3.1. Unit tests¶

In a software package as dynamic and collaborative as OpenFAST, confidence in multiple layers of code is best accomplished with a strong system of unit tests. Through robust testing practices, the entire OpenFAST community can understand the intention behind code blocks and debug or expand functionality quicker and with more confidence and stability.

Unit testing in OpenFAST modules is accomplished through pFUnit. This framework provides a Fortran abstraction to the popular xUnit structure. pFUnit is compiled along with OpenFAST through CMake when the CMake variable BUILD_TESTING is turned on.

The BeamDyn and NWTC Library modules contain some sample unit tests and should serve as a reference for future development and testing.

3.1.1. Dependencies¶

The following packages are required for unit testing:

Python 3.7+
CMake
pFUnit - Included in OpenFAST repo through a git-submodule

3.1.2. Compiling¶

Compiling the unit tests is handled with CMake similar to compiling OpenFAST in general. After configuring CMake with BUILD_TESTING turned on, new build targets are created for each module included in the unit test framework named [module]_utest. Then, make the target to test:

cmake .. -DBUILD_TESTING=ON
make beamdyn_utest

This creates a unit test executable at openfast/build/unit_tests/beamdyn/beamdyn_utest.

3.1.3. Executing¶

To execute a module’s unit test, simply run the unit test binary. For example:

>>>$ ./openfast/build/unit_tests/beamdyn/beamdyn_utest
.............
Time:         0.018 seconds

 OK
 (14 tests)

pFUnit will display a . for each unit test successfully completed and a F for each failing test. If any tests do fail, the failure criteria will be displayed listing which particular value caused the failure. Failure cases display the following output:

>>>$ ./unit_tests/beamdyn/beamdyn_utest
.....F.......
Time:         0.008 seconds

Failure
in:
test_BD_CrvMatrixH_suite.test_BD_CrvMatrixH
    Location:
[test_BD_CrvMatrixH.F90:48]
simple rotation with known parameters: Pi on xaxis expected +0.5000000 but found: +0.4554637;  difference: |+0.4453627E-01| > tolerance:+0.1000000E-13;  first difference at element [1, 1].

FAILURES!!!
Tests run: 13, Failures: 1, Errors: 0
Note: The following floating-point exceptions are signalling: IEEE_INVALID_FLAG IEEE_DIVIDE_BY_ZERO
ERROR STOP *** Encountered 1 or more failures/errors during testing. ***

Error termination. Backtrace:
#0  0x1073b958c
#1  0x1073ba295
#2  0x1073bb1b6
#3  0x106ecdd4f
#4  0x1063fabee
#5  0x10706691e

3.1.4. Adding unit tests¶

Unit tests should be included for each new, testable code block (subroutine or function). What is testable is the discretion of the developer, but an element of the pull request review process will be evaluating test coverage.

New unit tests can be added to a tests directory alongside the src directory included in each module. For example, a module directory may be structured as

openfast/
  └── modules/
      └── sampledyn/
          ├── src/
          │   ├── SampleDyn.f90
          │   └── SampleDyn_Subs.f90
          └── tests/
              ├── test_SampleDyn_Subroutine1.F90
              ├── test_SampleDyn_Subroutine2.F90
              └── test_SampleDyn_Subroutine3.F90

Each unit test must be contained in a unique file called test_[SUBROUTINE].F90 where [SUBROUTINE] is the code block being tested. The new files should contain a Fortran module which itself contains a Fortran subroutine for each specific test case. Generally, multiple tests will be required to fully test one subroutine.

Finally, update the CMake configuration for building a module’s unit test executable by copying an existing unit test CMake configuration into a new module directory:

cp -r openfast/unit_tests/beamdyn openfast/unit_tests/[module]

Then, modify the new CMakeLists.txt with the appropriate list of test subroutines and module name variables.

For reference, a template unit test file is included at openfast/unit_tests/test_SUBROUTINE.F90. Each unit test should fully test the target code block. If full test coverage is not easily achievable, it may be an indication that refactoring would be beneficial.

Some useful topics to consider when developing and testing for OpenFAST are: