Module hashdeep_compare::main_impl

The main_impl module exists to add I/O redirection to the main program function, to allow test coverage analysis for integration tests.

Normal Program Behavior

main() in main.rs calls main_io_wrapper in this module, supplying arguments and the standard output and error streams. main_io_wrapper, in turn, calls main_impl, which is the equivalent of a typical main() function.

Special handling: the integration_test_coverage feature

Integration tests are defined in tests/integration.rs. These tests invoke the compiled program binary and test its functions with command-line arguments. Because they call a separate binary instead of code in hashdeep-compare’s codebase, code coverage tools can’t observe what code they use.

To work around this, hashdeep-compare has an integration_test_coverage feature. When enabled, integration.rs uses a modified test function that runs the same tests as before, but through direct calls in the codebase, instead of through a precompiled binary. The main_io_wrapper function is its interface in this mode. These direct calls are part of the test binary, and can be observed by a code coverage tool.

Justification

Separating the program’s main function code between main.rs and main_impl does add some complexity to the codebase. The option of doing integration testing through direct calls to main_io_wrapper, as the integration_test_coverage mode does now, would test almost all of the relevant code: the only code bypassed is the code in main() in main.rs, which is a minimal wrapper around main_io_wrapper. However, actual invocation through a separate binary provides a higher level of certainty against potential future anomalies that disrupt the creation of the binary itself, or the processing of its inputs. Integration testing with binaries is meant to replicate the actual use of the tool as closely as possible: for this reason, the integration_test_coverage feature-based mode switch is preferred.

Functions

main_io_wrapper

Specifies program arguments and (re)direction of stdout/stderr, then runs the program