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@xxxxxxxxx> > Signed-off-by: Mark Mentovai <mark@xxxxxxxxxxxx> > --- > 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" > >