Hum, we can't change this now because it would break too many build files, but we could add a new .command(). Not sure what the use-case for that would be, though.

Actually, why are you using .path() at all?

I'm not asking for API change, just to align the documentation to avoid that others go mad trying to figure out why they don't obtain what they are excepting :)

Anyway... I'm using .path() probably because I'm doing something ugly like this:

py3 = find_program('python3')
test('python_pycodestyle', py3,
     workdir: meson.source_root(),
     args: [find_program('pycodestyle').path(), 'python'])

[ many other tests using py3 as interpreter]

I want to test my python code, inside the python directory, against pycodestyle (or other tools like pylint and so on). I want to be sure that I have the tool and I'm going to use it with the right interpreter (sometime I have python2 code, sometime I have python3 code). That way I force the startup script to be interpreted by the correct python version. Maybe there is many simpler ways, that one works absolutely fine for me with parallel installation of python and with linters for both (installed with pip2 and pip3). Previously I was struggling because following the documentation I was doing:

py3 = find_program('python3')
test('python_pycodestyle', py3,
     workdir: meson.source_root(),
     args: find_program('pycodestyle').path() + ['python'])

Hope all that things doesn't looks too silly ;)

Even in your case, when you pass a find_program() object to test() args:, you shouldn't need to use .path(). Passing the object directly should work. Does that not work for you?

I wasn't clever or brave enough to test this way :D but now it doesn't seems to work, look below, maybe I misunderstood your suggestion:

args: find_program('pycodestyle') + ['python']

gives

ERROR: Invalid use of addition: unsupported operand type(s) for +: 'ExternalProgramHolder' and 'list'

args: [find_program('pycodestyle'), 'python']

gives

ERROR: Command line arguments must be strings, files or targets.

Well, that's a bug then, it should work that way. :)

Also I have updated the documentation in git. It should show up on the main website on the next sync.

Thank you very much for the documentation updates and to indicate me (so quickly) the right way to use find_program() in test()!

In the same vein, the following:

project ('test-test')
echo_exe = find_program ('echo')
py = import('python').find_installation()
test ('test', echo_exe, args : [ py ])

fails with:

meson.build:4:0: ERROR: Command line arguments must be strings, files or targets.

Is this the same problem? Using py.path () solves the problem.

Yeah. Can you open a new issue for that?

This was wrongly closed, the linked PR only implemented this for add_*_script and not for test().