[Buildbot] #2949: descriptionDone may not always be coerced into list of strings; thus causing exception

[Buildbot trac]

#2949: descriptionDone may not always be coerced into list of strings; thus
causing exception
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Reporter:  bms20      |      Owner:
    Type:  undecided  |     Status:  new
Priority:  major      |  Milestone:  undecided
 Version:  0.8.9      |   Keywords:
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 I've run into a problem where a ShellCommand may create an exception.

 It appears that the basic idea behind the descriptionDone field (and I
 suspect the description field as well) are that they are strings or lists
 of strings denoting text to be reported on completion of a BuildStep.

 The problem arises when I create a ShellCommand and provide a string
 description field.  In both MasterShellCommand and ShellCommand the input
 to the field descriptionDone is checked to verify whether it is an
 instance of a string or not.

 This test fails when one provides a unicode string - thus the resulting
 exception is raised on line 716 of buildbot/process/buildstep.py when the
 code attempts to add a list of string to a unicode item.

 Can I suggest that the test is inverted such that if the item is not of
 type list, then the item is embedded in a list prior to storage on
 self.descriptionDone?

 Additionally, can this process be moved to the base class constructor?

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Ticket URL: <http://trac.buildbot.net/ticket/2949>
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Buildbot: build/test automation