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From: coutu@decvax.dec.com (Dan Coutu)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Re: Wanted: tool for testing X applications automatically
Message-ID: <1990Dec5.145800@vermnt.zk3.dec.com>
Date: 5 Dec 90 19:58:00 GMT
References: <997@babcock.cerc.wvu.wvnet.edu>
Sender: news@decvax.dec.com.UUCP
Reply-To: coutu@decvax.dec.com (Dan Coutu)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corp.
Lines: 37

Okay, time to spill my guts...

Some of you may remember some presentations made last January at the 
Testing BOF session which described some ways to automate testing of X. 
One of those was given by myself and a related one by Alan Jamison. They 
both were related to the use of XTrap, a server extension that provides 
the capability to capture not only input events but also output requests and
allows the later injection of input events into the server's input queue.

Well, I've managed to clear the release of this code outside of DEC and 
started Beta testing of XTrap over a month ago. Beta test should be done 
soon. When it is done I will make a compressed tar file kit and place it on 
expo and other choice ftp sites. XTrap is designed to drop into place in a 
standard X11 directory heirarchy and build with no changes to server files 
other than to add knowledge of the extension to the extension initialization
module. You will need to write no additional code.

Note: this kit does not include a real application to actually do the testing. 
It only includes the XTrap extension and some demo programs that illustrate 
how to use XTrap, and of course a document describing the whole thing. 
Getting the okay to release actual testing application code is quite a bit 
trickier, after all it is possible that some computer company might like
to make some money selling such a thing. :-) I'd personally like to see at 
least a simple program available publicly, but getting DEC to agree to that 
is a different kettle of fish.

I'd like to offer to answer any and all questions but I don't really have time
for that. I can answer a few things in this forum I suppose but my mailbox
is just too busy right now. The released kit should be available soon and
I believe that is will answer a lot of questions in far more detail than I
could
do off the top of my head.

--
Dan Coutu			coutu@decvax.dec.com
Open Systems Group (ULTRIX)	"'...he who will not risk, cannot win.' 
This is, of course, my own opinion.			- John Paul Jones"