Bug#902920: diffoscope: be triggered by all the reverse-recommends

[Ian Jackson]

Mattia Rizzolo writes ("Bug#902920: diffoscope: be triggered by all the reverse-recommends"):
> currently diffoscope is triggered only by its own dependency (python3,
> python3-distutils, python3-distro, python3-libarchive-c, python3-magic)
> and only one package that is not in that set, python3-pytest.
> 
> This is suboptimal: diffoscope relies *a lot* on the output of the
> programs it is calling, and as such it has a tendency on breaking every
> so often when that output changes.  Usually we notice such breakage by
> accident.
> 
> I would like to have all the recommended packages in the
> Testsuite-Triggers field, but I can't figure how to accomplish that
> without duplicating the list of packages a 3rd time (one in d/control,
> the other in diffoscope/external_tools.py).
> 
> Any hint from the CI team would be appreciated.

My approach is to autogenerate debian/tests/control.  I have a rune
which updates it, and a test case which fails when I forget :-).

(In my case debian/tests/control is generated not from debian/control,
but from the test files which contain annotations about their
dependencies, restrictions, etc.)

IMO the change you should make to your debian/tests/control is to add
a stanza like this:

   Tests: hint-testsuite-triggers
   Depends: gnupg, patch, diffutils
   Restrictions: hint-testsuite-triggers

That example is from
  https://browse.dgit.debian.org/dgit.git/tree/debian/tests/control
(with the redundant Tests-Directory field removed) and
  https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2018/06/msg00253.html
has my draft specification of the `hint-testsuite-triggers'
restrictions.  I need to fold in the comments from the thread and
submit that as a proper bug report.

The effect of putting something like that in your debian/tests/control
is that autopkgtest will always skip the test, but the Depends get
copied to Testsuite-Triggers and used by ci.d.n.

HTH.

Regards,
Ian.

-- 
Ian Jackson <ijackson at chiark.greenend.org.uk>   These opinions are my own.

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