Fix printing of types in reporter output (#293)

When printing a pointer, only elide the type for unnamed pointers.
Otherwise, we can run into situations where named and unnamed pointers
format the same way in indistinguishable ways.

When printing an interview, never skip the interface type.
Whether we skip printing the type should be determined by the
parent containers, and not locally determined.
For examples, interface values within a struct, slice, or map
will always be elided since they can be inferred.

Author: dsnet

cmp/compare.go

@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/google/go-cmp/cmp/internal/value"
 )
 
+// TODO(≥go1.18): Use any instead of interface{}.
+
 // Equal reports whether x and y are equal by recursively applying the
 // following rules in the given order to x and y and all of their sub-values:
 //

cmp/compare_test.go

@@ -104,6 +104,7 @@ func mustFormatGolden(path string, in []struct{ Name, Data string }) {
 
 var now = time.Date(2009, time.November, 10, 23, 00, 00, 00, time.UTC)
 
+// TODO(≥go1.18): Define a generic function that boxes a value on the heap.
 func newInt(n int) *int { return &n }
 
 type Stringer string
@@ -885,6 +886,7 @@ func reporterTests() []test {
 			FloatsB []MyFloat
 			FloatsC MyFloats
 		}
+		PointerString *string
 	)
 
 	return []test{{
@@ -1351,6 +1353,38 @@ using the AllowUnexported option.`, "\n"),
 	"bar": true,
 }`,
 		reason: "short multiline JSON should prefer triple-quoted string diff as it is more readable",
+	}, {
+		label: label + "/PointerToStringOrAny",
+		x: func() *string {
+			var v string = "hello"
+			return &v
+		}(),
+		y: func() *interface{} {
+			var v interface{} = "hello"
+			return &v
+		}(),
+		reason: "mismatched types between any and *any should print differently",
+	}, {
+		label: label + "/NamedPointer",
+		x: func() *string {
+			v := "hello"
+			return &v
+		}(),
+		y: func() PointerString {
+			v := "hello"
+			return &v
+		}(),
+		reason: "mismatched pointer types should print differently",
+	}, {
+		label:  label + "/MapStringAny",
+		x:      map[string]interface{}{"key": int(0)},
+		y:      map[string]interface{}{"key": uint(0)},
+		reason: "mismatched underlying value within interface",
+	}, {
+		label:  label + "/StructFieldAny",
+		x:      struct{ X interface{} }{int(0)},
+		y:      struct{ X interface{} }{uint(0)},
+		reason: "mismatched underlying value within interface",
 	}}
 }
 

cmp/report_reflect.go

@@ -282,7 +282,12 @@ func (opts formatOptions) FormatValue(v reflect.Value, parentKind reflect.Kind,
 		}
 		defer ptrs.Pop()
 
-		skipType = true // Let the underlying value print the type instead
+		// Skip the name only if this is an unnamed pointer type.
+		// Otherwise taking the address of a value does not reproduce
+		// the named pointer type.
+		if v.Type().Name() == "" {
+			skipType = true // Let the underlying value print the type instead
+		}
 		out = opts.FormatValue(v.Elem(), t.Kind(), ptrs)
 		out = wrapTrunkReference(ptrRef, opts.PrintAddresses, out)
 		out = &textWrap{Prefix: "&", Value: out}
@@ -293,7 +298,6 @@ func (opts formatOptions) FormatValue(v reflect.Value, parentKind reflect.Kind,
 		}
 		// Interfaces accept different concrete types,
 		// so configure the underlying value to explicitly print the type.
-		skipType = true // Print the concrete type instead
 		return opts.WithTypeMode(emitType).FormatValue(v.Elem(), t.Kind(), ptrs)
 	default:
 		panic(fmt.Sprintf("%v kind not handled", v.Kind()))

cmp/testdata/diffs

@@ -1134,6 +1134,30 @@
   	"""
   )
 >>> TestDiff/Reporter/ShortJSON
+<<< TestDiff/Reporter/PointerToStringOrAny
+  any(
+- 	&string("hello"),
++ 	&any(string("hello")),
+  )
+>>> TestDiff/Reporter/PointerToStringOrAny
+<<< TestDiff/Reporter/NamedPointer
+  any(
+- 	&string("hello"),
++ 	cmp_test.PointerString(&string("hello")),
+  )
+>>> TestDiff/Reporter/NamedPointer
+<<< TestDiff/Reporter/MapStringAny
+  map[string]any{
+- 	"key": int(0),
++ 	"key": uint(0),
+  }
+>>> TestDiff/Reporter/MapStringAny
+<<< TestDiff/Reporter/StructFieldAny
+  struct{ X any }{
+- 	X: int(0),
++ 	X: uint(0),
+  }
+>>> TestDiff/Reporter/StructFieldAny
 <<< TestDiff/EmbeddedStruct/ParentStructA/Inequal
   teststructs.ParentStructA{
   	privateStruct: teststructs.privateStruct{