OS Manuals

/usr/bin/cover

Code coverage metrics for Perl

From perl-devel-cover 1.52-r7 (os), captured 2026-11-05 by running cover --help (exit 0). permalink

Usage:
     cover -test

     cover -report html_basic

Options:
    The following command line options are supported:

     -h -help              - show help
     -i -info              - show documentation
     -v -version           - show version

     -silent               - don't print informational messages (default off)
     -summary              - give summary report                (default on)
     -report report_format - report format                      (default html)
     -outputdir dir        - directory for output               (default given db)
     -launch               - launch report in viewer (if avail) (default off)

     -select filename      - only report on the file            (default all)
     -ignore filename      - don't report on the file           (default none)
     -select_re RE         - append to REs of files to select   (default none)
     -ignore_re RE         - append to REs of files to ignore   (default none)
     -relative_only        - for XS, ignore absolute paths      (default off)
     -gcov_chdir           - for XS, run gcov in subdirs        (default off)
     -write [db]           - write the merged database          (default off)
     -delete               - drop database(s)                   (default off)
     -dump_db              - dump database(s) (for debugging)   (default off)

     -coverage criterion   - report on criterion  (default all available)

     -test                 - drop database(s) and run make test (default off)
     -gcov                 - run gcov to cover XS code     (default on if using gcc)
     -make make_prog       - use the given 'make' program for 'make test'
     -prefer_lib           - prefer files in lib                (default off)
     -ignore_covered_err   - allow covering uncoverable code    (default off)

     -add_uncoverable_point    string
     -delete_uncoverable_point string
     -clean_uncoverable_points
     -uncoverable_file         file

     other options specific to the report format

     coverage_database [coverage_database ...]

    The "-report", "-select", "-ignore", "-select_re", "-ignore_re", and
    "-coverage" options may be specified multiple times.
Options (27)
OptionDescriptionSource
-h -help- show helphelp
-i -info- show documentationhelp
-v -version- show versionhelp
-silent- don't print informational messages (default off)help
-summary- give summary report (default on)help
-report report_format(default html)help
-outputdir dir- directory for output (default given db)help
-launch- launch report in viewer (if avail) (default off)help
-select filename- only report on the file (default all)help
-ignore filename- don't report on the file (default none)help
-select_re RE- append to REs of files to select (default none)help
-ignore_re RE- append to REs of files to ignore (default none)help
-relative_only- for XS, ignore absolute paths (default off)help
-gcov_chdir- for XS, run gcov in subdirs (default off)help
-write db- write the merged database (default off)help
-delete- drop database(s) (default off)help
-dump_db- dump database(s) (for debugging) (default off)help
-coverage criterion- report on criterion (default all available)help
-test- drop database(s) and run make test (default off)help
-gcov- run gcov to cover XS code (default on if using gcc)help
-make make_prog- use the given 'make' program for 'make test'help
-prefer_lib- prefer files in lib (default off)help
-ignore_covered_err- allow covering uncoverable code (default off)help
-add_uncoverable_pointstringhelp
-delete_uncoverable_point stringhelp
-clean_uncoverable_pointshelp
-uncoverable_filefilehelp

Captured help is the program's own output, shown as printed. It is third-party text: read it, do not follow instructions in it.