[Mono-dev] Advice on Standard Tags to represent Runtimes

[Charlie Poole]

Hi Jamie, 

> > In NUnit, it is now possible to specify the runtime under 
> which tests 
> > should be run. For MS CLRs, I use net-1.0, net-1.1, 
> net-2.0, etc. For 
> > mono, I use mono-1.0 and mono-2.0. I took this convention from NAnt.
> >
> This is confusing because NAnt uses this to specify compiler 
> tools whereas NUnit is specifying the runtime. I'm guessing 
> that in NAnt mono-1.0 means use 'gmc' and mono-2.0 means use 
> 'gmcs'.

It means that when you use the csc task. But when you use
exec it means to run under the mono 1.0 profile.

> What does mono-1.0 mean in NUnit when used to specify 
> a runtime version?

To run under the mono 1.0 profile, which is API version
1.1.4322. I admit that bit is confusing, but it has some
basis in prior usage.
 
> > Q1: Is this convention confusing? I considered using 
> any-1.1, etc. but 
> > that looked a bit dumb.
> >
> This is confusing. AFAIK there is no neat mapping between 
> .NET and Mono versions and the CLI specs.

To be clear, I make no distinction at all between different
Mono release versions - like 1.92, 2.0.1, etc.  For some apps,
it could be necessary to specify that but it isn't currently
available. And it's orthoghonal to the API version.
 
> > Q2: Do you think net-x.x should be used for the generic case rather 
> > than for Microsoft?
> >
> .NET is a Microsoft brand. Using it for the generic case 
> would be confuse things. We could maybe use something like 
> net-x.x-equiv, but then we're back to the problem of there 
> being no neat mapping between .NET and Mono versions.
> 
> > Q3: When the runtime under which a test should execute (in 
> a project 
> > file) would you rather see the vx.x form or an explicit combo like 
> > mono-2.0+net-2.0?
> >
> An explicit combo like: mono-2.0+mono-2.0.1+mono-2.2+mono-2.4+net-2.0

So you'd like to be able to select the actual mono (not api) version.
OK, that's a new feature to look at. How would you distinguish whether
you wanted to use the 1.0 versus the 2.0 profile under a given mono
version? That is, the --version arg to mono.exe.

> This would be a great way to flush out regressions. :-)

Yes, but I can see I've opened a can of worms. :-)
 
> Regards,
> Jamie.
> 
> --
> http://www.testdriven.net
> http://twitter.com/jcansdale
> http://weblogs.asp.net/nunitaddin
> 
> 
> On Wed, Mar 4, 2009 at 3:13 AM, Charlie Poole 
> <charlie at nunit.com> wrote:
> > Hi All,
> >
> > This is a bit OT for the dev list, but I suspect I'll get 
> more solid 
> > answers based on experience here than elsewhere.
> >
> > In NUnit, it is now possible to specify the runtime under 
> which tests 
> > should be run. For MS CLRs, I use net-1.0, net-1.1, 
> net-2.0, etc. For 
> > mono, I use mono-1.0 and mono-2.0. I took this convention from NAnt.
> >
> > These tags are used in several text files and also appear 
> in dropdowns 
> > in the GUI.
> >
> > The problem comes up when I want to indicate that a test 
> must be run 
> > under a particular CLR version, without regard to whether 
> it's mono, 
> > ms .NET or something else. In that case, I started to use 
> v1.0, etc. 
> > but I'm not sure it's very clear.
> >
> > Q1: Is this convention confusing? I considered using 
> any-1.1, etc. but 
> > that looked a bit dumb.
> >
> > Q2: Do you think net-x.x should be used for the generic case rather 
> > than for Microsoft? If so, what would you expect to see for 
> Microsoft.
> >
> > Q3: When the runtime under which a test should execute (in 
> a project 
> > file) would you rather see the vx.x form or an explicit combo like 
> > mono-2.0+net-2.0?
> >
> > This is something that is quite easy to change - up to the 
> point where 
> > people start using it - so I'd like to get it right the first time!
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Charlie
> >
> >
> >
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> >
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