pytest-dev / pytest-dev/pytest-xdist

Run test subprocesses in gdb

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#132 2 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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enhancement help wanted
Dominant language
Python
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

If you've got some buggy C-level code, running in gdb can be very useful because it prints out a very detailed traceback, with full argument names and values. This could be achieved by something like gdb -return-child-result -batch -ex r -ex bt --args python -m pytest $PYTEST_ARGS.

However, gdb doesn't work with distributed testing because they are separate process which gdb doesn't know anything about. There is the pytest-faulthandler plugin which is handy but it produces a much more limited traceback with addresses only.

It would be nice if there were some way to run the child processes in gdb like this to automatically get these backtraces.

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Research direction

The issue names no files or tests; begin by tracing how pytest-xdist launches distributed child processes and compare that path with the suggested gdb -return-child-result -batch -ex r -ex bt --args python -m pytest $PYTEST_ARGS command. Done means distributed child processes can be run under gdb and produce useful backtraces, beyond the address-only output from pytest-faulthandler.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
distributed-systems, testing-qa
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
30/100

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