Web tests are used by Blink to test many components, including but not limited to layout and rendering. In general, web tests involve loading pages in a test renderer (content_shell
) and comparing the rendered output or JavaScript output against an expected output file.
This document covers running and debugging existing web tests. See the Writing Web Tests documentation if you find yourself writing web tests.
Note that we changed the term “layout tests” to “web tests”. Please assume these terms mean the identical stuff. We also call it as “WebKit tests” and “WebKit layout tests”.
Before you can run the web tests, you need to build the blink_tests
target to get content_shell
and all of the other needed binaries.
autoninja -C out/Default blink_tests
On Android (web test support currently limited to KitKat and earlier) you need to build and install content_shell_apk
instead. See also: Android Build Instructions.
autoninja -C out/Default content_shell_apk adb install -r out/Default/apks/ContentShell.apk
On Mac, you probably want to strip the content_shell binary before starting the tests. If you don‘t, you’ll have 5-10 running concurrently, all stuck being examined by the OS crash reporter. This may cause other failures like timeouts where they normally don't occur.
strip ./xcodebuild/{Debug,Release}/content_shell.app/Contents/MacOS/content_shell
TODO: mention testing/xvfb.py
The test runner script is in third_party/blink/tools/run_web_tests.py
.
To specify which build directory to use (e.g. out/Default, out/Release, out/Debug) you should pass the -t
or --target
parameter. For example, to use the build in out/Default
, use:
python third_party/blink/tools/run_web_tests.py -t Default
For Android (if your build directory is out/android
):
python third_party/blink/tools/run_web_tests.py -t android --android
Tests marked as [ Skip ]
in TestExpectations won't be run at all, generally because they cause some intractable tool error. To force one of them to be run, either rename that file or specify the skipped test as the only one on the command line (see below). Read the Web Test Expectations documentation to learn more about TestExpectations and related files.
To run only some of the tests, specify their directories or filenames as arguments to run_web_tests.py
relative to the web test directory (src/third_party/blink/web_tests
). For example, to run the fast form tests, use:
python third_party/blink/tools/run_web_tests.py fast/forms
Or you could use the following shorthand:
python third_party/blink/tools/run_web_tests.py fast/fo\*
Example: To run the web tests with a debug build of content_shell
, but only test the SVG tests and run pixel tests, you would run:
[python] third_party/blink/tools/run_web_tests.py -t Default svg
As a final quick-but-less-robust alternative, you can also just use the content_shell executable to run specific tests by using (example on Windows):
out/Default/content_shell.exe --run-web-tests <url>|<full_test_source_path>|<relative_test_path>
as in:
out/Default/content_shell.exe --run-web-tests \ c:/chrome/src/third_party/blink/web_tests/fast/forms/001.html
or
out/Default/content_shell.exe --run-web-tests fast/forms/001.html
but this requires a manual diff against expected results, because the shell doesn't do it for you. It also just dumps the text result only (as the dump of pixels and audio binary data is not human readable). See [Running Web Tests Using the Content Shell](web_tests_in_content_shell.md] for more details of running content_shell
.
To see a complete list of arguments supported, run:
python third_party/blink/tools/run_web_tests.py --help
This script has a lot of command line flags. You can pass --help
to the script to see a full list of options. A few of the most useful options are below:
Option | Meaning |
---|---|
--debug | Run the debug build of the test shell (default is release). Equivalent to -t Debug |
--nocheck-sys-deps | Don't check system dependencies; this allows faster iteration. |
--verbose | Produce more verbose output, including a list of tests that pass. |
--reset-results | Overwrite the current baselines (`-expected.{png |
--renderer-startup-dialog | Bring up a modal dialog before running the test, useful for attaching a debugger. |
--fully-parallel | Run tests in parallel using as many child processes as the system has cores. |
--driver-logging | Print C++ logs (LOG(WARNING), etc). |
A test succeeds when its output matches the pre-defined expected results. If any tests fail, the test script will place the actual generated results, along with a diff of the actual and expected results, into src/out/Default/layout_test_results/
, and by default launch a browser with a summary and link to the results/diffs.
The expected results for tests are in the src/third_party/blink/web_tests/platform
or alongside their respective tests.
A test that runs but produces the wrong output is marked as “failed”, one that causes the test shell to crash is marked as “crashed”, and one that takes longer than a certain amount of time to complete is aborted and marked as “timed out”. A row of dots in the script's output indicates one or more tests that passed.
The TestExpectations file (and related files) contains the list of all known web test failures. See the Web Test Expectations documentation for more on this.
There are two ways to run web tests with additional command-line arguments:
Using --additional-driver-flag
:
python run_web_tests.py --additional-driver-flag=--blocking-repaint
This tells the test harness to pass --blocking-repaint
to the content_shell binary.
It will also look for flag-specific expectations in web_tests/FlagExpectations/blocking-repaint
, if this file exists. The suppressions in this file override the main TestExpectations file.
Using a virtual test suite defined in web_tests/VirtualTestSuites. A virtual test suite runs a subset of web tests under a specific path with additional flags. For example, you could test a (hypothetical) new mode for repainting using the following virtual test suite:
{ "prefix": "blocking_repaint", "base": "fast/repaint", "args": ["--blocking-repaint"], }
This will create new “virtual” tests of the form virtual/blocking_repaint/fast/repaint/...
which correspond to the files under web_tests/fast/repaint
and pass --blocking-repaint
to content_shell when they are run.
These virtual tests exist in addition to the original fast/repaint/...
tests. They can have their own expectations in TestExpectations, and their own baselines. The test harness will use the non-virtual baselines as a fallback. However, the non-virtual expectations are not inherited: if fast/repaint/foo.html
is marked [ Fail ]
, the test harness still expects virtual/blocking_repaint/fast/repaint/foo.html
to pass. If you expect the virtual test to also fail, it needs its own suppression.
The “prefix” value does not have to be unique. This is useful if you want to run multiple directories with the same flags (but see the notes below about performance). Using the same prefix for different sets of flags is not recommended.
For flags whose implementation is still in progress, virtual test suites and flag-specific expectations represent two alternative strategies for testing. Consider the following when choosing between them:
The waterfall builders and try bots will run all virtual test suites in addition to the non-virtual tests. Conversely, a flag-specific expectations file won't automatically cause the bots to test your flag - if you want bot coverage without virtual test suites, you will need to set up a dedicated bot for your flag.
Due to the above, virtual test suites incur a performance penalty for the commit queue and the continuous build infrastructure. This is exacerbated by the need to restart content_shell
whenever flags change, which limits parallelism. Therefore, you should avoid adding large numbers of virtual test suites. They are well suited to running a subset of tests that are directly related to the feature, but they don't scale to flags that make deep architectural changes that potentially impact all of the tests.
Note that using wildcards in virtual test path names (e.g. virtual/blocking_repaint/fast/repaint/*
) is not supported.
All bugs, associated with web test failures must have the Test-Layout label. Depending on how much you know about the bug, assign the status accordingly:
When creating a new web test bug, please set the following properties:
You can also use the Layout Test Failure template, which pre-sets these labels for you.
After the web tests run, you should get a summary of tests that pass or fail. If something fails unexpectedly (a new regression), you will get a content_shell
window with a summary of the unexpected failures. Or you might have a failing test in mind to investigate. In any case, here are some steps and tips for finding the problem.
http://localhost:8000/
and proceed from there.) The best tests describe what they‘re looking for, but not all do, and sometimes things they’re not explicitly testing are still broken. Compare it to Safari, Firefox, and IE if necessary to see if it‘s correct. If you’re still not sure, find the person who knows the most about it and ask.python run_web_tests.py path/to/your/test.html
produces a page listing all test results. Those which fail their expectations will include links to the expected result, actual result, and diff. These results are saved to $root_build_dir/layout-test-results
.--results-directory=path/for/output/
option allows you to specify an alternative directory for the output to be saved to.file:
URL.file:
or http:
) as the command argument in the Debugging section of the content_shell project Properties.--run-web-tests
, followed by the URL (file:
or http:
) to your test. More information about running web tests in content_shell can be found here.TestShell::RunFileTest()
call in content_shell_main.cc
, or at shell->LoadURL() within RunFileTest()
in content_shell_win.cc
.To run the server manually to reproduce/debug a failure:
cd src/third_party/blink/tools python run_blink_httpd.py
The web tests are served from http://127.0.0.1:8000/
. For example, to run the test web_tests/http/tests/serviceworker/chromium/service-worker-allowed.html
, navigate to http://127.0.0.1:8000/serviceworker/chromium/service-worker-allowed.html
. Some tests behave differently if you go to 127.0.0.1
vs. localhost
, so use 127.0.0.1
.
To kill the server, hit any key on the terminal where run_blink_httpd.py
is running, use taskkill
or the Task Manager on Windows, or killall
or Activity Monitor on macOS.
The test server sets up an alias to the web_tests/resources
directory. For example, in HTTP tests, you can access the testing framework using src="/js-test-resources/js-test.js"
.
Check https://test-results.appspot.com/ to see how a test did in the most recent ~100 builds on each builder (as long as the page is being updated regularly).
A timeout will often also be a text mismatch, since the wrapper script kills the content_shell before it has a chance to finish. The exception is if the test finishes loading properly, but somehow hangs before it outputs the bit of text that tells the wrapper it's done.
Why might a test fail (or crash, or timeout) on buildbot, but pass on your local machine?
debug_devtools=true
to args.gn
and compile: autoninja -C out/Default devtools_frontend_resources
Debug DevTools lets you avoid having to recompile after every change to the DevTools front-end.
chromium/src
folder: third_party/blink/tools/run_web_tests.sh --additional-driver-flag='--debug-devtools' --additional-driver-flag='--remote-debugging-port=9222' --time-out-ms=6000000
out/Default/content_shell --debug-devtools --remote-debugging-port=9222 --run-web-tests http://127.0.0.1:8000/path/to/test.html
http://localhost:9222
in a stable/beta/canary Chrome, click the single link to open the devtools with the test loaded.test()
in the console to actually start the test.NOTE: If the test is an html file, this means it's a legacy test so you need to add:
Add window.debugTest = true;
to your test code as follows:
window.debugTest = true; function test() { /* TEST CODE */ }
You can use git bisect
to find which commit broke (or fixed!) a web test in a fully automated way. Unlike bisect-builds.py, which downloads pre-built Chromium binaries, git bisect
operates on your local checkout, so it can run tests with content_shell
.
Bisecting can take several hours, but since it is fully automated you can leave it running overnight and view the results the next day.
To set up an automated bisect of a web test regression, create a script like this:
#!/bin/bash # Exit code 125 tells git bisect to skip the revision. gclient sync || exit 125 autoninja -C out/Debug -j100 blink_tests || exit 125 third_party/blink/tools/run_web_tests.py -t Debug \ --no-show-results --no-retry-failures \ path/to/web/test.html
Modify the out
directory, ninja args, and test name as appropriate, and save the script in ~/checkrev.sh
. Then run:
chmod u+x ~/checkrev.sh # mark script as executable git bisect start <badrev> <goodrev> git bisect run ~/checkrev.sh git bisect reset # quit the bisect session
cd src/third_party/blink python tools/run_web_tests.py --reset-results foo/bar/test.html
If there are current expectation files for web_tests/foo/bar/test.html
, the above command will overwrite the current baselines at their original locations with the actual results. The current baseline means the -expected.*
file used to compare the actual result when the test is run locally, i.e. the first file found in the baseline search path.
If there are no current baselines, the above command will create new baselines in the platform-independent directory, e.g. web_tests/foo/bar/test-expected.{txt,png}
.
When you rebaseline a test, make sure your commit description explains why the test is being re-baselined.
Though we prefer the Rebaseline Tool to local rebaselining, the Rebaseline Tool doesn't support rebaselining flag-specific expectations.
cd src/third_party/blink python tools/run_web_tests.py --additional-driver-flag=--enable-flag --reset-results foo/bar/test.html
New baselines will be created in the flag-specific baselines directory, e.g. web_tests/flag-specific/enable-flag/foo/bar/test-expected.{txt,png}
.
Then you can commit the new baselines and upload the patch for review.
However, it's difficult for reviewers to review the patch containing only new files. You can follow the steps below for easier review.
Copy existing baselines to the flag-specific baselines directory for the tests to be rebaselined:
third_party/blink/tools/run_web_tests.py --additional-driver-flag=--enable-flag --copy-baselines foo/bar/test.html
Then add the newly created baseline files, commit and upload the patch. Note that the above command won't copy baselines for passing tests.
Rebaseline the test locally:
third_party/blink/tools/run_web_tests.py --additional-driver-flag=--enable-flag --reset-results foo/bar/test.html
Commit the changes and upload the patch.
Request review of the CL and tell the reviewer to compare the patch sets that were uploaded in step 1 and step 2 to see the differences of the rebaselines.
In addition to web tests developed and run just by the Blink team, there is also a shared test suite, see web-platform-tests.
See bugs with the component Blink>Infra for issues related to Blink tools, include the web test runner.
fast/dom/object-embed-plugin-scripting.html
and plugins/embed-attributes-setting.html
are expected to fail.