[Mono-devel-list] Detecting Mono

[Charlie Poole]

> As a side note, what do you need to test the existance of a framework
> for? The only use I am able to see for this is the ignorring of a test
> that fails on a specific framework due to a bug. I would really rather
> see this implemented with [KnownFailure] sort of thing. The
> [KnownFailure] concept actually has alot of use in other contexts (eg,
> known not to work until the blah team finishes foo feature).
>
> Really, the only reason to test for a framework should be if you are
> integrating with it (for example, a profiling tool that makes custom
> calls for each fx). If that is not a case, it would be better to have a
> bug filed in our bugzilla and an annotation made to the test case.

If it's the case that there's an actual bug which might be fixed in short
order, I'd leave that test in place and ignore it. But if it's a case that a
feature has not been developed and won't be developed for a while - or
possibly never - then I think I'd decide to provide the functionality
through some other means. A good example of this is porting to the compact
framework where you don't get .NET remoting and some parts of Reflection are
missing "by design".

Charlie Poole
cpoole at pooleconsulting.com