Re: [PATCH v2] t: run tests from a normalized working directory

["Torsten Bögershausen" <tboegi@web.de>]

On Wed, May 28, 2025 at 04:17:37PM -0400, Mark Mentovai wrote:

The problem is well described, thanks for that.
However, different words and terms are used for the same thing:
  "normalized working directory" (which is easy to confuse
    with normalized working tree where CRLF-LF conversion had been
    done and clean filters applied.
  "pathname canonicalization"
  "canonical absolute path"
  "normalized path"
... and that is done in "strbuf_realpath()"

May be the word normalized can be replaced here ?
Starting with the head line, how about this:
t: run tests from an absolute path

And later in the text:
use "absolute path" instead of "normalized path" ?

> Some tests make git perform actions that produce observable pathnames,
> and have expectations on those paths. Tests run with $HOME set to a
> $TRASH_DIRECTORY, and with their working directory the same
> $TRASH_DIRECTORY, although these paths are logically identical, they do
> not observe the same pathname canonicalization rules and thus might not
> be represented by strings that compare equal. In particular, no pathname
> normalization is applied to $TRASH_DIRECTORY or $HOME, while tests
> change their working directory with `cd -P`, which normalizes the
> working directory's path by fully resolving symbolic links.
> 
> t7900's macOS maintenance tests (which are not limited to running on
> macOS) have an expectation on a path that `git maintenance` forms by
> using abspath.c strbuf_realpath() to resolve a canonical absolute path
> based on $HOME. When t7900 runs from a working directory that contains
> symbolic links in its pathname, $HOME will also contain symbolic links,
> which `git maintenance` resolves but the test's expectation does not,
> causing a test failure.
> 
> Align $TRASH_DIRECTORY and $HOME with the normalized path as used for
> the working directory by resetting them to match the working directory
> after it's established by `cd -P`. With all paths in agreement and
> symbolic links resolved, pathname expectations can be set and met based
> on string comparison without regard to external environmental factors
> such as the presence of symbolic links in a path.
> 
> Suggested-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
> Signed-off-by: Mark Mentovai <mark@chromium.org>
> ---
>  t/test-lib.sh | 2 ++
>  1 file changed, 2 insertions(+)
> 
> diff --git a/t/test-lib.sh b/t/test-lib.sh
> index af722d383d9b..92d0db13d742 100644
> --- a/t/test-lib.sh
> +++ b/t/test-lib.sh
> @@ -1577,6 +1577,8 @@ fi
>  # Use -P to resolve symlinks in our working directory so that the cwd
>  # in subprocesses like git equals our $PWD (for pathname comparisons).
>  cd -P "$TRASH_DIRECTORY" || BAIL_OUT "cannot cd -P to \"$TRASH_DIRECTORY\""
> +TRASH_DIRECTORY=$(pwd)
> +HOME="$TRASH_DIRECTORY"
>  
>  start_test_output "$0"
>  
>