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SoC 2024: clarify `test_path_is_*` conversion microproject

Message ID 84995a068640c72c8f17406ffa0441c7fdba4bdc.1709543804.git.ps@pks.im (mailing list archive)
State New
Headers show
Series SoC 2024: clarify `test_path_is_*` conversion microproject | expand

Commit Message

Patrick Steinhardt March 4, 2024, 9:16 a.m. UTC
One of our proposed microprojects is to convert instances of `test -e`
and related functions to instead use `test_path_exists` or similar. This
conversion is only feasible when `test -e` is not used as part of a
control statement, as the replacement is used to _assert_ a condition
instead of merely testing for it.

Clarify the microproject's description accordingly.

Signed-off-by: Patrick Steinhardt <ps@pks.im>
---
 SoC-2024-Microprojects.md | 5 ++++-
 1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

Comments

Christian Couder March 4, 2024, 1:42 p.m. UTC | #1
On Mon, Mar 4, 2024 at 10:17 AM Patrick Steinhardt <ps@pks.im> wrote:
>
> One of our proposed microprojects is to convert instances of `test -e`
> and related functions to instead use `test_path_exists` or similar. This
> conversion is only feasible when `test -e` is not used as part of a
> control statement, as the replacement is used to _assert_ a condition
> instead of merely testing for it.
>
> Clarify the microproject's description accordingly.

Applied and pushed, thanks!

I wonder if it would be better to create a PR in
https://github.com/git/git.github.io/ and perhaps just send a link to
it, rather than sending patches to the mailing list, as patches on the
mailing list could be mistaken by tools and perhaps people as applying
to the Git code base.
Junio C Hamano March 4, 2024, 5:02 p.m. UTC | #2
Patrick Steinhardt <ps@pks.im> writes:

> One of our proposed microprojects is to convert instances of `test -e`
> and related functions to instead use `test_path_exists` or similar. This
> conversion is only feasible when `test -e` is not used as part of a
> control statement, as the replacement is used to _assert_ a condition
> instead of merely testing for it.
>
> Clarify the microproject's description accordingly.
>
> Signed-off-by: Patrick Steinhardt <ps@pks.im>
> ---
>  SoC-2024-Microprojects.md | 5 ++++-
>  1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
>
> diff --git a/SoC-2024-Microprojects.md b/SoC-2024-Microprojects.md
> index 644c0a6..782441f 100644
> --- a/SoC-2024-Microprojects.md
> +++ b/SoC-2024-Microprojects.md
> @@ -41,7 +41,10 @@ to search, so that we can remove this microproject idea.
>  Find one test script that verifies the presence/absence of
>  files/directories with 'test -(e|f|d|...)' and replace them with the
>  appropriate `test_path_is_file`, `test_path_is_dir`, etc. helper
> -functions.
> +functions. Note that this conversion does not directly apply to control
> +flow constructs like `if test -e ./path; then ...; fi` because the
> +replacements are intended to assert the condition instead of merely
> +testing for it.

Thanks for picking it up.  Of course there is one case in which we
should use test_path_* helpers to replace such an if...then...fi
construct; e.g., c431a235 (t9146: replace test -d/-e/-f with
appropriate test_path_is_* function, 2024-02-14) did exactly that.

I am not sure how best to express that in the already crowded
description above, though.  Rewriting the existing test this way

	Find one test script that uses 'test [!] -(e|f|d|...)' to
	assert the presence/absense of files/directories to make the
	test fail directly with the exit status of such "test"
	commands, and replace them with the appropriate helper
	functions like `test_path_is_file`, that give more
	informative error messages when they fail.

would exclude use of "test -e" as a conditional in control statements,
so we could mention what c431a235 did as an exception to the rule,
perhaps like

	Note that the above excludes "test -f" and friends used as a
	condition in control statements such as "if test -e path
	...", but as an exception, if such a "if" statement just
	open-codes what these helpers do, replacing it is warranted.

But that does not read very well, even to myself.  Sigh....

Thanks.
diff mbox series

Patch

diff --git a/SoC-2024-Microprojects.md b/SoC-2024-Microprojects.md
index 644c0a6..782441f 100644
--- a/SoC-2024-Microprojects.md
+++ b/SoC-2024-Microprojects.md
@@ -41,7 +41,10 @@  to search, so that we can remove this microproject idea.
 Find one test script that verifies the presence/absence of
 files/directories with 'test -(e|f|d|...)' and replace them with the
 appropriate `test_path_is_file`, `test_path_is_dir`, etc. helper
-functions.
+functions. Note that this conversion does not directly apply to control
+flow constructs like `if test -e ./path; then ...; fi` because the
+replacements are intended to assert the condition instead of merely
+testing for it.
 
 If you can't find one please tell us, along with the command you used
 to search, so that we can remove this microproject idea.