(automake-1.16.info)Testsuite progress output

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15.3.3.3 Testsuite progress output
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A custom test driver also has the task of displaying, on the standard
output, the test results as soon as they become available.  Depending on
the protocol in use, it can also display the reasons for failures and
skips, and, more generally, any useful diagnostic output (but remember
that each line on the screen is precious, so that cluttering the screen
with overly verbose information is bad idea).  The exact format of this
progress output is left up to the test driver; in fact, a custom test
driver might _theoretically_ even decide not to do any such report,
leaving it all to the testsuite summary (that would be a very lousy
idea, of course, and serves only to illustrate the flexibility that is
granted here).

   Remember that consistency is good; so, if possible, try to be
consistent with the output of the built-in Automake test drivers,
providing a similar “look & feel”.  In particular, the testsuite
progress output should be colorized when the ‘--color-tests’ is passed
to the driver.  On the other end, if you are using a known and
widespread test protocol with well-established implementations, being
consistent with those implementations’ output might be a good idea too.