Rake desc bug

ruby-talk
1

I think I've found a minor bug in Rake with the "desc" method and -T flag.

    task :default => [:one]

    task :one do
        puts 'one'
    end

    desc "description of task one"
    task :one => [:anything]

    desc "description of task two"
    task :two do
        puts 'two'
    end

% rake -T
(in c:/jmenard)
rake two # description of task two

This only happens if "task :one" appears more than once and the description
comes after the first "task :one". For example, reversing the tasks but
keeping the desc after the second one does the same thing:

    task :default => [:one]

    task :one do
        puts 'one'
    end

    desc "description of task one"
    task :one => [:anything]

    desc "description of task two"
    task :two do
        puts 'two'
    end

% rake -T
(in c:/jmenard)
rake two # description of task two

If I move the desc up before the first "task :one" then both descriptions get
printed:

    task :default => [:one]

    desc "description of task one"
    task :one => [:anything]

    task :one do
        puts 'one'
    end

    desc "description of task two"
    task :two do
        puts 'two'
    end

~> rake -T
(in c:/jmenard)
rake one # description of task one
rake two # description of task two

Looking at rake.rb, I think the problem is that $last_comment is only used
when a new task is created, not when an existing one is extended (re-opened?
added to?). I don't know if using $last_comment inside Task.define_task
instead of in the initialize method makes sense or if that would break
something else.

Jim

···

--
Jim Menard, jimm@io.com, http://www.io.com/~jimm/
"Yeah, well, don't count your weasels before they pop, dink." -- The Tick

2

Jim Menard said:

I think I've found a minor bug in Rake with the "desc" method and -T flag.

    task :default => [:one]

    task :one do
        puts 'one'
    end

    desc "description of task one"
    task :one => [:anything]

    desc "description of task two"
    task :two do
        puts 'two'
    end

% rake -T
(in c:/jmenard)
rake two # description of task two

This only happens if "task :one" appears more than once and the
description
comes after the first "task :one". For example, reversing the tasks but
keeping the desc after the second one does the same thing:

    task :default => [:one]

    task :one do
        puts 'one'
    end

    desc "description of task one"
    task :one => [:anything]

    desc "description of task two"
    task :two do
        puts 'two'
    end

% rake -T
(in c:/jmenard)
rake two # description of task two

If I move the desc up before the first "task :one" then both descriptions
get
printed:

    task :default => [:one]

    desc "description of task one"
    task :one => [:anything]

    task :one do
        puts 'one'
    end

    desc "description of task two"
    task :two do
        puts 'two'
    end

~> rake -T
(in c:/jmenard)
rake one # description of task one
rake two # description of task two

Looking at rake.rb, I think the problem is that $last_comment is only used
when a new task is created, not when an existing one is extended
(re-opened?
added to?). I don't know if using $last_comment inside Task.define_task
instead of in the initialize method makes sense or if that would break
something else.

Thanks for the report. I think this is a case where it works as designed,
but perhaps it could have been designed better.

I think moving the check for $last_comment should be safe. I'll look at
the code tonight when I get home.

With that in mind, what should rake -T display for the following?

  desc "First Comment"
  task :one

  desc "Second Comment"
  task :one

···

--
-- Jim Weirich jim@weirichhouse.org http://onestepback.org
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct,
not tried it." -- Donald Knuth (in a memo to Peter van Emde Boas)

3

Jim,

Thanks for the report. I think this is a case where it works as designed,
but perhaps it could have been designed better.

I think moving the check for $last_comment should be safe. I'll look at
the code tonight when I get home.

With that in mind, what should rake -T display for the following?

  desc "First Comment"
  task :one

  desc "Second Comment"
  task :one

A warning, perhaps?

I can see arguments for keeping the first, the second, or both. I think I'd
prefer seeing both joined by a space.

Thanks for listening.

Jim

···

--
Jim Menard, jimm@io.com, http://www.io.com/~jimm/
DataVision, the Open Source report designer. http://datavision.sourceforge.net

4

Jim Weirich wrote:

Jim Menard said:

Looking at rake.rb, I think the problem is that $last_comment is only used
when a new task is created, not when an existing one is extended
(re-opened? added to?).

The latest rake in CVS now supports additive comments. Multiple comments will be separated by a "/". This feature will be in the next version.

···

--
-- Jim Weirich jim@weirichhouse.org http://onestepback.org
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct,
not tried it." -- Donald Knuth (in a memo to Peter van Emde Boas)

5

Jim,

The latest rake in CVS now supports additive comments. Multiple
comments will be separated by a "/". This feature will be in the next
version.

Thanks for this modification, your helpfulness, and Rake.

Jim

···

--
Jim Menard, jimm@io.com, http://www.io.com/~jimm/
"COGITO, EGGO SUM." I think, therefore I am a waffle.
   -- .sig of Mr. Ska on Slashdot.org