align values in reporting

[robstoll]

Platform (jvm, js, android): all
Extension (none, kotlin 1.3, jdk8): none

Code related feature

expect(1).toBe(12)

The current output:

expect: 1        (kotlin.Int <1459794865>)
◆ to be: 12        (kotlin.Int <1447689627>)

Maybe it would be more readable if we align the values? As follows:

expect:  1         (kotlin.Int <1459794865>)
◆ to be: 12        (kotlin.Int <1447689627>)

Of course, this is a very simple example and it can get quickly more complicated where it might not be so obvious how we should align, consider the following:

expect("hello world").startsWith("hi").endsWith("robert").contains("World")

the current output

expect: "hello world"        <152134087>
◆ starts with: "hi"          <1620303253>
◆ ends with: "robert"        <1620303254>
◆ contains: 
  ⚬ value: "World"        <395629617>
    ⚬ ▶ number of occurrences: 0
        ◾ is at least: 1

maybe like this?

expect:        "hello world"        <152134087>
◆ starts with: "hi"                 <1620303253>
◆ ends with:   "robert"             <1620303253>
◆ contains: 
  ⚬ value: "World"                  <395629617>
    ⚬ ▶ number of occurrences: 0
        ◾ is at least:         1

Still a bit clearer to read than the current output IMO but I am not sure if the effort is worth the result. Thoughts?

---

Please react with 👍 if you would like to see this feature implemented in Atrium, the more upvotes the more likely I will implement it myself -- feel free to sponsor me, that would be a motivation too.
You are of course welcome to work on this issue. Write I'll work on it as comment so that we can assign the task to you.

[robstoll]

another motivating example:

expect: () -> kotlin.Nothing        (readme.examples.ReadmeSpec$1$4$1 <1234789>)
◆ ▶ thrown exception when called: java.lang.IllegalArgumentException
    ◾ is instance of type: IllegalStateException (java.lang.IllegalStateException)
      » Properties of the unexpected IllegalArgumentException
      ...

aligning would help here as well (and change the representation of thrown Excepion:

expect: () -> kotlin.Nothing                                  (readme.examples.ReadmeSpec$1$4$1 <1234789>)
◆ ▶ thrown exception when called:  IllegalArgumentException   (java.lang.IllegalArgumentException)
    ◾ is instance of type:        IllegalStateException      (java.lang.IllegalStateException)
      » Properties of the unexpected IllegalArgumentException
      ...

[jGleitz]

If we actually do this, can we please also align the information in parentheses? I feel that this would make it easier for me to scan the output.

[robstoll]

Sure, I already did it for toThrow, changed also for the example

[jGleitz]

changed also for the example

I’d expect the (readme … parentheses also to be indented like the others are.

I think the rationale is that I usually do not need the information given there, I only use it when I need it to understand the reporting better or find bugs.

[jGleitz]

Would it make sense to right-align the description texts? Like this:

expected that subject: "foo bar"        <428663760>
◆              equals: "baz"            <544419202>

instead of:

expected that subject: "foo bar"        <428663760>
◆ equals:              "baz"            <544419202>

pro: description and value are close together
con: bullet point and description are far apart

[robstoll]

I prefer left-align when it comes to intended bullet-points, thus I would suggest we stick to left.

[robstoll]

As I plan to do a refactoring in the area of the reporter, I am going to see if I can address this issue in the same go. I plan to do something slightly different than shown in the description:

1. I will remove the class name and identityHashCode -> I will re-introduce it for toBe as failure hint in case it matters
2. I will also align the : because I think it will help in scanning the report.
3. I will most likely change the bullet points to characters which have a monospaced width

So instead of (as shown above):

expect: () -> kotlin.Nothing                                  (readme.examples.ReadmeSpec$1$4$1 <1234789>)
◆ ▶ thrown exception when called:  IllegalArgumentException   (java.lang.IllegalArgumentException)
    ◾ is instance of type:        IllegalStateException      (java.lang.IllegalStateException)
      » Properties of the unexpected IllegalArgumentException
      ...

it will look like as follows (bullet points not yet adjusted)

expect : () -> kotlin.Nothing
◆ ▶ thrown exception when called : IllegalArgumentException   (java.lang.IllegalArgumentException)
    ◾ is instance of type       : IllegalStateException      (java.lang.IllegalStateException)
      » Properties of the unexpected IllegalArgumentException
      ...

Another example, instead of:

expected that subject: Person(firstName=Robert, lastName=Stoll, isStudent=false)        (readme.examples.FeatureExtractorSpec$1$Person <1234789>)
◆ ▶ firstName: "Robert"        <1234789>
    ◾ starts with: "Pe"        <1234789>
    ◾ ends with: "er"        <1234789>
◆ ▶ lastName: "Stoll"        <1234789>
    ◾ equals: "Dummy"        <1234789>

it will look as follows:

expected that subject : Person(firstName=Robert, lastName=Stoll, isStudent=false)
◆ ▶ firstName     : "Robert"
    ◾ starts with : "Pe"    
    ◾ ends with   : "er"    
◆ ▶ lastName : "Stoll"
    ◾ equals : "Dummy"