[webkit-dev] script to assist converting pixel tests to dumpastext tests

[Darin Adler]

On Jun 16, 2009, at 6:16 PM, Ryosuke Niwa wrote:

> I've been converting a bunch of pixel tests to dumpAsText tests.

Thanks for telling us about your script.

These are "layout tests", not "pixel tests". While it's true that the  
tests dump the render tree as text and when run in the --pixel mode  
even dump the pixels, in most cases the render tree results are the  
primary test and the ability to check the pixel results is a sort of  
lesser secondary side benefit.

In general, it's only OK to convert a layout test to a dumpAsText test  
if it can test the same thing. In most cases, a mechanically created  
dumpAsText equivalent of an existing test would test a lot less than  
the layout test, and perhaps not test the original bug at all.

So the process of retiring layout tests and replacing them with  
equivalent dumpAsText tests is primarily one of understanding what  
each original test is intended to test, and figuring out if there's  
another way to do it that doesn't rely on render tree dump.

     -- Darin