GENDESC(1) LCOV GENDESC(1)

# [NAME](#NAME)

gendesc - gendesc documentation

[**Manual section**](#Manual)

1

[**Manual group**](#Manual~2)

LCOV 2.5

# [NAME](#NAME~2)

[**gendesc**](#gendesc)

Generate a test case description file (internal application)

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

**gendesc** \[ **-h** | **--help** ] \[ **-v** | **--version** ]

\[ **-o** | **--output-filename** *filename* ] *inputfile*

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

Convert plain text test case descriptions into a format as understood by **genhtml**. *inputfile* needs to observe the following format:

For each test case:

- one line containing the test case name beginning at the start of the line
- one or more lines containing the test case description indented with at least one whitespace character (tab or space)

**Example input file:**

```
test01


    An example test case description.


    Description continued
test42


    Supposedly the answer to most of your questions
```

Note: valid test names can consist of letters, decimal digits and the underscore character ('\_').

# [OPTIONS](#OPTIONS)

[**-h**, **--help**](#h)

Print a short help text, then exit.

[**-v**, **--version**](#v)

Print version number, then exit.

[**-o** *filename*, **--output-filename** *filename*](#o)

Write description data to *filename*.

By default, output is written to STDOUT.

# [AUTHOR](#AUTHOR)

Peter Oberparleiter <<Peter.Oberparleiter@de.ibm.com>>

# [SEE ALSO](#SEE_ALSO)

**[lcov(1)](/man/os/lcov/lcov.1) <file://../man/lcov.1.html>**, **[genhtml(1)](/man/os/lcov/genhtml.1) <file://../man/genhtml.1.html>**, **[geninfo(1)](/man/os/lcov/geninfo.1) <file://../man/geninfo.1.html>**, **[genpng(1)](/man/os/lcov/genpng.1) <file://../man/genpng.1.html>**, **[gcov(1)](/man/os/lcov/gcov.1) <file://../man/gcov.1.html>**

<https://github.com/linux-test-project/lcov>

# [Copyright](#Copyright)

2024-2026, LCOV Project

2026-07-07 2.5

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Document: gendesc(1) from lcov 2.5-r1 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://github.com/linux-test-project/lcov