Documentation/tutorial: Add tutorial for writing unit tests

Signed-off-by: Jan Dabros <jsd@semihalf.com>
Change-Id: I1ebd2786a49ec8bc25e209d67ecc4c94b475442d
Reviewed-on: https://review.coreboot.org/c/coreboot/+/41727
Tested-by: build bot (Jenkins) <no-reply@coreboot.org>
Reviewed-by: Paul Fagerburg <pfagerburg@chromium.org>
Reviewed-by: Patrick Georgi <pgeorgi@google.com>

2 files changed, 385 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/tutorial/index.md b/Documentation/tutorial/index.md
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 * [Part 1: Starting from scratch](part1.md)
 * [Part 2: Submitting a patch to coreboot.org](part2.md)
+* [Part 3: Writing unit tests](part3.md)
diff --git a/Documentation/tutorial/part3.md b/Documentation/tutorial/part3.md
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+# Writing unit tests for coreboot
+
+## Introduction
+General thoughts about unit testing coreboot can be found in
+[Unit testing coreboot](../technotes/2020-03-unit-testing-coreboot.md).
+
+This document aims to guide developers through the process of adding and writing
+unit tests for coreboot modules.
+
+As an example of unit under test, `src/device/i2c.c` (referred hereafter as UUT
+"Unit Under Test") will be used. This is simple module, thus it should be easy
+for the reader to focus solely on the testing logic, without the need to spend
+too much time on digging deeply into the source code details and flow of
+operations. That being said, a good understanding of what the unit under test is
+doing is crucial for writing unit tests.
+
+This tutorial should also be helpful for developers who want to follow
+[TDD](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test-driven_development). Even though TDD
+has a different work flow of building tests first, followed by the code that
+satisfies them, the process of writing tests and adding them to the tree is the
+same.
+
+## Analysis of unit under test
+First of all, it is necessary to precisely establish what we want to test in a
+particular module. Usually this will be an externally exposed API, which can be
+used by other modules.
+
+```eval_rst
+.. admonition:: i2c-test example
+
+   In case of our UUT, API consist of two methods:
+
+   .. code-block:: c
+
+     int i2c_read_field(unsigned int bus, uint8_t chip, uint8_t reg, uint8_t *data,
+                 uint8_t mask, uint8_t shift)
+     int i2c_write_field(unsigned int bus, uint8_t chip, uint8_t reg, uint8_t data,
+                 uint8_t mask, uint8_t shift)
+
+   For sake of simplicity, let's focus on `i2c_read_field` in this document.
+```
+
+Once the API is defined, the next question is __what__ this API is doing (or
+what it will be doing in case of TDD). In other words, what outputs we are
+expecting from particular functions, when providing particular input parameters.
+
+```eval_rst
+.. admonition:: i2c-test example
+
+   .. code-block:: c
+
+     int i2c_read_field(unsigned int bus, uint8_t chip, uint8_t reg, uint8_t *data,
+                 uint8_t mask, uint8_t shift)
+
+   This is a method which means to read content of register `reg` from i2c device
+   on i2c `bus` and slave address `chip`, applying bit `mask` and offset `shift`
+   to it. Returned data should be placed in `data`.
+```
+
+The next step is to determine all external dependencies of UUT in order to mock
+them out. Usually we want to isolate the UUT as much as possible, so that the
+test result depends __only__ on the behavior of UUT and not on the other
+modules. While some software dependencies may be hard to be mock (for example
+due to complicated dependencies) and thus should be simply linked into the test
+binaries, all hardware dependencies need to be mocked out, since in the
+user-space host environment, targets hardware is not available.
+
+```eval_rst
+.. admonition:: i2c-test example
+
+   `i2c_read_field` is calling `i2c_readb`, which eventually invokes
+   `i2c_transfer`. This method simply calls `platform_i2c_transfer`. The last
+   function in the chain is a hardware-touching one, and defined separately for
+   different SOCs. It is responsible for issuing transactions on the i2c bus.
+   For the purpose of writing unit test, we should mock this function.
+```
+
+## Adding new tests
+In order to keep the tree clean, the `tests/` directory should mimic the `src/`
+directory, so that test harness code is placed in a location corresponding to
+UUT. Furthermore, the naming convention is to add the suffix `-test` to the UUT
+name when creating a new test harness file.
+
+```eval_rst
+.. admonition:: i2c-test example
+
+   Considering that UUT is `src/device/i2c.c`, test file should be named
+   `tests/device/i2c-test.c`. When adding a new test file, it needs to be
+   registered with the coreboot unit testing infrastructure.
+```
+
+Every directory under `tests/` should contain a Makefile.inc, similar to what
+can be seen under the `src/`. Register a new test in Makefile.inc, by
+__appending__ test name to the `tests-y` variable.
+
+```eval_rst
+.. admonition:: i2c-test example
+
+   .. code-block:: c
+
+     tests-y += i2c-test
+```
+
+Next step is to list all source files, which should be linked together in order
+to create test binary. Usually a tests requires only two files - UUT and test
+harness code, but sometimes more is needed to provide the test environment.
+Source files are registered in `<test_name>-srcs` variable.
+
+```eval_rst
+.. admonition:: i2c-test example
+
+   .. code-block:: c
+
+     i2c-test-srcs += tests/device/i2c-test.c
+     i2c-test-srcs += src/device/i2c.c
+```
+
+Above minimal configuration is a basis for further work. One can try to build
+and run test binary either by invoking `make tests/<test_dir>/<test_name>` or by
+running all unit tests (whole suite) for coreboot `make unit-tests`.
+
+```eval_rst
+.. admonition:: i2c-test example
+
+   .. code-block:: c
+
+     make tests/device/i2c-test
+
+   or
+
+   .. code-block:: c
+
+     make unit-tests
+```
+
+When trying to build test binary, one can often see linker complains about
+`undefined reference` to couple of symbols. This is one of solutions to
+determine all external dependencies of UUT - iteratively build test and resolve
+errors one by one. At this step, developer should decide either it's better to
+add an extra module to provide necessary definitions or rather mock such
+dependency. Quick guide through adding mocks is provided later in this doc.
+
+## Writing new tests
+In coreboot, [Cmocka](https://cmocka.org/) is used as unit test framework. The
+project has exhaustive [API documentation](https://api.cmocka.org/). Let's see
+how we may incorporate it when writing tests.
+
+### Assertions
+Testing the UUT consists of calling the functions in the UUT and comparing the
+returned values to the expected values. Cmocka implements
+[a set of assert macros](https://api.cmocka.org/group__cmocka__asserts.html) to
+compare a value with an expected value. If the two values do not match, the test
+fails with an error message.
+
+```eval_rst
+.. admonition:: i2c-test example
+
+   In our example, the simplest test is to call UUT for reading our fake devices
+   registers and do all calculation in the test harness itself. At the end, let's
+   compare integers with `assert_int_equal`.
+
+   .. code-block:: c
+
+     #define MASK        0x3
+     #define SHIFT        0x1
+
+     static void i2c_read_field_test(void **state)
+     {
+             int bus, slave, reg;
+             int i, j;
+             uint8_t buf;
+
+             mock_expect_params_platform_i2c_transfer();
+
+             /* Read particular bits in all registers in all devices, then compare
+                with expected value. */
+             for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(i2c_ex_devs); i++)
+                     for (j = 0; j < ARRAY_SIZE(i2c_ex_devs[0].regs); j++) {
+                             i2c_read_field(i2c_ex_devs[i].bus,
+                                     i2c_ex_devs[i].slave,
+                                     i2c_ex_devs[i].regs[j].reg,
+                                     &buf, MASK, SHIFT);
+                             assert_int_equal((i2c_ex_devs[i].regs[j].data &
+                                     (MASK << SHIFT)) >> SHIFT, buf);
+                     };
+     }
+```
+
+### Mocks
+
+#### Overview
+Many coreboot modules are low level software that touch hardware directly.
+Because of this, one of the most important and challenging part of
+writing tests is to design and implement mocks. A mock is a software component
+which implements the API of another component so that the test can verify that
+certain functions are called (or not called), verify the parameters passed to
+those functions, and specify the return values from those functions. Mocks are
+especially useful when the API to be implemented is one that accesses hardware
+components.
+
+When writing a mock, the developer implements the same API as the module being
+mocked. Such a mock may, for example, register a set of driver methods. Behind
+this API, there is usually a simulation of real hardware.
+
+```eval_rst
+.. admonition:: i2c-test example
+
+   For purpose of our i2c test, we may introduce two i2c devices with set of
+   registers, which simply are structs in memory.
+
+   .. code-block:: c
+
+     /* Simulate two i2c devices, both on bus 0, each with three uint8_t regs
+        implemented. */
+     typedef struct {
+             uint8_t reg;
+             uint8_t data;
+     } i2c_ex_regs_t;
+
+     typedef struct {
+             unsigned int bus;
+             uint8_t slave;
+             i2c_ex_regs_t regs[3];
+     } i2c_ex_devs_t;
+
+     i2c_ex_devs_t i2c_ex_devs[] = {
+             {.bus = 0, .slave = 0xA, .regs = {
+                     {.reg = 0x0, .data = 0xB},
+                     {.reg = 0x1, .data = 0x6},
+                     {.reg = 0x2, .data = 0xF},
+             } },
+             {.bus = 0, .slave = 0x3, .regs = {
+                     {.reg = 0x0, .data = 0xDE},
+                     {.reg = 0x1, .data = 0xAD},
+                     {.reg = 0x2, .data = 0xBE},
+             } },
+     };
+
+   These fake devices will be accessed instead of hardware ones:
+
+   .. code-block:: c
+
+             reg = tmp->buf[0];
+
+             /* Find object for requested device */
+             for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(i2c_ex_devs); i++, i2c_dev++)
+                     if (i2c_ex_devs[i].slave == tmp->slave) {
+                             i2c_dev = &i2c_ex_devs[i];
+                             break;
+                     }
+
+             if (i2c_dev == NULL)
+                     return -1;
+
+             /* Write commands */
+             if (tmp->len > 1) {
+                     i2c_dev->regs[reg].data = tmp->buf[1];
+             };
+
+             /* Read commands */
+             for (i = 0; i < count; i++, tmp++)
+                     if (tmp->flags & I2C_M_RD) {
+                             *(tmp->buf) = i2c_dev->regs[reg].data;
+                     };
+```
+
+Cmocka uses a feature that gcc provides for breaking dependencies at the link
+time. It is possible to override implementation of some function, with the
+method from test harness. This allows test harness to take control of execution
+from binary (during the execution of test), and stimulate UUT as required
+without changing the source code.
+
+coreboot unit test infrastructure supports overriding of functions at link time.
+This is as simple as adding a `name_of_function` to be mocked into
+<test_name>-mocks variable in Makefile.inc. The result is that every time the
+function is called, `wrap_name_of_function` will be called instead.
+
+```eval_rst
+.. admonition:: i2c-test example
+
+   .. code-block:: c
+
+     i2c-test-mocks += platform_i2c_transfer
+
+   Now, dev can write own implementation of `platform_i2c_transfer` and define it
+   as `wrap_platform_i2c_transfer`. This implementation instead of accessing real
+   i2c bus, will write/read from fake structs.
+
+   .. code-block:: c
+
+     int __wrap_platform_i2c_transfer(unsigned int bus, struct i2c_msg *segments,
+             int count)
+     {
+     }
+```
+
+#### Checking mock's arguments
+A test can verify the parameters provided by the UUT to the mock function. The
+developer may also verify that number of calls to mock is correct and the order
+of calls to particular mocks is as expected (See
+[this](https://api.cmocka.org/group__cmocka__call__order.html)). The Cmocka
+macros for checking parameters are described
+[here](https://api.cmocka.org/group__cmocka__param.html). In general, in mock
+function, one makes a call to `check_expected(<param_name>)` and in the
+corresponding test function, `expect*()` macro, with description which parameter
+in which mock should have particular value, or be inside a described range.
+
+```eval_rst
+.. admonition:: i2c-test example
+
+   In our example, we may want to check that `platform_i2c_transfer` is fed with
+   number of segments bigger than 0, each segment has flags which are in
+   supported range and each segment has buf which is non-NULL. We are expecting
+   such values for _every_ call, thus the last parameter in `expect*` macros is
+   -1.
+
+   .. code-block:: c
+
+     static void mock_expect_params_platform_i2c_transfer(void)
+     {
+             unsigned long int expected_flags[] = {0, I2C_M_RD, I2C_M_TEN,
+                     I2C_M_RECV_LEN, I2C_M_NOSTART};
+
+             /* Flags should always be only within supported range */
+             expect_in_set_count(__wrap_platform_i2c_transfer, segments->flags,
+                     expected_flags, -1);
+
+             expect_not_value_count(__wrap_platform_i2c_transfer, segments->buf,
+                     NULL, -1);
+
+             expect_in_range_count(__wrap_platform_i2c_transfer, count, 1, INT_MAX,
+                     -1);
+     }
+
+   And the checks below should be added to our mock
+
+   .. code-block:: c
+
+             check_expected(count);
+
+             for (i = 0; i < count; i++, segments++) {
+                     check_expected_ptr(segments->buf);
+                     check_expected(segments->flags);
+             }
+```
+
+#### Instrument mocks
+It is possible for the test function to instrument what the mock will return to
+the UUT. This can be done by using the `will_return*()` and `mock()` macros.
+These are described in
+[the Mock Object section](https://api.cmocka.org/group__cmocka__mock.html) of
+the Cmocka API documentation.
+
+```eval_rst
+.. admonition:: Example
+
+   There is an non-coreboot example for using Cmocka available
+   `here <https://lwn.net/Articles/558106/>`_.
+```
+
+### Test runner
+Finally, the developer needs to implement the test `main()` function. All tests
+should be registered there and cmocka test runner invoked. All methods for
+invoking Cmocka test are described
+[here](https://api.cmocka.org/group__cmocka__exec.html).
+
+```eval_rst
+.. admonition:: i2c-test example
+
+   We don't need any extra setup and teardown functions for i2c-test, so let's
+   simply register test for `i2c_read_field` and return from main value which is
+   output of Cmocka's runner (it returns number of tests that failed).
+
+   .. code-block:: c
+
+     int main(void)
+     {
+             const struct CMUnitTest tests[] = {
+                     cmocka_unit_test(i2c_read_field_test),
+             };
+
+             return cmocka_run_group_tests(tests, NULL, NULL);
+     }
+```