Make it possible to create absolute path based on basePath

[pjasiun]

Because in the bender.js every test have a defined basePath it would be good the be able to create absolute paths based on basePath using some kind of macro (eg.: BASE_PATH/assets/lib.js), in both js and html files.

[gregpabian]

Alright, I'll add %BASE_PATH% markup to use in tests and html templates.

[Reinmar]

After 918076c this become critical. Actually... we have to review many tests again :(

[Reinmar]

Q: what do we really need? We know the CKEditor base path thanks to CKEDITOR.basePath. What we don't know is a path to assets directories (the main one and the test's one - so basically the test base path).

I just realised that this may be harder than we thought. Because of #27 the path may change depending on group of tests unless in #27 we assumed that adding a test group which is kept outside BENDER_ROOT/tests/ will not modify paths to other tests.

Note - I want (I believe that we must) achieve a situation in which tests don't have to reviewed after moving them, adding other test groups, changes in the way how Bender generates paths, etc.

Grzesiek - could you comment on that? I think we need more details about how tests paths are created and what happens with them depending on defined test groups. I'm very interested in case when we'll start keeping tests in plugins directories.

[pjasiun]

The problem with CKEDITOR.basePath is that it is JS and in most cases we want to use absolute path in HTMLs head. Also it is Editors base path and we need tests base path. We should not build tests base path based on the editors base path.

[Reinmar]

Have you got an example of test in which you need to access CKEditor files (only then you need to know its path) from the head of your test?

And even if you need to do that, then you can do that from JS because there you can access CKEDITOR.basePath. So the problem isn't CKEditor's path.

The problem is assets path.

[gregpabian]

OK, so we have to think about 2 scenarios:

• we run a test from the dashboard - no matter if by opening a link or by pressing "Run tests" button. In this scenario a test URL represents the actual file system structure relative to cwd:
  <SERVER_URL>:<SERVER_PORT>/<BASE_PATH>/<TEST_PATH>/</TEST_FILE>

  And, since we know our tests directory structure we can easily use relative paths to assets and everything should be fine.

• we run a test within a job - in this case, a test URL is a bit different:
  <SERVER_URL>:<SERVER_PORT>/jobs/<JOB_ID>/tests/<BASE_PATH>/<TEST_PATH>/</TEST_FILE>

  (BTW I could think of removing this tests in the middle, but I'm not sure if it's really necessary?)

  The above URL represents the actual file system structure relative to .bender/ directory inside of the project.

[Reinmar]

<SERVER_URL>:<SERVER_PORT>/<BASE_PATH>/<TEST_PATH>/</TEST_FILE>

Didn't #27 conditionally remove <BASE_PATH> from this?

[gregpabian]

No, first you probably mean #26, second the old URL was:
<SERVER_URL>:<SERVER_PORT>/tests/<BASE_PATH>/<TEST_PATH>/</TEST_FILE>
so I didn't remove the base path but /tests/ part. I wouldn't remove BASE_PATH at all - it won't give us anything but a lot of headache...

[pjasiun]

@Reinmar Paths like this should be IMHO absolute, not related:
https://github.com/ckeditor/ckeditor-dev/blob/master/tests/tickets/9456/1.html#L2

And based on the main tests folder, not on the CKEditor basePath.

[Reinmar]

@pjasiun This is not a path to CKEditor directory!! This a path to assets directory in the tests.

[gregpabian]

The only argument behind using absolute paths is when you start messing with test folder structure - moving some tests to subdirectories etc. it may still work, but you can break something...

[pjasiun]

@Reinmar This is the type of the paths I would like to change using BASE_PATH. I never said I need a base path to the CKEditor.

@gregpabian Exactly. I think that related path between tests is a bad idea, especially if we want to move them to plugins one day.

[Reinmar]

The only argument behind using absolute paths is when you start messing with test folder structure - moving some tests to subdirectories etc. it may still work, but you can break something...

Unfortunately there's one more argument - when an asset is kept in test directory and we use CKEditor API to load it (e.g. we're loading a styles set) we need a path relative to CKEditor.basePath... Am I right?

[gregpabian]

Alright so I'm gonna implement it to point to current test group's base path. Just a quick question - should it contain a slash a the end or not?

[Reinmar]

Alright so I'm gonna implement it to point to current test group's base path. Just a quick question - should it contain a slash a the end or not?

I just realised that it's enough. Main assets directory is kept outside of test groups directories. And making a path to this directory from e.g. a test in /plugins/image2/tests/foo.js would be complicated.

So I think that there must be defined the tests root - in this case it will point to /tests/ and it would be a setting specific for a project (so bender.js it is). Second necessary path is a path to test file's directory, because an asset can be stored there.

[pjasiun]

@gregpabian I'm for slash at the end, so BASE_PATH would be "...tests/".

[gregpabian]

Main assets directory is inside of every group's basePath in our case so which part is complicated?
And test file's directory path is already available ...in window.location.pathname :) But I understand you want to use it from HTML?

[Reinmar]

The problem I see is that if anything changes you're screwed. Just like now we are. Tests should be easy to write, easy to read and maintainable. Therefore constants controlled by Bender will be useful. They will make things simpler, cleaner and safer.

[Reinmar]

Note - by cleaner I was referring to very long /../../../../ paths which will need to be written without it.