advancedExecutables doesnt seem to support symlinked executables

[delfu]

Checklist

• The issue is about this extension and NOT about a fork.
• Checked the ALL the SUPPORT document.
• The latest version of the extension was used.
• It is not related to remote-vscode or I checked the following issue
• Imagine yourself into my position and think how hard to debug the issue without insufficient information.
  I understand that you have privacy concerns and I expect you to understand that this extension is developed for free.
  Thanks.

Describe the bug

Using the setting testMate.cpp.test.advancedExecutables, setting a pattern to be a symlink to an executable, the test doesnt seem to be picked up.

If instead, i set the pattern to the absolute path of the executable, the Test Explorer works as expected

To Reproduce

1. add this setting

"testMate.cpp.test.advancedExecutables": [
      {
        "pattern": "build/linkToExecutable",
        "catch2": {
          "testGrouping": {
            "groupByExecutable": {
              "groupBySource": {
                "label": "${sourceRelPath[-1]}",
                "groupByTags": true
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    ],

expected:

• the test to be surfaced in Test Explorer

result:

• the test does not surface

Desktop

• Extension Version: latest
• VS Code Version: latest
• Catch2 / Google Test / DOCTest Version: catch2@3.1
• OS Type and Version: mac, arm
• Using remote-ssh/docker/wsl?: no

Logs
[2023-10-17 23:12:57.057] [INFO] Activating extension
[2023-10-17 23:12:57.058] [INFO] Activation finished
[2023-10-17 23:12:59.505] [INFO] context:executables [
{
pattern: 'build/linkToExecutable',
catch2: { testGrouping: { groupByExecutable: [Object] } }
}
]
[2023-10-17 23:12:59.507] [DEBUG] ExecutableConfig.resolveVariable: {
value: 'build/linkToExecutable',
resolved: Promise { },
strictAllowed: false
}
[2023-10-17 23:12:59.507] [INFO] pattern build/linkToExecutable /Users/delongfu/workspace {
isAbsolute: false,
absPath: '/Users/delongfu/workspace/build/linkToExecutable',
isPartOfWs: true,
relativeToWsPosix: 'build/linkToExecutable'
}

[matepek]

vscode.workspace.findFiles ignores them. But there are other issues with symlinks. The symlink is not updated when the source has been changed. Would you tell me more about your use case? Have you considered hard links?

[delfu]

thank you for the reply! we use bazel for building and the output folder isnt deterministic (differs person to person) . so this was the only way i could think of for testmate to discover the executable. What would be downsides to using a hardlink?

[matepek]

What would be downsides to using a hardlink?

Probably nothing. Should be fine.

Also you could use something like build/user_*/**/test*.
Or build/${os_env:USER}/**/test*.

Also you could customise .vscode/settings.json content.

[matepek]

might interesting to check #414