Explain in 't/README' why it is a bad idea to redirect and verify the
stderr of compound commands, in the hope that future contributions
will follow this advice and the test suite will keep working with '-x'
tracing and /bin/sh.
While at it, since we can now run the test suite with '-x' without
needing a Bash version supporting BASH_XTRACEFD, remove the now
outdated caution note about non-Bash shells from the description of
the '-x' option.
Signed-off-by: SZEDER Gábor <szeder.dev@xxxxxxxxx>
---
t/README | 20 +++++++++++++++++---
1 file changed, 17 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
diff --git a/t/README b/t/README
index c430e9c52c..615682263e 100644
--- a/t/README
+++ b/t/README
@@ -84,9 +84,7 @@ appropriately before running "make".
-x::
Turn on shell tracing (i.e., `set -x`) during the tests
- themselves. Implies `--verbose`. Note that in non-bash shells,
- this can cause failures in some tests which redirect and test
- the output of shell functions. Use with caution.
+ themselves. Implies `--verbose`.
Ignored in test scripts that set the variable 'test_untraceable'
to a non-empty value, unless it's run with a Bash version
supporting BASH_XTRACEFD, i.e. v4.1 or later.
@@ -455,6 +453,22 @@ Don't:
causing the next test to start in an unexpected directory. Do so
inside a subshell if necessary.
+ - save and verify the standard error of compound commands, i.e. group
+ commands, subshells, and shell functions (except test helper
+ functions like 'test_must_fail') like this:
+
+ ( cd dir && git cmd ) 2>error &&
+ test_cmp expect error
+
+ When running the test with '-x' tracing, then the trace of commands
+ executed in the compound command will be included in standard error
+ as well, quite possibly throwing off the subsequent checks examining
+ the output. Instead, save only the relevant git command's standard
+ error:
+
+ ( cd dir && git cmd 2>../error ) &&
+ test_cmp expect error
+
- Break the TAP output
The raw output from your test may be interpreted by a TAP harness. TAP
--
2.16.2.400.g911b7cc0da
