_tests.sh script fails silently on macOS due to incompatible `local -n` usage

[a-magdy]

Issue Description

The _tests.sh script fails silently when executed on macOS without providing clear error messages. After investigation, the issue appears to be related to the use of local -n (nameref) which is not supported in older versions of bash that ship with macOS.

Environment

• Operating System: macOS
• Default bash version: macOS typically ships with bash 3.x which doesn't support nameref (local -n)
• Script: _tests.sh and git-artifact

Error Details

When running the test script, it fails with errors like:

myfunc:local:1: bad option: -n

Root Cause

The issue is caused by the usage of local -n (nameref) in the git-artifact script, which is called by _tests.sh. The nameref feature was introduced in bash 4.3, but macOS ships with bash 3.x by default for licensing reasons.

Problematic code locations in git-artifact:

• Line 74: local -n _ref_dir=${1}
• Line 87: local -n _ref_base_branch=${1}
• Line 102: local -n _ref_remote_default_branch=${1}
• Line 292: local -n _latest_tag=${1}

Impact

• Tests fail silently on macOS
• Users may not realize the script is not working properly
• Makes development and testing difficult on macOS systems

Suggested Solutions

1. Check bash version: Add a version check at the beginning of scripts to ensure bash 4.3+ is available
2. Use alternative approaches: Replace nameref usage with return values or global variables
3. Documentation: Add clear requirements about bash version in README
4. Homebrew bash: Recommend users install a newer bash version via Homebrew

Workaround

Users can install a newer version of bash via Homebrew:

brew install bash

And then either:

• Update their PATH to use the newer bash
• Explicitly run scripts with the newer bash: /usr/local/bin/bash _tests.sh

Additional Context

This is a common issue when developing bash scripts that need to work across different platforms, as macOS deliberately ships with an older bash version to avoid GPL v3 licensing requirements.

[a-magdy]

Additional Environment Details

After further investigation, here are the detailed system specifications and bash version information:

System Information

• macOS Version: 15.5 (Build 24F74) - macOS Sequoia
• Processor Architecture: arm64 (Apple Silicon)
• Chip: Apple M-series processor

Bash Version Details

System Default Bash (located at /bin/bash):

GNU bash, version 3.2.57(1)-release (arm64-apple-darwin24)
Copyright (C) 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

Homebrew Bash (located at /opt/homebrew/bin/bash):

GNU bash, version 5.2.37(1)-release (aarch64-apple-darwin24.2.0)
Copyright (C) 2022 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

Issue Context

The problem occurs because:

1. Default macOS bash is 3.2.57 - This version does not support local -n (nameref) which was introduced in bash 4.3
2. Scripts use #!/bin/bash - This explicitly calls the system bash (3.2.57), not the newer Homebrew version
3. PATH configuration - Even though Homebrew bash (5.2.37) is in PATH, the shebang #!/bin/bash bypasses PATH lookup

The Specific Problem

When _tests.sh runs, it:

1. Uses #!/bin/bash shebang → calls system bash 3.2.57
2. Executes git artifact commands which also use #!/bin/bash
3. The git-artifact script contains local -n statements that fail in bash 3.2.57
4. Due to error handling in the script, failures are captured but not properly reported

Verification Commands

To reproduce and verify the issue:

# Check system bash version (problematic)
/bin/bash --version

# Check current bash in PATH (works)
bash --version

# Test nameref support
/bin/bash -c 'function test_nameref() { local -n ref=$1; }; test_nameref var'
# ^ This will fail with: bad option: -n

# Test with newer bash
bash -c 'function test_nameref() { local -n ref=$1; }; test_nameref var'
# ^ This works fine

Dependency Chain

The issue affects the entire testing workflow:

• _tests.sh → calls git artifact commands
• git artifact script → uses local -n (fails silently)
• Test results → appear to pass but actually failed during execution

This makes the issue particularly problematic as it gives false confidence in test results.