Introduction — common_test v1.27.5

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# View Source Introduction

## Scope

`Common Test` is a portable application for automated testing. It is suitable for:

- Black-box testing of target systems of any type (that is, not necessarily implemented in Erlang). This is performed through standard O&M interfaces (such as SNMP, HTTP, CORBA, and Telnet) and, if necessary, through user-specific interfaces (often called test ports).
- White-box testing of Erlang/OTP programs. This is easily done by calling the target API functions directly from the test case functions.

`Common Test` also integrates use of the OTP `cover` tool in application Tools for code coverage analysis of Erlang/OTP programs.

`Common Test` executes test suite programs automatically, without operator interaction. Test progress and results are printed to logs in HTML format, easily browsed with a standard web browser. `Common Test` also sends notifications about progress and results through an OTP event manager to event handlers plugged in to the system. This way, users can integrate their own programs for, for example, logging, database storing, or supervision with `Common Test`.

`Common Test` provides libraries with useful support functions to fill various testing needs and requirements. There is, for example, support for flexible test declarations through test specifications. There is also support for central configuration and control of multiple independent test sessions (to different target systems) running in parallel.

## Prerequisites

It is assumed that the reader is familiar with the Erlang programming language.

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