SimpleTest: Change randomName() method to randomString()

Agreed.

An aside: Should there be a random text function (that puts in spaces and such)?

While we are at it, it could make sense to have a randomHtml function, that produce simple valid HTML (like some <i> and <strong>).

I'm getting all passing tests.

I'm not so sure of this patch, and not just because I don't want to confuse test authors by shifting APIs out from under them this late into the game when we have over 111 test cases for D7. Rob Loach's patch makes it clear that this touches just about every test in core, so it's seriously going to mess people up if it changes.

But since we don't care about backwards compatibility in a code thaw, instead take a look at this:

     $chars = 'abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ_';

That's the defined charset for randomName(). This makes sense; those characters are the only ones allowed in usernames, for example. They're also guaranteed to be safe and not contain any weird characters that could mess something up.

On the other hand, if I saw a function called randomString(), I would expect it to generate things like ® and $ and ' and not be limited to a particular character set.

So I think the name of this function is actually fine, as it describes what it does. If we want to add a randomString() function additionally, that purposely attempts to generate wacky characters to see if things screw up, then that's another matter.

The addition of a randomString function with a larger charset is a good idea.

Committed to CVS HEAD. Thanks.

randomString() is limited to US-ASCII characters. Any reason why it doesn't use a wider selection of Unicode characters?

+   * Generates a random string of ASCI characters of codes 32 to 126. That

Spot the typo here.

   /**
-   * Generates a random string.
+   * Generates a random string of ASCI characters of codes 32 to 126. That
+   * includes alpha-numeric characters and common misc characters.
    *
...
   /**
+   * Generates a random string containing letters, both capital and lower, and
+   * numbers. This method is better for restricted inputs that do not accept
+   * certain characters.

Function summaries should be on one line. If required, add a blank PHPDoc line after the summary, followed by a longer function description.

+   *   Length of random string to generate which will be appended to $db_prefx.

Another typo in here. (also in the second PHPDoc)

We're almost there.

   /**
-   * Generates a random string of ASCI characters of codes 32 to 126. That
-   * includes alpha-numeric characters and common misc characters.
+   * Generates a random string of ASCI characters of codes 32 to 126.
+   * The generated string includes alpha-numeric characters and common misc
+   * characters.
    *

There needs to be a blank PHPDoc line between the PHPDoc summary and PHPDoc description.

+   * The letters may be upper of lower case. This method is better for
+   * restricted inputs that do not accept certain characters.
    *
    * @param $length
    *   Length of random string to generate which will be appended to $db_prefx.

The typo is in $db_prefx. However, now you introduced another one in The letters may be upper of lower case.

Also, the fix from #21 is no longer contained.

Great job, sun. Thanks! Keep 'em coming if you have more.

Hm. Sorry, but I still think this needs work.

It's not at all clear from the documentation why you should use randomString() vs. why you should use randomName(). Can we please add a line to each (probably as well as a cross-referenced @see entry) to explain this?

Additionally, let's make sure all of the examples at http://drupal.org/simpletest that need to be updated are, and a mention of this API change on the 6.x -> 7.x updates page.

Awesome. Thanks!