Test case failed on chain_test

[HarukaMa]

Instructions
I've been testing building with Boost 1.67.0, and the compilation succeeded despite it is not supported, so I decided to run tests (*_test) to check for errors.

When running chain_test, I've met one error:

unknown location:0: fatal error: in "uia_tests/asset_name_test": std::runtime_error: collate_byname<char>::collate_byname failed to construct for en_US.UTF8
/Users/MrX/src/bitshares-core/tests/tests/uia_tests.cpp:503: last checkpoint

other tests except es_test (didn't have es installation locally) succeeded without errors.

Additional info:

$ locale
LANG="ja_JP.UTF-8"
LC_COLLATE="ja_JP.UTF-8"
LC_CTYPE="ja_JP.UTF-8"
LC_MESSAGES="ja_JP.UTF-8"
LC_MONETARY="ja_JP.UTF-8"
LC_NUMERIC="ja_JP.UTF-8"
LC_TIME="ja_JP.UTF-8"
LC_ALL=

Impacts
Describe which portion(s) of BitShares Core may be impacted by this bug. Please tick at least one box.

• API (the application programming interface)
• Build (the build process or something prior to compiled code)
• CLI (the command line wallet)
• Deployment (the deployment process after building such as Docker, Travis, etc.)
• DEX (the Decentralized EXchange, market engine, etc.)
• P2P (the peer-to-peer network for transaction/block propagation)
• Performance (system or user efficiency, etc.)
• Protocol (the blockchain logic, consensus, validation, etc.)
• Security (the security of system or user data, etc.)
• UX (the User Experience)
• Other (please add below)

Host Environment

• Host OS: macOS 10.13.6
• Host Physical RAM: 16 GB
• BitShares Version: 2.0.171025-minor-fix-1-1293-g0e86ff5 NOTE: I think this string is broken for a while
• OpenSSL Version: 1.1.1-dev it is using a self compiled version, I even forgot when I compiled it, but seems running fine
• Boost Version: 1.67.0

CORE TEAM TASK LIST

• Evaluate / Prioritize Bug Report
• Refine User Stories / Requirements
• Define Test Cases
• Design / Develop Solution
• Perform QA/Testing
• Update Documentation

[abitmore]

The user doesn't have en_US.UTF8 locale installed, while the test case is trying to use it. The failing test case is:

bitshares-core/tests/tests/uia_tests.cpp

Lines 505 to 511 in 3e74426

	// locales issue
	std::locale loc1("en_US.UTF8");
	static const std::locale& loc2 = std::locale::classic();
	const wchar_t c = L'\u042f';
	// isalpha will allow non ascii chars if locale is not C
	BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL( isalpha(c, loc1), true);
	BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL( isalpha(c, loc2), false);

[abitmore]

Update: got same error in Windows.

[HarukaMa]

en_US.UTF-8 may work on macos, but not sure on windows.

[jmjatlanta]

I may be jumping in the middle here, but it is my understanding that this is testing to see if the isalpha function works as expected in various locales (new "non-C" way vs the classic "C" way).

What I do not understand is why are we testing a standard library function? Is there a belief that the standard will change? Or perhaps that some platforms will not implement it correctly?

Perhaps this test was simply to clarify how things work.

I may be wrong, but I do not see the benefit of those lines in this test. If everyone agrees, I will remove those lines. If not, please let me know why these lines are here. Thanks!

[pmconrad]

IIRC the asset name validation code used the system locale and thus might have allowed to create assets with non-ascii names, depending on witness system locale settings. This has been fixed, so IMO these lines can be removed.
Or perhaps replace with a test case that ensures that non-ascii asset names don't work.

[pmconrad]

Resolved via #1346