Report output costs 14 base64 forks per test, making --log-junit several times slower than the run it reports on #1289

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Report output costs 14 base64 forks per test, making --log-junit several times slower than the run it reports on#1289
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@Chemaclass
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opened on Aug 16, 2026

🤔 Background

bashunit::reports::add_test base64-encodes each of the nine fields of a result row separately in every --parallel worker, and load_spooled decodes each one the same way in the parent (src/reports/collect.sh). On macOS the encode path is printf | base64 | tr -d '\n', so each field costs two forks plus the $() subshell.

PATH-shim census, four trivial tests with --parallel --log-junit:

base64 forks: 56 (28 encodes + 28 decodes)

Fourteen per test, plus a tr per encode. Measured on a 300-test file, two rounds each:

wallCPU
--parallel1.22 s5.8 s
--parallel --log-junit9.19 s27.4 s

7.5x wall, 4.7x CPU — turning on the report costs far more than running the tests. This is the standard CI setup, so most CI users are paying it.

💡 Proposal

Only four of the nine fields can hold arbitrary text: the file path, the test name (which may end in a data provider's arguments), the failure message and the captured output. The other five are a status word and four numbers produced by bashunit's own callers.

Encode those four, join all nine with the ASCII unit separator (0x1F), write one line. Base64 output is [A-Za-z0-9+/=] and the raw fields are numeric, so no field can contain the separator and the row stays a single line. The separator is not IFS whitespace, so a run of them yields empty fields rather than collapsing — which is what an absent message has to produce.

A passing test carries no message and no output, so both of those short-circuit on the existing empty sentinel: the row costs two encodes and two decodes instead of fourteen.

The spool is written and read within one run, so there is no format compatibility concern.

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Report output costs 14 base64 forks per test, making --log-junit several times slower than the run it reports on #1289
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Report output costs 14 base64 forks per test, making --log-junit several times slower than the run it reports on#1289
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Chemaclass
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bugSomething isn't working
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@Chemaclass
Chemaclass
opened on Aug 16, 2026
🤔 Background
bashunit::reports::add_test base64-encodes each of the nine fields of a result row separately in every --parallel worker, and load_spooled decodes each one the same way in the parent (src/reports/collect.sh). On macOS the encode path is printf | base64 | tr -d '\n', so each field costs two forks plus the $() subshell.
PATH-shim census, four trivial tests with --parallel --log-junit:
base64 forks: 56 (28 encodes + 28 decodes)

Fourteen per test, plus a tr per encode. Measured on a 300-test file, two rounds each:
wallCPU
--parallel1.22 s5.8 s
--parallel --log-junit9.19 s27.4 s
7.5x wall, 4.7x CPU — turning on the report costs far more than running the tests. This is the standard CI setup, so most CI users are paying it.
💡 Proposal
Only four of the nine fields can hold arbitrary text: the file path, the test name (which may end in a data provider's arguments), the failure message and the captured output. The other five are a status word and four numbers produced by bashunit's own callers.
Encode those four, join all nine with the ASCII unit separator (0x1F), write one line. Base64 output is [A-Za-z0-9+/=] and the raw fields are numeric, so no field can contain the separator and the row stays a single line. The separator is not IFS whitespace, so a run of them yields empty fields rather than collapsing — which is what an absent message has to produce.
A passing test carries no message and no output, so both of those short-circuit on the existing empty sentinel: the row costs two encodes and two decodes instead of fourteen.
The spool is written and read within one run, so there is no format compatibility concern.
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Report output costs 14 base64 forks per test, making --log-junit several times slower than the run it reports on #1289
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Report output costs 14 base64 forks per test, making --log-junit several times slower than the run it reports on#1289
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bugSomething isn't working
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@Chemaclass
Chemaclass
opened on Aug 16, 2026
🤔 Background
bashunit::reports::add_test base64-encodes each of the nine fields of a result row separately in every --parallel worker, and load_spooled decodes each one the same way in the parent (src/reports/collect.sh). On macOS the encode path is printf | base64 | tr -d '\n', so each field costs two forks plus the $() subshell.
PATH-shim census, four trivial tests with --parallel --log-junit:
base64 forks: 56 (28 encodes + 28 decodes)

Fourteen per test, plus a tr per encode. Measured on a 300-test file, two rounds each:
wallCPU
--parallel1.22 s5.8 s
--parallel --log-junit9.19 s27.4 s
7.5x wall, 4.7x CPU — turning on the report costs far more than running the tests. This is the standard CI setup, so most CI users are paying it.
💡 Proposal
Only four of the nine fields can hold arbitrary text: the file path, the test name (which may end in a data provider's arguments), the failure message and the captured output. The other five are a status word and four numbers produced by bashunit's own callers.
Encode those four, join all nine with the ASCII unit separator (0x1F), write one line. Base64 output is [A-Za-z0-9+/=] and the raw fields are numeric, so no field can contain the separator and the row stays a single line. The separator is not IFS whitespace, so a run of them yields empty fields rather than collapsing — which is what an absent message has to produce.
A passing test carries no message and no output, so both of those short-circuit on the existing empty sentinel: the row costs two encodes and two decodes instead of fourteen.
The spool is written and read within one run, so there is no format compatibility concern.
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var __m = "*";
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Report output costs 14 base64 forks per test, making --log-junit several times slower than the run it reports on #1289
Closed
Closed
Report output costs 14 base64 forks per test, making --log-junit several times slower than the run it reports on#1289
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bugSomething isn't working
Description
@Chemaclass
Chemaclass
opened on Aug 16, 2026
🤔 Background
bashunit::reports::add_test base64-encodes each of the nine fields of a result row separately in every --parallel worker, and load_spooled decodes each one the same way in the parent (src/reports/collect.sh). On macOS the encode path is printf | base64 | tr -d '\n', so each field costs two forks plus the $() subshell.
PATH-shim census, four trivial tests with --parallel --log-junit:
base64 forks: 56 (28 encodes + 28 decodes)

Fourteen per test, plus a tr per encode. Measured on a 300-test file, two rounds each:
wallCPU
--parallel1.22 s5.8 s
--parallel --log-junit9.19 s27.4 s
7.5x wall, 4.7x CPU — turning on the report costs far more than running the tests. This is the standard CI setup, so most CI users are paying it.
💡 Proposal
Only four of the nine fields can hold arbitrary text: the file path, the test name (which may end in a data provider's arguments), the failure message and the captured output. The other five are a status word and four numbers produced by bashunit's own callers.
Encode those four, join all nine with the ASCII unit separator (0x1F), write one line. Base64 output is [A-Za-z0-9+/=] and the raw fields are numeric, so no field can contain the separator and the row stays a single line. The separator is not IFS whitespace, so a run of them yields empty fields rather than collapsing — which is what an absent message has to produce.
A passing test carries no message and no output, so both of those short-circuit on the existing empty sentinel: the row costs two encodes and two decodes instead of fourteen.
The spool is written and read within one run, so there is no format compatibility concern.
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var __m = "youtube.com";
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Report output costs 14 base64 forks per test, making --log-junit several times slower than the run it reports on #1289
Closed
Closed
Report output costs 14 base64 forks per test, making --log-junit several times slower than the run it reports on#1289
Assignees
Chemaclass
Labels
bugSomething isn't working
Description
@Chemaclass
Chemaclass
opened on Aug 16, 2026
🤔 Background
bashunit::reports::add_test base64-encodes each of the nine fields of a result row separately in every --parallel worker, and load_spooled decodes each one the same way in the parent (src/reports/collect.sh). On macOS the encode path is printf | base64 | tr -d '\n', so each field costs two forks plus the $() subshell.
PATH-shim census, four trivial tests with --parallel --log-junit:
base64 forks: 56 (28 encodes + 28 decodes)

Fourteen per test, plus a tr per encode. Measured on a 300-test file, two rounds each:
wallCPU
--parallel1.22 s5.8 s
--parallel --log-junit9.19 s27.4 s
7.5x wall, 4.7x CPU — turning on the report costs far more than running the tests. This is the standard CI setup, so most CI users are paying it.
💡 Proposal
Only four of the nine fields can hold arbitrary text: the file path, the test name (which may end in a data provider's arguments), the failure message and the captured output. The other five are a status word and four numbers produced by bashunit's own callers.
Encode those four, join all nine with the ASCII unit separator (0x1F), write one line. Base64 output is [A-Za-z0-9+/=] and the raw fields are numeric, so no field can contain the separator and the row stays a single line. The separator is not IFS whitespace, so a run of them yields empty fields rather than collapsing — which is what an absent message has to produce.
A passing test carries no message and no output, so both of those short-circuit on the existing empty sentinel: the row costs two encodes and two decodes instead of fourteen.
The spool is written and read within one run, so there is no format compatibility concern.
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try {
var __m = "*";
var __re = new RegExp('^' + ".*" + '

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Report output costs 14 base64 forks per test, making --log-junit several times slower than the run it reports on #1289
Closed
Closed
Report output costs 14 base64 forks per test, making --log-junit several times slower than the run it reports on#1289
Assignees
Chemaclass
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bugSomething isn't working
Description
@Chemaclass
Chemaclass
opened on Aug 16, 2026
🤔 Background
bashunit::reports::add_test base64-encodes each of the nine fields of a result row separately in every --parallel worker, and load_spooled decodes each one the same way in the parent (src/reports/collect.sh). On macOS the encode path is printf | base64 | tr -d '\n', so each field costs two forks plus the $() subshell.
PATH-shim census, four trivial tests with --parallel --log-junit:
base64 forks: 56 (28 encodes + 28 decodes)

Fourteen per test, plus a tr per encode. Measured on a 300-test file, two rounds each:
wallCPU
--parallel1.22 s5.8 s
--parallel --log-junit9.19 s27.4 s
7.5x wall, 4.7x CPU — turning on the report costs far more than running the tests. This is the standard CI setup, so most CI users are paying it.
💡 Proposal
Only four of the nine fields can hold arbitrary text: the file path, the test name (which may end in a data provider's arguments), the failure message and the captured output. The other five are a status word and four numbers produced by bashunit's own callers.
Encode those four, join all nine with the ASCII unit separator (0x1F), write one line. Base64 output is [A-Za-z0-9+/=] and the raw fields are numeric, so no field can contain the separator and the row stays a single line. The separator is not IFS whitespace, so a run of them yields empty fields rather than collapsing — which is what an absent message has to produce.
A passing test carries no message and no output, so both of those short-circuit on the existing empty sentinel: the row costs two encodes and two decodes instead of fourteen.
The spool is written and read within one run, so there is no format compatibility concern.
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try {
var __m = "*";
var __re = new RegExp('^' + ".*" + '

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Report output costs 14 base64 forks per test, making --log-junit several times slower than the run it reports on #1289
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Report output costs 14 base64 forks per test, making --log-junit several times slower than the run it reports on#1289
Assignees
Chemaclass
Labels
bugSomething isn't working
Description
@Chemaclass
Chemaclass
opened on Aug 16, 2026
🤔 Background
bashunit::reports::add_test base64-encodes each of the nine fields of a result row separately in every --parallel worker, and load_spooled decodes each one the same way in the parent (src/reports/collect.sh). On macOS the encode path is printf | base64 | tr -d '\n', so each field costs two forks plus the $() subshell.
PATH-shim census, four trivial tests with --parallel --log-junit:
base64 forks: 56 (28 encodes + 28 decodes)

Fourteen per test, plus a tr per encode. Measured on a 300-test file, two rounds each:
wallCPU
--parallel1.22 s5.8 s
--parallel --log-junit9.19 s27.4 s
7.5x wall, 4.7x CPU — turning on the report costs far more than running the tests. This is the standard CI setup, so most CI users are paying it.
💡 Proposal
Only four of the nine fields can hold arbitrary text: the file path, the test name (which may end in a data provider's arguments), the failure message and the captured output. The other five are a status word and four numbers produced by bashunit's own callers.
Encode those four, join all nine with the ASCII unit separator (0x1F), write one line. Base64 output is [A-Za-z0-9+/=] and the raw fields are numeric, so no field can contain the separator and the row stays a single line. The separator is not IFS whitespace, so a run of them yields empty fields rather than collapsing — which is what an absent message has to produce.
A passing test carries no message and no output, so both of those short-circuit on the existing empty sentinel: the row costs two encodes and two decodes instead of fourteen.
The spool is written and read within one run, so there is no format compatibility concern.
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Report output costs 14 base64 forks per test, making --log-junit several times slower than the run it reports on #1289
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Report output costs 14 base64 forks per test, making --log-junit several times slower than the run it reports on#1289
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opened on Aug 16, 2026
🤔 Background
bashunit::reports::add_test base64-encodes each of the nine fields of a result row separately in every --parallel worker, and load_spooled decodes each one the same way in the parent (src/reports/collect.sh). On macOS the encode path is printf | base64 | tr -d '\n', so each field costs two forks plus the $() subshell.
PATH-shim census, four trivial tests with --parallel --log-junit:
base64 forks: 56 (28 encodes + 28 decodes)

Fourteen per test, plus a tr per encode. Measured on a 300-test file, two rounds each:
wallCPU
--parallel1.22 s5.8 s
--parallel --log-junit9.19 s27.4 s
7.5x wall, 4.7x CPU — turning on the report costs far more than running the tests. This is the standard CI setup, so most CI users are paying it.
💡 Proposal
Only four of the nine fields can hold arbitrary text: the file path, the test name (which may end in a data provider's arguments), the failure message and the captured output. The other five are a status word and four numbers produced by bashunit's own callers.
Encode those four, join all nine with the ASCII unit separator (0x1F), write one line. Base64 output is [A-Za-z0-9+/=] and the raw fields are numeric, so no field can contain the separator and the row stays a single line. The separator is not IFS whitespace, so a run of them yields empty fields rather than collapsing — which is what an absent message has to produce.
A passing test carries no message and no output, so both of those short-circuit on the existing empty sentinel: the row costs two encodes and two decodes instead of fourteen.
The spool is written and read within one run, so there is no format compatibility concern.
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