Clojure

smarter assert (prints locals)

Details

  • Type: Enhancement Enhancement
  • Status: Open Open
  • Priority: Major Major
  • Resolution: Unresolved
  • Affects Version/s: None
  • Fix Version/s: Approved Backlog
  • Component/s: None
  • Labels:
    None
  • Approval:
    Incomplete

Description

Here is an implementation you can paste into a repl. Feedback wanted:

(defn ^{:private true} local-bindings
  "Produces a map of the names of local bindings to their values."
  [env]
  (let [symbols (map key env)]
    (zipmap (map (fn [sym] `(quote ~sym)) symbols) symbols)))

(defmacro assert
  "Evaluates expr and throws an exception if it does not evaluate to
 logical true."
  {:added "1.0"}
  [x]
  (when *assert*
    (let [bindings (local-bindings &env)]
      `(when-not ~x
         (let [sep# (System/getProperty "line.separator")]
           (throw (AssertionError. (apply str "Assert failed: " (pr-str '~x) sep#
                                          (map (fn [[k# v#]] (str "\t" k# " : " v# sep#)) ~bindings)))))))))

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Assembla Importer added a comment -

Converted from http://www.assembla.com/spaces/clojure/tickets/415

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Assembla Importer added a comment - Converted from http://www.assembla.com/spaces/clojure/tickets/415
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Assembla Importer added a comment -

alexdmiller said: A simple example I tried for illustration:

user=> (let [a 1 b 2] (assert (= a b)))
#<CompilerException java.lang.AssertionError: Assert failed: (= a b)
 a : 1
 b : 2
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Assembla Importer added a comment - alexdmiller said: A simple example I tried for illustration: 
user=> (let [a 1 b 2] (assert (= a b)))
#<CompilerException java.lang.AssertionError: Assert failed: (= a b)
 a : 1
 b : 2
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Assembla Importer added a comment -

fogus said: Of course it's weird if you do something like:

(let [x 1 y 2 z 3 a 1 b 2 c 3] (assert (= x y)))
java.lang.AssertionError: Assert failed: (= x y)
 x : 1
 y : 2
 z : 3
 a : 1
 b : 2
 c : 3
 (NO_SOURCE_FILE:0)
</code></pre>

So maybe it could be slightly changed to:
<pre><code>(defmacro assert
  "Evaluates expr and throws an exception if it does not evaluate to logical true."
  {:added "1.0"}
  [x]
  (when *assert*
    (let [bindings (local-bindings &env)]
      `(when-not ~x
         (let [sep#  (System/getProperty "line.separator")
               form# '~x]
           (throw (AssertionError. (apply str "Assert failed: " (pr-str form#) sep#
                                          (map (fn [[k# v#]] 
                                                 (when (some #{k#} form#) 
                                                   (str "\t" k# " : " v# sep#))) 
                                               ~bindings)))))))))
</code></pre>

So that. now it's just:
<pre><code>(let [x 1 y 2 z 3 a 1 b 2 c 3] (assert (= x y)))
java.lang.AssertionError: Assert failed: (= x y)
 x : 1
 y : 2
 (NO_SOURCE_FILE:0)

:f

Show
Assembla Importer added a comment - fogus said: Of course it's weird if you do something like: 
(let [x 1 y 2 z 3 a 1 b 2 c 3] (assert (= x y)))
java.lang.AssertionError: Assert failed: (= x y)
 x : 1
 y : 2
 z : 3
 a : 1
 b : 2
 c : 3
 (NO_SOURCE_FILE:0)
</code></pre>

So maybe it could be slightly changed to:
<pre><code>(defmacro assert
  "Evaluates expr and throws an exception if it does not evaluate to logical true."
  {:added "1.0"}
  [x]
  (when *assert*
    (let [bindings (local-bindings &env)]
      `(when-not ~x
         (let [sep#  (System/getProperty "line.separator")
               form# '~x]
           (throw (AssertionError. (apply str "Assert failed: " (pr-str form#) sep#
                                          (map (fn [[k# v#]] 
                                                 (when (some #{k#} form#) 
                                                   (str "\t" k# " : " v# sep#))) 
                                               ~bindings)))))))))
</code></pre>

So that. now it's just:
<pre><code>(let [x 1 y 2 z 3 a 1 b 2 c 3] (assert (= x y)))
java.lang.AssertionError: Assert failed: (= x y)
 x : 1
 y : 2
 (NO_SOURCE_FILE:0)
:f
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Assembla Importer added a comment -

fogus said: Hmmm, but that fails entirely for: (let [x 1 y 2 z 3 a 1 b 2 c 3] (assert (= [x y] [a c]))). So maybe it's better just to print all of the locals unless you really want to get complicated.
:f

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Assembla Importer added a comment - fogus said: Hmmm, but that fails entirely for: (let [x 1 y 2 z 3 a 1 b 2 c 3] (assert (= [x y] [a c]))). So maybe it's better just to print all of the locals unless you really want to get complicated. :f
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Assembla Importer added a comment -

jawolfe said: See also some comments in:

http://groups.google.com/group/clojure-dev/browse_frm/thread/68d49cd7eb4a4899/9afc6be4d3f8ae27?lnk=gst&q=assert#9afc6be4d3f8ae27

Plus one more suggestion to add to the mix: in addition to / instead of printing the locals, how about saving them somewhere. For example, the var assert-bindings could be bound to the map of locals. This way you don't run afoul of infinite/very large sequences, and allow the user to do more detailed interrogation of the bad values (especially useful when some of the locals print opaquely).

Show
Assembla Importer added a comment - jawolfe said: See also some comments in: http://groups.google.com/group/clojure-dev/browse_frm/thread/68d49cd7eb4a4899/9afc6be4d3f8ae27?lnk=gst&q=assert#9afc6be4d3f8ae27 Plus one more suggestion to add to the mix: in addition to / instead of printing the locals, how about saving them somewhere. For example, the var assert-bindings could be bound to the map of locals. This way you don't run afoul of infinite/very large sequences, and allow the user to do more detailed interrogation of the bad values (especially useful when some of the locals print opaquely).
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Assembla Importer added a comment -

stuart.sierra said: Another approach, which I wil willingly donate:
http://github.com/stuartsierra/lazytest/blob/master/src/main/clojure/lazytest/expect.clj

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Assembla Importer added a comment - stuart.sierra said: Another approach, which I wil willingly donate: http://github.com/stuartsierra/lazytest/blob/master/src/main/clojure/lazytest/expect.clj
Aaron Bedra made changes -
Field Original Value New Value
Assignee Stuart Halloway [ stu ]
Reporter Assembla Importer [ importer ]
Priority Major [ 3 ]
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Jeff Weiss added a comment -

There's one more tweak to fogus's last comment, which I'm actually using. You need to flatten the quoted form before you can use 'some' to check whether the local was used in the form:

(defmacro assert
  "Evaluates expr and throws an exception if it does not evaluate to logical true."
  {:added "1.0"}
  [x]
  (when *assert*
    (let [bindings (local-bindings &env)]
      `(when-not ~x
         (let [sep#  (System/getProperty "line.separator")
               form# '~x]
           (throw (AssertionError. (apply str "Assert failed: " (pr-str form#) sep#
                                          (map (fn [[k# v#]] 
                                                 (when (some #{k#} (flatten form#)) 
                                                   (str "\t" k# " : " v# sep#))) 
                                               ~bindings)))))))))
Show
Jeff Weiss added a comment - There's one more tweak to fogus's last comment, which I'm actually using. You need to flatten the quoted form before you can use 'some' to check whether the local was used in the form: 
(defmacro assert
  "Evaluates expr and throws an exception if it does not evaluate to logical true."
  {:added "1.0"}
  [x]
  (when *assert*
    (let [bindings (local-bindings &env)]
      `(when-not ~x
         (let [sep#  (System/getProperty "line.separator")
               form# '~x]
           (throw (AssertionError. (apply str "Assert failed: " (pr-str form#) sep#
                                          (map (fn [[k# v#]] 
                                                 (when (some #{k#} (flatten form#)) 
                                                   (str "\t" k# " : " v# sep#))) 
                                               ~bindings)))))))))
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Stuart Halloway added a comment -

I am holding off on this until we have more solidity around http://dev.clojure.org/display/design/Error+Handling. (Considering, for instance, having all exceptions thrown from Clojure provide access to locals.)

When my pipe dream fades I will come back and screen this before the next release.

Show
Stuart Halloway added a comment - I am holding off on this until we have more solidity around http://dev.clojure.org/display/design/Error+Handling. (Considering, for instance, having all exceptions thrown from Clojure provide access to locals.) When my pipe dream fades I will come back and screen this before the next release.
Stuart Halloway made changes -
Approval Incomplete
Waiting On stu
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Stuart Halloway added a comment -

Why try to guess what someone wants to do with the locals (or any other context, for that matter) when you can specify a callback (see below). This would have been useful last week when I had an assertion that failed only on the CI box, where no debugger is available.

Rich, at the risk of beating a dead horse, I still think this is a good idea. Debuggers are not always available, and this is an example of where a Lisp is intrinsically capable of providing better information than can be had in other environments. If you want a patch for the code below please mark waiting on me, otherwise please decline this ticket so I stop looking at it. 

(def ^:dynamic *assert-handler* nil)

(defn ^{:private true} local-bindings
  "Produces a map of the names of local bindings to their values."
  [env]
  (let [symbols (map key env)]
    (zipmap (map (fn [sym] `(quote ~sym)) symbols) symbols)))

(defmacro assert
  [x]
  (when *assert*
    (let [bindings (local-bindings &env)]
      `(when-not ~x
         (let [sep#  (System/getProperty "line.separator")
               form# '~x]
           (if *assert-handler*
             (*assert-handler* form# ~bindings)
             (throw (AssertionError. (apply str "Assert failed: " (pr-str form#) sep#
                                            (map (fn [[k# v#]] 
                                                   (when (some #{k#} (flatten form#)) 
                                                     (str "\t" k# " : " v# sep#))) 
                                                 ~bindings))))))))))
Show
Stuart Halloway added a comment - Why try to guess what someone wants to do with the locals (or any other context, for that matter) when you can specify a callback (see below). This would have been useful last week when I had an assertion that failed only on the CI box, where no debugger is available. Rich, at the risk of beating a dead horse, I still think this is a good idea. Debuggers are not always available, and this is an example of where a Lisp is intrinsically capable of providing better information than can be had in other environments. If you want a patch for the code below please mark waiting on me, otherwise please decline this ticket so I stop looking at it. 
(def ^:dynamic *assert-handler* nil)

(defn ^{:private true} local-bindings
  "Produces a map of the names of local bindings to their values."
  [env]
  (let [symbols (map key env)]
    (zipmap (map (fn [sym] `(quote ~sym)) symbols) symbols)))

(defmacro assert
  [x]
  (when *assert*
    (let [bindings (local-bindings &env)]
      `(when-not ~x
         (let [sep#  (System/getProperty "line.separator")
               form# '~x]
           (if *assert-handler*
             (*assert-handler* form# ~bindings)
             (throw (AssertionError. (apply str "Assert failed: " (pr-str form#) sep#
                                            (map (fn [[k# v#]] 
                                                   (when (some #{k#} (flatten form#)) 
                                                     (str "\t" k# " : " v# sep#))) 
                                                 ~bindings))))))))))
Stuart Halloway made changes -
Assignee Stuart Halloway [ stu ]
Waiting On stu richhickey
Christopher Redinger made changes -
Fix Version/s Approved Backlog [ 10034 ]
Fix Version/s Release.Next [ 10038 ]
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Jeff Weiss added a comment -

A slight improvement I made in my own version of this code: flatten does not affect set literals. So if you do (assert (some #{x} [a b c d])) the value of x will not be printed. Here's a modified flatten that does the job:

(defn symbols [sexp]
  "Returns just the symbols from the expression, including those
   inside literals (sets, maps, lists, vectors)."
  (distinct (filter symbol? (tree-seq coll? seq sexp))))
Show
Jeff Weiss added a comment - A slight improvement I made in my own version of this code: flatten does not affect set literals. So if you do (assert (some #{x} [a b c d])) the value of x will not be printed. Here's a modified flatten that does the job: 
(defn symbols [sexp]
  "Returns just the symbols from the expression, including those
   inside literals (sets, maps, lists, vectors)."
  (distinct (filter symbol? (tree-seq coll? seq sexp))))
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Andy Fingerhut added a comment -

Attaching git format patch clj-415-assert-prints-locals-v1.txt of Stuart Halloway's version of this idea. I'm not advocating it over the other variations, just getting a file attached to the JIRA ticket.

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Andy Fingerhut added a comment - Attaching git format patch clj-415-assert-prints-locals-v1.txt of Stuart Halloway's version of this idea. I'm not advocating it over the other variations, just getting a file attached to the JIRA ticket.
Andy Fingerhut made changes -
Attachment clj-415-assert-prints-locals-v1.txt [ 11684 ]

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