.to.not.be.a.file() not working

[stefanwalther]

.to.not.be.a.file() does not work, returns true, even if the file is not existing, example:

expect( path.join( __dirname, './tmp/lessReduce/root.css' ) ).to.not.be.a.file();

... but the file is definitely not there ... but throws an asserting exception.

[ktyacke]

Same issue here except using format:

assert.notIsFile(filePath, "Message");

This results in the error:

 value: expected 'file/path/file.txt' to exist
  AssertionError: value: expected 'filePath/file.txtt' to exist
      at Assertion.<anonymous> (node_modules/chai-fs/lib/assertions/file.js:21:53)
      at Assertion.ctx.(anonymous function) [as file] (node_modules/chai/lib/chai/utils/addMethod.js:40:25)
      at Function.assert.notIsFile (node_modules/chai-fs/lib/assertions/file.js:37:39)
      at Context.<anonymous> (test/file.js:68:16)

...I did some digging and everything seems to be in order; however, it appears that somewhere along the line the method is mapped to the isFile method (or some other method that expects it to exists as opposed to not exist).

Cheers!

Kyle

[embpdaniel]

I am also experiencing this issue:

expect('./docs/js/angular.min.js').to.not.be.a.file();

throws error:

Uncaught AssertionError: value: expected './docs/js/angular.min.js' to exist

Any ideas? :(

[meeber]

@stefanwalther @ktyacke @embpdaniel

After reviewing the code and associated tests, it appears to me that this behavior was intentional.

expect(<path>).to.not.be.a.file() first asserts that the given path exists. Only if it exists, does it continue on to assert that the given path isn't a file.

That's why you're getting the message "expected path to exist" when you're asserting a non-existent path .to.not.be.a.file().

Therefore, in most cases, what you probably want to do is change your assertion to:

expect(<path>).to.not.be.a.path();

There doesn't appear to be a single assertion that allows you to test that a given path either doesn't exist or it does exist but isn't a file. Personally, I probably would've preferred .to.not.be.a.file() to have this dual effect, but at this point, in order to not break backward compatibility, it seems such a feature would need to be a new assertion as opposed to a modification to the existing one.

[justinireland]

Holy hell, I've been fighting with this all day What a stupid function that clearly does not behave as most would intend.

At least I can confirm @meeber solution works.

[dman777]

I hit this also. Maybe docs might want to note this behavior :)

[fluffynuts]

Goodness. I've also just spent the best part of the last hour trying to figure out why my code was broken -- when it's not. It's this flipping assertion.

Yes, @meeber's fix works, but a path which doesn't exist is not a file (or directory). This function really should not fail for a non-existent path!