A negation in tests/postfix-local.bats asserts nothing, and COVERAGE.md is wrong about which ones do #9

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opened 2026-09-28 05:26:25 -03:00 by marcos-mendez · 0 comments

marcos-mendez commented

2026-09-28 05:26:25 -03:00

(Migrated from github.com)

A bats test body has no assertions of its own: its verdict is the exit status of the last command it ran. Bash does not apply errexit to a negated command, so ! cmd on its own line decides the test when it is the final command of the body and is inert everywhere else.

shellcheck -f gcc --shell=bash tests/*.bats | grep SC2314

tests/postfix-local.bats has three bare negations. One is inert, line 96, in "stops at the first failing postconf":

@test "stops at the first failing postconf" {
    export STUB_POSTCONF_FAIL=myhostname
    run "$SCRIPT"
    [ "$status" -eq 1 ]
    logged "postconf -e myhostname=mail.example.com"
    ! logged smtpd_banner        # line 96 — inert
    ! logged postmulti           # line 97 — last, asserts
}

The test is named for stopping at the first failure, and the assertion that the banner was never set is the one that says it stopped. That one did not run. A script that carried on past the failing postconf and set the banner anyway would pass this test.

Lines 66 and 97 are last in their bodies and do assert. That distinction is worth stating because COVERAGE.md on fix/keel-apt-identity (#8) says all three are inert, which is wrong about two of the three, and that text needs correcting wherever it lands.

What to do

Write every negation run ! cmd, with bats_require_minimum_version 1.5.0, which asserts wherever it stands — the two in final position included. A file that mixes the two forms leaves a reader to work out which half is real, and adding one line after a final-position ! silently disables it.

Test plan

shellcheck --severity=error --include=SC2314 over tests/*.bats reports nothing.
bats tests/postfix-local.bats green with the inert assertion live.
tests/coverage.sh at the committed threshold of 100.
Tests and COVERAGE.md ship nothing, so package / changelog passes by reporting that nothing that ships changed.

A bats test body has no assertions of its own: its verdict is the exit status of the last command it ran. Bash does not apply errexit to a negated command, so `! cmd` on its own line decides the test when it is the final command of the body and is **inert everywhere else**. shellcheck -f gcc --shell=bash tests/*.bats | grep SC2314 `tests/postfix-local.bats` has three bare negations. **One is inert**, line 96, in "stops at the first failing postconf": @test "stops at the first failing postconf" { export STUB_POSTCONF_FAIL=myhostname run "$SCRIPT" [ "$status" -eq 1 ] logged "postconf -e myhostname=mail.example.com" ! logged smtpd_banner # line 96 — inert ! logged postmulti # line 97 — last, asserts } The test is named for stopping at the first failure, and the assertion that the banner was never set is the one that says it stopped. That one did not run. A script that carried on past the failing `postconf` and set the banner anyway would pass this test. Lines 66 and 97 are last in their bodies and do assert. That distinction is worth stating because `COVERAGE.md` on `fix/keel-apt-identity` (#8) says all three are inert, which is wrong about two of the three, and that text needs correcting wherever it lands. ## What to do Write every negation `run ! cmd`, with `bats_require_minimum_version 1.5.0`, which asserts wherever it stands — the two in final position included. A file that mixes the two forms leaves a reader to work out which half is real, and adding one line after a final-position `!` silently disables it. ## Test plan - `shellcheck --severity=error --include=SC2314` over `tests/*.bats` reports nothing. - `bats tests/postfix-local.bats` green with the inert assertion live. - `tests/coverage.sh` at the committed threshold of 100. - Tests and `COVERAGE.md` ship nothing, so `package / changelog` passes by reporting that nothing that ships changed.