assert: add NotZeroThenSetZero and NotNilThenSetNil

[HaraldNordgren]

I have used similar versions in my own code for many years. It helps to do assertions of API responses, like this:

clientResponse := someApiRequest(request)

assert.NotZeroThenSetZero(t, &clientResponse.CreateTime)
assert.NotZeroThenSetZero(t, &clientResponse.UpdateTime)

assert.Equal(t, expected, clientResponse)

Could resolve the issue brought up in #1432.

[dolmen]

1. I don't understand the use case. If this API usage is not obvious, then its place is probably not the core testify.
2. Implantation requires generics. This is a blocking for now as we still aim to support Go versions below 1.18.

[dolmen]

I do not plan to merge this.

But anyway I choose to give you feedback that might be valuable for another contribution

Also you didn't run "go generate ./.. ".

[dolmen]

Don't change this. This is out of scope.

[HaraldNordgren]

I changed the minimum version to be >=1.18 in discussion with Boyan Soubachov in this PR: #1379 (comment). Maybe that was a bad change?

[HaraldNordgren]

I'm sorry you feel you don't want to merge this.

Also you didn't run "go generate ./.. ".

Yes, I noticed that the cannot run now. Seems to be because of generics as well. Should I close the PR?

[dolmen]

From your description of the use case:

clientResponse := someApiRequest(request)

assert.NotZeroThenSetZero(t, &clientResponse.CreateTime)
assert.NotZeroThenSetZero(t, &clientResponse.UpdateTime)

assert.Equal(t, expected, clientResponse)

This can be rewritten as:

clientResponse := someApiRequest(request)

assert.NotZero(t, clientResponse.CreateTime)
assert.NotZero(t, clientResponse.UpdateTime)
var zeroTime time.Time
clientResponse.CreateTime = zeroTime
clientResponse.UpdateTime = zeroTime

assert.Equal(t, expected, clientResponse)

And I think that is would be more clear that the proposed API.

I think that if you want than feature it is best to copy your implementation in the test package where you use it. That way, the source is immediately available to the reader who may not be familiar with the full testify API. We don't need more niche features.

[dolmen]

About the code generation not working with generics code, this is a problem that we must fix before introducing any generics-based API.