constable-rails 1.4.0 → 1.4.2

checksums.yaml

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
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data/CHANGELOG.md

@@ -5,6 +5,87 @@ All notable changes to this project are documented here. This project adheres to
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [1.4.2]
+
+### Cold cases run inside a parallel worker
+
+The defect recorded as known in 1.4.1, now understood and fixed. Two bugs, stacked, and
+the second one hid the first.
+
+**RSpec swallows errors in required files.** `Configuration#requires=` routes through
+`load_file_handling_errors`, which rescues anything raised while loading, reports it
+through a formatter, and sets `world.wants_to_quit = true`. Every later
+`ExampleGroup.run` then returns immediately. Constable points RSpec's streams at a
+throwaway `StringIO` — stdout belongs to the reporter — so that report went nowhere: the
+file loaded, the examples registered, and none of them ran. A forked worker produced no
+results, no error and no exception, and exited 0. Requires are now loaded directly, where
+an exception carries its own message and backtrace, and the quit flag is checked and
+surfaced if anything sets it anyway.
+
+**Not every database can be sharded.** With the error visible, the real cause was one
+line: worker setup renamed *every* database config to `<database>_<index>`, including
+connections that are not per-worker test data at all. Caseflow talks to a legacy Oracle
+system (VACOLS) alongside its own Postgres databases, and appending `_3` to an Oracle TNS
+service name produces:
+
+```
+OCIError: ORA-12162: TNS:net service name is incorrectly specified
+```
+
+raised inside a `before(:suite)` hook — which is exactly what RSpec was swallowing. Only
+adapters that per-worker copies make sense for are renamed now (postgresql, postgis,
+mysql2, trilogy, sqlite3). An external system stays shared by every worker, which is what
+it is for.
+
+
+## [1.4.1]
+
+### A parallel run that ran nothing is no longer a pass
+
+Pointing a real app at `worker_databases: reuse` produced this:
+
+```
+CONSTABLE            0 tests · 0 cases · 7.9s
+✓ 0 passed   ✗ 0 failed
+```
+
+Nineteen files scheduled. None ran. Exit 0. The third time this shape has appeared in a
+week, and the most dangerous instance of it.
+
+Two causes. A forked worker only reported `Constable::Error`, so anything else killed it
+silently — the parent saw a closed pipe, no results and no reason. Workers now report
+whatever they die of, including the exit status when they die below Ruby (a signal, a
+segfault, an OOM kill; forking an app that already holds native database connections can
+do exactly that). And the fallback to a serial run was conditional on a worker having
+managed to *explain* itself; it now triggers on the fact that matters — work was
+scheduled and nothing came back. If the serial fallback also produces nothing, that
+raises rather than being summarised as a clean zero.
+
+Same command now: **84 tests run**, serially, with a warning saying why.
+
+### Workers no longer build databases; `constable prepare` does
+
+`reuse` had each worker build its own missing databases after forking. On Postgres the
+clone must disconnect everything attached to the template first — and the template is the
+shared test database *every other worker* is cloning from at the same moment. Twelve
+workers terminated each other's connections and died mid-run.
+
+Preparation happens once, in the parent, through `constable prepare`. A worker that finds
+nothing to connect to says so and names the command. `constable prepare` also boots the
+app first, which it was not doing: it reported "this app has no ActiveRecord test
+databases to prepare" on an app with three of them.
+
+### Configuration is documented where you read it
+
+Every setting in `.constable/config.yml` now carries its explanation, and the ones with
+fixed choices name and describe each value inline — `worker_databases`, `output`, the
+storage adapter. Two tests enforce it: a setting cannot arrive without an explanation, and
+one with fixed choices has to name them.
+
+The blotter section now says outright that it is **not** your application's database.
+Two people read it the other way, which is a naming problem, not a reading problem.
+
+
 ## [1.4.0]
 
 Two problems from the same 1,277-file suite: a docket nobody asked for, and 110 minutes.
@@ -664,7 +745,9 @@ Initial release.
 - Diff-based coverage gate — only lines changed in the current diff are held to the
   threshold. `constable beat` for the full picture, `--html` for a browsable report.
 
-[Unreleased]: https://github.com/Ray-Hughes/constable/compare/v1.4.0...HEAD
+[Unreleased]: https://github.com/Ray-Hughes/constable/compare/v1.4.2...HEAD
+[1.4.2]: https://github.com/Ray-Hughes/constable/compare/v1.4.1...v1.4.2
+[1.4.1]: https://github.com/Ray-Hughes/constable/compare/v1.4.0...v1.4.1
 [1.4.0]: https://github.com/Ray-Hughes/constable/compare/v1.3.3...v1.4.0
 [1.3.3]: https://github.com/Ray-Hughes/constable/compare/v1.3.2...v1.3.3
 [1.3.2]: https://github.com/Ray-Hughes/constable/compare/v1.3.1...v1.3.2

data/lib/constable/cli.rb

@@ -428,6 +428,10 @@ module Constable
     option :workers, type: :numeric, desc: "How many to prepare (default: the configured worker count)"
     def prepare
       config = load_config
+      # The app has to be up before we can ask ActiveRecord anything about it.
+      Runner.boot!
+      config.apply_overrides!(Constable.configuration.overrides)
+
       unless WorkerDatabases.shardable?
         CLI.complain("This app has no ActiveRecord test databases to prepare.")
         exit(EXIT_USAGE)

data/lib/constable/cold_case/rspec.rb

@@ -120,6 +120,7 @@ module Constable
             with_engine do
               collector  = Collector.new
               load_error = capture_load(path)
+              load_error ||= quit_flag_error(path)
               unless load_error
                 # After the file has loaded -- that load is what registers them -- and
                 # before its examples run. See #run_pending_before_suite_hooks.
@@ -306,10 +307,22 @@ module Constable
           requires = rspec_option_requires
           return if requires.empty?
 
-          # `requires=` rather than plain Kernel#require: it is RSpec's own accessor, and
-          # it puts `lib` and the default path (`spec`) on the load path first, which is
-          # what makes a bare `require "rails_helper"` resolve.
-          configuration.requires = requires
+          # Deliberately NOT `configuration.requires =`, which is RSpec's own accessor.
+          # That routes through Configuration#load_file_handling_errors, which rescues
+          # anything raised while loading, reports it through a formatter, and sets
+          # `world.wants_to_quit`. Since stdout belongs to Constable's reporter, RSpec's
+          # streams are a throwaway StringIO, so that report goes nowhere -- and every
+          # later ExampleGroup.run returns immediately. The file loads, the examples
+          # register, and none of them run. A forked worker produced no results, no error
+          # and no exception, and exited 0.
+          #
+          # So the load path is set up the same way and the requires are done here, where
+          # an exception is an exception and carries its own message and backtrace.
+          add_spec_load_paths!(configuration)
+          requires.each { |path| require path }
+          configuration.instance_variable_set(:@requires, requires)
+        rescue Constable::Error
+          raise
         rescue StandardError => e
           # A helper that will not load is the suite's problem to fix, and it will say so
           # loudly on the first file. Constable's job here is not to disappear.
@@ -317,6 +330,53 @@ module Constable
                           "Cold cases will run without it.", kind: :cold_case)
         end
 
+        # What `configuration.requires=` does before requiring anything: puts `lib` and the
+        # default path (`spec`) on the load path, which is what makes a bare
+        # `require "rails_helper"` resolve at all.
+        def add_spec_load_paths!(configuration)
+          default_path = configuration.default_path if configuration.respond_to?(:default_path)
+          ["lib", default_path].compact.uniq.each do |dir|
+            absolute = File.expand_path(dir, Constable.root)
+            $LOAD_PATH.unshift(absolute) if File.directory?(absolute) && !$LOAD_PATH.include?(absolute)
+          end
+        end
+
+        # RSpec does not let an error in a required file reach you.
+        # Configuration#load_file_handling_errors rescues anything raised while loading,
+        # reports it through `notify_non_example_exception`, and sets
+        # `world.wants_to_quit = true`. Every later ExampleGroup.run then returns
+        # immediately, so the file loads, the examples register, and none of them run.
+        #
+        # We point RSpec's output at a throwaway StringIO -- stdout belongs to the
+        # reporter -- so that report goes nowhere. The result was a forked worker that
+        # produced no results, no error and no exception, and exited 0. It took a probe
+        # inside the child to find that `wants_to_quit` was the difference.
+        #
+        # So: ask, and put the swallowed message back in front of the user.
+        def raise_if_loading_failed!(configuration, requires)
+          return unless ::RSpec.world.wants_to_quit
+
+          # Clear it, or every later file in this session inherits the flag and runs
+          # nothing either.
+          ::RSpec.world.wants_to_quit = false
+
+          raise Constable::Error,
+                "RSpec could not load #{requires.join(", ")} (from .rspec). " \
+                "#{swallowed_output(configuration)}".strip
+        end
+
+        # Whatever RSpec wrote about it before we could ask. Its streams are ours, so this
+        # is the only copy in existence.
+        def swallowed_output(configuration)
+          [configuration.error_stream, configuration.output_stream, configuration.deprecation_stream]
+            .uniq
+            .filter_map { |io| io.string.to_s.strip if io.respond_to?(:string) }
+            .reject(&:empty?)
+            .first.to_s
+        rescue StandardError
+          ""
+        end
+
         # Parsed by RSpec itself, so `.rspec`, `~/.rspec`, `.rspec-local` and SPEC_OPTS are
         # all read with its precedence rather than a guess at the format.
         def rspec_option_requires
@@ -372,6 +432,18 @@ module Constable
           configuration.start_time = ::RSpec::Core::Time.now if configuration.respond_to?(:start_time=)
         end
 
+        # Same swallowing, one level down: a `require` inside the spec file that fails is
+        # rescued by RSpec, flagged, and never surfaced. Without this the file reports as
+        # a clean run of zero tests.
+        def quit_flag_error(path)
+          return nil unless ::RSpec.world.wants_to_quit
+
+          ::RSpec.world.wants_to_quit = false
+          Constable::Error.new(
+            "RSpec stopped while loading #{path}. #{swallowed_output(::RSpec.configuration)}".strip
+          )
+        end
+
         # A file that won't even parse is news, not a crash. Report it as one errored
         # result so the run keeps going and the summary names the file.
         def capture_load(path)

data/lib/constable/runner.rb

@@ -64,6 +64,20 @@ module Constable
     def jail_run?   = @jail_run
     def coverage?   = @coverage_requested
 
+    # Boots the app the way a run does -- test/case_helper.rb, which requires
+    # config/environment -- without selecting or running anything.
+    #
+    # `constable prepare` needs this: it asks ActiveRecord what databases exist, and
+    # before the helper has run there is no ActiveRecord to ask. It reported "this app has
+    # no test databases to prepare" on an app with three of them.
+    def self.boot!
+      helper = %w[test/case_helper.rb spec/case_helper.rb]
+               .map { |p| File.join(Constable.root, p) }
+               .find { |p| File.exist?(p) }
+      require helper if helper
+      helper
+    end
+
     # Loads every case file and hands back the identities the suite actually defines,
     # without running anything. `constable prune` needs this: which tests still exist is
     # only knowable once the whole suite has been loaded.
@@ -352,8 +366,18 @@ module Constable
             exit!(0)
           end
 
-          bucket.each do |item|
-            run_item(item).each { |result| write_message(writer, :result, result.to_h) }
+          # Anything at all, not just Constable::Error. An uncaught exception in a forked
+          # child kills it silently: the parent sees a closed pipe, no results and no
+          # reason, and a run that scheduled nineteen files reports zero tests and exits
+          # 0. A worker that dies has to say so.
+          begin
+            bucket.each do |item|
+              run_item(item).each { |result| write_message(writer, :result, result.to_h) }
+            end
+          rescue Exception => e # rubocop:disable Lint/RescueException
+            write_message(writer, :worker_error, "#{e.class}: #{e.message}")
+            writer.close
+            exit!(0)
           end
 
           # A worker owns its own cold-case session, and it dies here. Fire the engine's
@@ -374,7 +398,7 @@ module Constable
       end
 
       collected = drain(readers)
-      pids.each { |pid| Process.waitpid(pid) rescue nil } # rubocop:disable Style/RescueModifier
+      record_worker_exits(pids)
 
       # No worker could build itself a database, so no test ran. Not every app can be
       # sharded: an app whose schema.rb cannot rebuild the database on its own -- Postgres
@@ -385,7 +409,13 @@ module Constable
       #
       # Nothing has run yet, so falling back to a serial run costs a restart, not
       # correctness.
-      return run_serially_after_worker_failure(items) if collected.empty? && worker_errors.any?
+      #
+      # The condition is deliberately "nothing came back", not "a worker said why". A
+      # child can die without managing to report -- and then a run that scheduled
+      # nineteen files says "0 tests, 0 failed" and exits 0, which is the worst thing a
+      # test runner can do. If work was scheduled and no result arrived, something is
+      # wrong whether or not anyone explained it.
+      return run_serially_after_worker_failure(items) if collected.empty? && !items.empty?
 
       # A warning raised inside a worker only ever reached that worker's memory, so the
       # results carry them home. Nothing that bends the rules is allowed to go missing
@@ -396,22 +426,58 @@ module Constable
 
     def worker_errors = (@worker_errors ||= [])
 
+    # A worker can die below Ruby: a segfault, an OOM kill, a signal. No `rescue` reaches
+    # that, so the only evidence is the exit status, and without it the run can only say
+    # "the workers exited without reporting anything" -- true, and useless.
+    #
+    # Forking a process that already holds database connections is where this comes from.
+    # An app with a native driver -- Oracle's OCI, for instance -- can have a child die
+    # the moment it touches an inherited handle.
+    def record_worker_exits(pids)
+      pids.each do |pid|
+        _, status = Process.waitpid2(pid)
+        next if status.nil? || status.success?
+
+        worker_errors << if status.signaled?
+                           "a worker was killed by SIG#{Signal.signame(status.termsig)} " \
+                             "-- forking an app that already holds native database " \
+                             "connections can do this"
+                         else
+                           "a worker exited with status #{status.exitstatus}"
+                         end
+      rescue StandardError
+        nil
+      end
+    end
+
     def run_serially_after_worker_failure(items)
       reason = worker_errors.first.to_s
+      reason = "the workers exited without reporting anything" if reason.empty?
 
       Constable.warn!(
-        "no parallel worker could build its own test database, so the suite ran serially " \
-        "instead. This usually means the app's schema cannot rebuild the database by " \
-        "itself -- Postgres custom types, functions and triggers are the common reason, " \
-        "and `rails test` parallelization fails the same way. Set " \
-        "`worker_databases: reuse` to keep prepared databases between runs instead, or " \
-        "`worker_databases: off` to stop trying. The first worker said: #{reason}",
+        "the parallel workers produced no results, so the suite ran serially instead -- " \
+        "everything ran, nothing was skipped. Two things cause this: the app's schema " \
+        "cannot rebuild a database by itself (Postgres custom types; try " \
+        "`worker_databases: reuse` with `constable prepare`), or forking is unsafe in " \
+        "this app, which happens when a native driver's connections are inherited by a " \
+        "child. `worker_databases: off` stops the attempt. The workers said: #{reason}",
         kind: :parallel
       )
 
       # The blotter handle was closed before forking, and the pool was cleared. Both come
       # back on their next use, so there is nothing to reopen by hand.
-      run_serial(items)
+      results = run_serial(items)
+
+      # Belt and braces. If the serial fallback also produces nothing for work that was
+      # scheduled, the run is broken in a way no summary can honestly describe, and
+      # reporting a clean zero would be a lie.
+      if results.empty? && !items.empty?
+        raise Constable::Error,
+              "#{items.size} test file(s) were scheduled and none of them ran. " \
+              "The first worker said: #{reason}"
+      end
+
+      results
     end
 
     # Every message on the pipe is tagged, because results are not the only thing a worker

data/lib/constable/version.rb

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
 module Constable
-  VERSION = "1.4.0"
+  VERSION = "1.4.2"
 end

data/lib/constable/worker_databases.rb

@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ module Constable
     #            that works when the schema cannot rebuild the database by itself.
     def after_fork!(index, mode: :schema)
       return false unless shardable?
-      return reuse!(index) if mode.to_sym == :reuse
+      return connect_worker!(index) if mode.to_sym == :reuse
 
       ::ActiveRecord::TestDatabases.create_and_load_schema(index, env_name: env_name)
       true
@@ -172,8 +172,38 @@ module Constable
       nil
     end
 
-    # The :reuse half. Points every database this environment declares at its `_<index>`
-    # sibling, and only builds the ones that are not there yet.
+    # The :reuse half, inside a worker: connect to `<database>_<index>` and nothing else.
+    #
+    # Building is deliberately not done here. Twelve workers forked at once would each try
+    # to build the same missing databases simultaneously, and on Postgres the clone has to
+    # disconnect everything attached to the template first -- which is the shared test
+    # database every other worker is also cloning from. They terminate each other's
+    # connections and die, silently, mid-run. Observed exactly that: nineteen files
+    # scheduled, zero results, workers gone without a word.
+    #
+    # So preparation happens once, in the parent, through `constable prepare`. A worker
+    # that finds nothing to connect to says so, and the runner falls back to serial.
+    def connect_worker!(index)
+      missing = []
+
+      each_worker_config(index) do |db_config|
+        missing << db_config.database unless populated?(db_config)
+      end
+
+      unless missing.empty?
+        raise Constable::Error,
+              "worker #{index} has no database to use (#{missing.join(", ")}). " \
+              "`worker_databases: reuse` expects them to exist already -- run " \
+              "`constable prepare` once, then run the suite."
+      end
+
+      ::ActiveRecord::Base.establish_connection
+      []
+    end
+
+    # The building half, run from the parent by `constable prepare`. Points every database
+    # this environment declares at its `_<index>` sibling, and builds the ones that are
+    # not there yet.
     #
     # "There" means present *and* populated: an empty database is not a prepared one, and
     # connecting to it would hand the worker a suite with no tables. Deciding that per
@@ -206,13 +236,32 @@ module Constable
     # Every database config for this environment, renamed to its per-worker sibling.
     # `_database=` is exactly how Rails' own TestDatabases does the renaming, and this
     # runs in a forked child, so the mutation dies with the worker.
+    # Adapters where "give each worker its own copy" is a thing that can be done at all.
+    #
+    # An app can hold connections Constable has no business renaming. Caseflow talks to a
+    # legacy Oracle system (VACOLS) alongside its own Postgres databases; appending `_3` to
+    # an Oracle TNS service name produces `ORA-12162: TNS:net service name is incorrectly
+    # specified`, and since that surfaces inside a `before(:suite)` hook, RSpec swallowed
+    # it and the worker ran nothing at all.
+    #
+    # An external system like that is shared by every worker on purpose: it is not
+    # per-worker test data, and there is no per-worker copy of it to make.
+    SHARDABLE_ADAPTERS = %w[postgresql postgis mysql2 trilogy sqlite3].freeze
+
+    def shardable_adapter?(db_config)
+      return false unless db_config.respond_to?(:adapter)
+
+      SHARDABLE_ADAPTERS.include?(db_config.adapter.to_s)
+    end
+
     def each_worker_config(index)
       configs = ::ActiveRecord::Base.configurations.configs_for(env_name: env_name,
                                                                 include_hidden: true)
       configs.each do |db_config|
-        db_config._database = "#{db_config.database}_#{index}"
         next unless db_config.database_tasks?
+        next unless shardable_adapter?(db_config)
 
+        db_config._database = "#{db_config.database}_#{index}"
         yield db_config
       end
     end

data/lib/generators/constable/templates/case_helper.rb.tt

@@ -180,6 +180,72 @@ end
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 Constable.configure do |c|
+  # --- Settings. Uncomment what you want; each is shown at its default. --------
+
+  # Workers default to `auto` -- processor count minus a little headroom, so the
+  # machine stays usable while the suite runs. Pin it when a CI container lies
+  # about its core count, or to rule parallelism out while debugging.
+  #
+  # c.parallel_workers = 4
+
+  # How a parallel worker gets a database of its own. Sharing one is not a
+  # speed/safety trade, it is a correctness bug: on SQLite the run dissolves into
+  # "database is locked", and on a client/server database tests quietly see each
+  # other's rows, which is worse because it looks like it worked.
+  #
+  #   :schema   rebuild <database>_<index> from schema.rb every run. What Rails
+  #             does for `rails test`, and correct by construction -- the
+  #             databases cannot drift, because they are thrown away each time.
+  #             The default, and the wrong choice only when it is slow or
+  #             impossible.
+  #   :reuse    keep them between runs. Faster (a big schema is not replayed per
+  #             worker), and the ONLY option that works when your schema cannot
+  #             rebuild the database by itself -- true of any app with Postgres
+  #             custom types, since CREATE TYPE has no schema.rb representation.
+  #             Run `constable prepare` once to build them, and again after a
+  #             migration; keeping them current is your job.
+  #   :off      do not shard, so do not fork. An explicit serial run: no attempt,
+  #             no warning. Correct, and as slow as one core.
+  #
+  # c.worker_databases = :reuse
+
+  # The live stream while the suite runs. The summary is identical either way.
+  #   :concise   one glyph per test, grouped per case (default)
+  #   :expanded  a line per test: glyph, description, duration -- so you can see
+  #              which test is hanging while it hangs, not afterwards
+  #
+  # c.output = :expanded
+
+  # Put a test on the docket by itself when it passed last run and failed this
+  # one. Off by default, and the reason is what jailing does: a jailed test is
+  # SKIPPED on every later run. On automatically, a suite with order-dependent
+  # tests quietly stops running things nobody chose to stop running.
+  #
+  # c.jail_flakes = true
+
+  # Rerun a failure in isolation before believing it. A test that then passes is
+  # flaky rather than broken: it gets a warrant instead of failing the build, and
+  # stays loudly visible until someone deals with it.
+  #
+  # c.warrants = true
+
+  # CI: fail the build when the warning count is not trending down. Warnings are
+  # cold-case files and `unsafe` blocks -- allowed, but visible.
+  #
+  # c.fail_on_warnings = true
+
+  # Diff-based coverage: only lines changed in the current diff are held to it.
+  #
+  # c.coverage           = true
+  # c.coverage_threshold = 90
+
+  # Your existing RSpec/Minitest files, run verbatim as cold cases through their
+  # own engine. `constable import --from=rspec` writes this for you.
+  #
+  # c.cold_cases = ["spec/**/*_spec.rb"]
+
+  # --- Code. This can only be written here. -----------------------------------
+
   # One-time global setup, run once per process before the whole suite. For
   # configuring the world -- drivers, adapters, formats -- and deliberately not
   # for creating records that tests then share. See the note at the bottom of

data/lib/generators/constable/templates/config.yml.tt

@@ -43,6 +43,11 @@ cold_cases: []
 
 # The blotter: flake history, the jail docket, warrants.
 #
+# NOT your application's database, and nothing to do with it. Your tests keep using
+# whatever config/database.yml says -- Postgres stays Postgres. This is a separate file
+# holding Constable's own bookkeeping, and it never contains a row of your data. Leaving
+# it on SQLite is right even for a Postgres app.
+#
 # Constable owns this store outright. It is deliberately not the app's own
 # database, for two reasons. Native cases run inside a transaction that gets
 # rolled back, so writing "this test just failed" through that connection would
@@ -54,7 +59,10 @@ cold_cases: []
 # need one queryable store shared across many CI machines -- and always at a
 # separate database from the app's own, never its test connection.
 storage:
-  adapter: sqlite                      # sqlite (default) | postgres | mysql
+  adapter: sqlite                      # sqlite (default, and right for almost everyone)
+                                       #   postgres / mysql: only when many CI machines
+                                       #   need to share ONE blotter. Always a separate
+                                       #   database from your app's own.
   path: .constable/constable.sqlite3   # sqlite only
   url:                                 # postgres/mysql only, e.g.
                                        #   postgres://user:pass@host/constable_metadata
@@ -81,29 +89,45 @@ fail_on_warnings: false  # CI: fail the build when the warning count doesn't tre
 
 parallel_workers: auto   # or an explicit integer
 
-# How a parallel worker gets a database of its own. Sharing one is not a speed/safety
-# trade but a correctness bug: on SQLite the run dissolves into "database is locked", and
-# on a client/server database tests quietly see each other's rows.
-#
-#   schema  rebuild <database>_<index> from schema on every run. What Rails does for
-#           `rails test`, and correct by construction -- no drift is possible.
-#   reuse   connect to <database>_<index> when it is already there, and build it from
-#           schema only when it is not. Faster, because a large schema is not reloaded
-#           every run -- and the only option that works at all when the schema cannot
-#           rebuild the database by itself, which is true of any app with Postgres custom
-#           types (`CREATE TYPE` has no schema.rb representation, so a from-scratch load
-#           fails). Keeping those databases current becomes your job.
-#   off     do not shard, so do not fork. An explicit serial run: no attempt, no warning.
-worker_databases: schema   # schema | reuse | off
+# How a parallel worker gets a database of its own.
+#
+# Sharing one is not a speed/safety trade, it is a correctness bug: on SQLite the run
+# dissolves into "database is locked", and on a client/server database tests quietly see
+# each other's rows, which is worse because it looks like it worked.
+#
+# Three options:
+#
+#   schema   Rebuild <database>_<index> from schema.rb on every run.
+#            What Rails itself does for `rails test`. Correct by construction -- the
+#            databases cannot drift, because they are thrown away and rebuilt. The right
+#            default, and the wrong choice only when it is slow or impossible.
+#
+#   reuse    Keep <database>_<index> between runs, building it only when it is missing.
+#            Two reasons to want this:
+#              * Speed. A large schema is not replayed once per worker per run. On
+#                Postgres the databases are cloned in one statement
+#                (CREATE DATABASE ... TEMPLATE), which is far faster than a schema load.
+#              * It is the ONLY option that works when your schema cannot rebuild the
+#                database by itself -- true of any app with Postgres custom types, since
+#                CREATE TYPE has no schema.rb representation and a from-scratch load
+#                fails on a dump that references types it never defines.
+#            The cost: keeping those databases current is now your job. Run
+#            `constable prepare` after a migration.
+#
+#   off      Do not shard, so do not fork. An explicit serial run: no attempt to build
+#            anything, and no warning about it. Correct, and as slow as one core.
+#
+worker_databases: schema   # schema (rebuild each run) | reuse (keep them) | off (serial)
 
-# How much the live stream says while the suite is running. The summary is identical
-# either way -- this only changes what you watch on the way there.
-#
-#   concise   one glyph per test, grouped into a run per case. A thousand tests stay
-#             inside one screen, and a wall of green is the point.
-#   expanded  a line per test: glyph, name, duration. Slower to read in bulk, but you
-#             can see which test is hanging while it hangs, rather than after.
-output: concise          # concise | expanded
+# How much the live stream says while the suite is running. The summary at the end is
+# identical either way -- this only changes what you watch on the way there.
+#
+#   concise    One glyph per test, grouped into a run per case. A thousand tests stay
+#              inside one screen, and a wall of green is the point.
+#   expanded   A line per test: glyph, description, duration. Slower to read in bulk, but
+#              you can see which test is hanging while it hangs, rather than afterwards.
+#
+output: concise          # concise (one glyph per test) | expanded (a line per test)
 
 # Fallback path-based tier inference, used only when a case doesn't inherit from
 # a tiered base class. The base classes in test/case_helper.rb are the primary

metadata

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 --- !ruby/object:Gem::Specification
 name: constable-rails
 version: !ruby/object:Gem::Version
-  version: 1.4.0
+  version: 1.4.2
 platform: ruby
 authors:
 - Ray Hughes