{num_tests}++;
  if ($result == 0) {
  $self->{_test_statistics}{num_tests_failed}++;
  }
  # Log testcase result and return
  log_testcase($self->{_test_name}, $self->{_testcase_name}, $self->{_
+test_statistics}{num_tests_failed}, $duration, $self->{_log_file});

I can't get the duration time from (sub run_test) to (sub cleanup_test). What am I missing? Thanks for reading

[1nickt]

Maybe you can do something like this

sub run_test {
  # stuff
  for my $test_name (@tests) {
    # stuff
    my $duration =  $end - $start;
    $self->{'duration'}->{ $test_name } = $duration;
    # more stuff
  }
}

Then you'll have the durations available in the cleanup sub.

Note: It's impossible to really know because:

• The code you posted doesn't compile (it's missing a two closing brackets).
• The code you posted is incomplete: we don't know what's in $self or how cleanup_sub() gets called.
• You mention run_test() and run_tests() is that a typo?
• Does $self really provide __fetch_next()? Or is it _fetch_next()?

Please read How do I post a question effectively?. In particular, copy and paste working sample code; don't type it in on these pages.

I strongly suggest spending some time learning good Perl style (you could start by reading perlstyle), since the reason you missed the curly brackets in your sample code is probably the lack of proper indentation.

sub run_test {

    my ($self, @tests) = @_;
    
    # Setup test system.
    $self->_setup_test_system();

    # Run each test.
    TEST:
    for my $test_name (@tests) {

        # Setup everything necessary for current test.
        $self->setup_test_system($test_name);

        # Run each testcase for current test.
        TESTCASE:

        while ($self->__fetch_next()){              
            my $start = gettimeofday();
            my $is_pass = $self->_run_testcase();
            my $end = gettimeofday();
            my $duration =  $end - $start; 
            if (!$is_pass && $self->{_abort_on_failure}) {            
+  
                print "\nFailure occurred,for $test_name.\n";
                last TESTCASE;   # Exit loop
            } 
        }
# Hm, I guess there are two missing ...

Update: show re-indented code

[gasjunkie_jabz]

Thank you for the clarification, run_test() NOT run_tests(). This code is very long, so I purposely cut it short for the reader's sake. here's a better code description:

sub new {
     my ($class) = @_;

    # Initialize attributes
     my $self = {
    _test_name          => undef,    # Name of the current test 
    _testcase_name      => undef,    # Name of the current testcase
    _test_statistics         => {},       # Statistics for the current
+ test

   };

  bless $self, $class;     # Two-argument version used to support inhe
+ritance
  return $self;
}

here is where the run_test() is called and how cleanup_test() is used

sub run_test{

    my ($self, @tests) = @_;
    
    # Setup test system.
    $self->_setup_test_system();

    # Run each test.
    TEST:
    for my $test_name (@tests) {

    # Setup everything necessary for current test.
    $self->setup_test_system($test_name);

    # Run each testcase for current test.
    TESTCASE:

    while ($self->__fetch_next()){              
    my $start = gettimeofday();
    my $is_pass = $self->_run_testcase();
    my $end = gettimeofday();
    my $duration =  $end - $start; 
    if (!$is_pass && $self->{_abort_on_failure})   {              
     print "\nFailure occurred,for $test_name.\n";
     last TESTCASE;   # Exit loop
    } 
 }
 # Cleanup at end of test.
 $self->cleanup_test();      

    # Clean up test system.
    $self->_cleanup_test_system();
    
    return $self->{_test_system_stats}{num_tests_failed};
}
}

[1nickt]

Cool, thanks for replying. The best thing is always if you can reduce the problem to its simplest example; this may mean writing a new, small script to show your issue. People want to be able to copy your sample code right into a file on their computer, run it as is, see the error, make some changes and implement a fix, and post that back here. It's more difficult to help when you can only think about the problem in abstract terms.

For example, now that you've posted your object constructor, I wonder whether you need to construct an object at all. You mention inheritance in a comment, but your code looks like a standalone program. Is there a reason why your code doesn't simply call subroutines as it moves through its flow? Why do you think you need to make this code OO?

As an aside, the constructor for an object usually looks more like this:

sub new {
  my $class = shift;
  my %args  = @_;
  my $self  = {};

  # validate the args

  # do stuff to populate $self

  bless $self, $class;
  return $self;
}

Hope this helps!

[stevieb]

I don't know if I understand you correctly, but I'll take a crack.

Are you trying to get cumulative?:

in your test loop (untested)...

$self->{start} = $self->{start} || gettimeofday():

...

# at end of test

my $end = gettimeofday();
$self->{duration} += ($end - $self->{start});

Then in your cleanup sub, get the data simply by using $self->{duration}.

If you need a count for each test, keep the existing code, but add at the end:

$self->{tests}{test_name} = $duration;

Then in cleanup, loop over $self->{tests} and extract the duration for each test.

You'll need to fill us in on exactly what you want for us to give a full response.

-stevieb

[gasjunkie_jabz]

Thanks Stevie!, I initialized a new attribute called (_duration_time)in my constructor and passed the duration time from the loop into this constructor variable. I am now able to access the duration times in my cleanup sub. Thanks! My new issue now is, I cant get the very first testcase time when I run the testsuite. It gives me a "HASH(0x6c64344)" for the time. All other times are fine. This sounds like there is no time for the first test YET, so it logs the memory data. Is there a way around this?