bazelbuild / bazelbuild/bazel

cc_library defines should reject dict argument

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#17,553 6 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
not stale P3 team-Rules-CPP type: bug
Dominant language
Java
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Avg merge
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

### Description of the bug:

Currently if `defines` value is `dict`, then compilation result is somewhat unexpected.
Bazel should report that `list` argument type is expected (as stated in docs).
It it likely that argument is used as array-like and `dict` keys are transformed to compiler options.

Alternative: allow `dict` argument, but transform entires to `-Dkey=value`

### What's the simplest, easiest way to reproduce this bug? Please provide a minimal example if possible.

1) Add to some cc_library: `defines = {'KKKEEEYY': 'VALUE'}`
2) Search `bazel build -c` output for `KKKEEEYYY`.

### Which operating system are you running Bazel on?

_No response_

### What is the output of `bazel info release`?

release 6.0.0

### If `bazel info release` returns `development version` or `(@non-git)`, tell us how you built Bazel.

_No response_

### What's the output of `git remote get-url origin; git rev-parse master; git rev-parse HEAD` ?

_No response_

### Have you found anything relevant by searching the web?

_No response_

### Any other information, logs, or outputs that you want to share?

_No response_

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Reproduce the issue with a minimal cc_library using defines = {'KKKEEEYY': 'VALUE'} and inspect how the defines argument is validated and converted into compiler options. Done means a dict is rejected with an error stating that a list is expected, or the chosen documented behavior is implemented and covered by a regression test.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
build-system
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
48/100

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