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diff --git a/third_party/libwebrtc/g3doc/field-trials.md b/third_party/libwebrtc/g3doc/field-trials.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..e4f946a175 --- /dev/null +++ b/third_party/libwebrtc/g3doc/field-trials.md @@ -0,0 +1,45 @@ +<!-- go/cmark --> +<!--* freshness: {owner: 'lndmrk' reviewed: '2022-06-23'} *--> + +# Field trials + +WebRTC provides some means to alter its default behavior during run-time, +colloquially known as *field trials*. This is foremost used for A/B testing new +features and are related to +[Chromium field trials](https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/main/testing/variations/README.md) +to facilitate interoperability. + +A field trial consist of a key-value pair of strings. By convention, the field +trial key is prefixed with `WebRTC-` and each word is capitalized without +spaces. Sometimes the key is further subdivided into a category, for example, +`WebRTC-MyCategory-MyExperiment`. The field trial value is an opaque string and +it is up to the author to define what it represents. There are +[helper functions](https://webrtc.googlesource.com/src/+/refs/heads/main/api/field_trials_view.h) +to use a field trial as a boolean, with the string `Enabled` representing true +and `Disabled` representing false. You can also use +[field trial parameters](https://webrtc.googlesource.com/src/+/refs/heads/main/rtc_base/experiments/field_trial_parser.h) +if you wish to encode more elaborate data types. + +The set of field trials can be instantiated from a single string with the format +`<key-1>/<value-1>/<key-2>/<value-2>/`. Note the final `/` at the end! In +Chromium you can launch with the `--force-fieldtrials` flag to instantiate field +trials this way, for example: + +``` +--force-fieldtrials="WebRTC-Foo/Enabled/WebRTC-Bar/Disabled/" +``` + +## Policy + +The policy for field trials is: + +- A field trial should only be used to test out new code or parameters for a + limited time period. It should not be used for configuring persistent + behavior. +- The field trial must have an end date. The end date may be pushed back if + necessary, but should not be pushed back indefinitely. +- A field trial must be associated with a bug that + - reserves the field trial key, + - is open, + - is assigned to an owner, and + - has the end date specified. |