startWithLoyaltyCardNoExpirySetExpiry test can fail depending on time(zone)

[obfusk]

I had an odd test failure. Running the tests with TZ=UTC fixed it (it was indeed the 22nd in my time zone but still the 21st in UTC).

org.junit.ComparisonFailure: expected:<October 2[2], 2024> but was:<October 2[1], 2024>
	at org.junit.Assert.assertEquals(Assert.java:117)
	at org.junit.Assert.assertEquals(Assert.java:146)
	at protect.card_locker.LoyaltyCardViewActivityTest.checkFieldProperties(LoyaltyCardViewActivityTest.java:293)
	at protect.card_locker.LoyaltyCardViewActivityTest.checkAllFields(LoyaltyCardViewActivityTest.java:320)
	at protect.card_locker.LoyaltyCardViewActivityTest.startWithLoyaltyCardNoExpirySetExpiry(LoyaltyCardViewActivityTest.java:741)
	at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
	at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:77)
	at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
	at java.base/java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:569)
	at org.junit.runners.model.FrameworkMethod$1.runReflectiveCall(FrameworkMethod.java:59)
	at org.junit.internal.runners.model.ReflectiveCallable.run(ReflectiveCallable.java:12)
	at org.junit.runners.model.FrameworkMethod.invokeExplosively(FrameworkMethod.java:56)
	at org.junit.internal.runners.statements.InvokeMethod.evaluate(InvokeMethod.java:17)
	at org.junit.internal.runners.statements.RunBefores.evaluate(RunBefores.java:26)
	at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$3.evaluate(ParentRunner.java:306)
	at org.robolectric.RobolectricTestRunner$HelperTestRunner$1.evaluate(RobolectricTestRunner.java:489)
	at org.robolectric.internal.SandboxTestRunner$2.lambda$evaluate$2(SandboxTestRunner.java:291)
	at org.robolectric.internal.bytecode.Sandbox.lambda$runOnMainThread$0(Sandbox.java:104)
	at java.base/java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:264)
	at java.base/java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1136)
	at java.base/java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:635)
	at java.base/java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:840)

[TheLastProject]

Every now and then I get an email from someone who says setting an expiry "doesn't work". Most people don't respond when I ask them what "doesn't work" means, one person stated it "sets the wrong day". Sadly even that person didn't further respond when I asked them which day they entered and what they go and what timezone they're in. I've long suspected there was some timezone related issue there but I never had enough info to justify spending a lot of time taking a look so this test failure may actually be showing that issue. Maybe it'll help actually fix whatever is going wrong.

[perepujal]

In my box, Debian Sid, I can reproduce this problem between 00am and 01am each day
Catalan locale if this matters, timezone Europe Madrid, UTC+1 if I am not wrong

Adding a log in the LoyaltyCardViewActivityTest.java file and running gradlew with the -d option shows the following:
2025-01-04T00:43:22.042+0100 [DEBUG] [TestEventLogger] W/LoyaltyCardViewActivityTesttt.java: checkFieldProperties- contents :January 4, 2025 textView.getEditText().getText().toString():January 3, 2025

Running with TZ=UTC instead passes the test, with the UTC date
2025-01-03T23:47:51.275+0000 [DEBUG] [TestEventLogger] W/LoyaltyCardViewActivityTesttt.java: checkFieldProperties- contents :January 3, 2025 textView.getEditText().getText().toString():January 3, 2025

HTH, let me know what other tests can I make
Pere

[TheLastProject]

Thanks, that's quite helpful.

How are you forcing the timezone? Perhaps we can add this to the unit tests as a first step and then fix this bug from there? Having correct unit tests is always useful to ensure it gets fixed properly and won't break in the future :)

[perepujal]

Hi, I am doing this in the command line
TZ=UTC ./gradlew -h build
Seeing that gradlew is a shell script, one could add a line like
export TZ=UTC
but this will only affect builds that use the gradlew script, I have no idea how gradlew.bat or direct builds from gradle or Android Studio could be modified.
Anyway, I imagine the real fix should be in LoyaltyCardViewActivityTest.java