Denton Liu <liu.denton@xxxxxxxxx> writes: > We are using `test_must_fail $command`. However, $command is not > necessarily a git command; it could be a test helper function. > > In an effort to stop using test_must_fail with non-git commands, instead > of invoking `test_must_fail $command`, run > `OVERWRITING_FAIL=test_must_fail $command` instead. This description alone does not make much sense to me as a reader. For "when OVERWRITING_FAIL environment variable is set to test_must_fail, something magical happens while running $command" to be true, $command (which may be "a git command", or "a test helper function") must be aware of, and must be told how to react to the OVERWRITING_FAIL environment variable. For example, test_must_fail test a = b test_must_fail git cat-file leaf HEAD may succeed because "test a = b" and "git cat-file leaf HEAD" fail and test_must_fail would notice that these commands exited with non-zero status without crashing. But how would the same happen for these commands, OVERWRITING_FAIL=test_must_fail test a = b OVERWRITING_FAIL=test_must_fail git cat-file leaf HEAD which is what the above paragraph tells me to write "instead of using test_must_fail". There is something gravely missing from the description. Is it that $command is *NEVER* a 'git' command, but just a selected few helper functions know how to honor this convention? If that is the case, perhaps can we teach these helper functions an *option* to expect a failure instead of expecting a success? These are all speculations, because the above description is too vague as a starting point for clear thinking. > + OVERWRITING_FAIL=test_must_fail $command replace_sub1_with_directory && > + OVERWRITING_FAIL= && If we have given up the "single-shot environment export" for compatibility reasons (which is a sound decision to follow), we should make sure it is clear to our readers that we are not using that shell feature. I.e. export OVERWRITING_FAIL=test_must_fail && $command replace_sub1_with_directory && unset OVERWRITING_FAIL && I still do not understand how you are forcing an arbitrary $command to honor this environment variable, though.
