FIX: compare_entities now raises an error when trying to compare abstract properties directly

src/caosdb/apiutils.py

@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ def compare_entities(old_entity: Entity, new_entity: Entity,
     of circular references).
 
     NOTE: This function does not work for abstract properties! I.e. it is not possible
-          to directly compare two entities that are of class db.Property.
+          to directly compare two entities that are of class caosdb.Property.
 
     Parameters
     ----------
@@ -233,6 +233,12 @@ def compare_entities(old_entity: Entity, new_entity: Entity,
         identical records are stored in different objects. Default is False.
 
     """
+
+    for entity in (old_entity, new_entity):
+        if isinstance(entity, Property):
+            raise NotImplementedError("The function compare_entities does not work for "
+                                      "comparing abstract properties.")
+    
     olddiff: Dict[str, Any] = {"properties": {}, "parents": []}
     newdiff: Dict[str, Any] = {"properties": {}, "parents": []}
 

unittests/test_apiutils.py

@@ -130,6 +130,10 @@ def test_compare_entities():
     assert "tests_234234" in diff_r1["properties"]
     assert "tests_TT" in diff_r2["properties"]
 
+    # Check the value:
+    assert diff_r1["properties"]["tests"]["value"] == 3
+    assert diff_r2["properties"]["tests"]["value"] == 45
+
 def test_compare_equality():
     r1 = db.Record()
     r2 = db.Record()
@@ -187,6 +191,10 @@ def test_compare_entities_units():
     assert diff_r1["properties"]["test"]["unit"] == "cm"
     assert diff_r2["properties"]["test"]["unit"] == "m"
 
+    # Check the value:
+    assert diff_r1["properties"]["tests"]["value"] == 3
+    assert diff_r2["properties"]["tests"]["value"] == 45
+
 
 def test_compare_special_properties():
     # Test for all known special properties:
@@ -247,46 +255,13 @@ def test_compare_importances():
         assert len(diff["parents"]) == 0
     
 
-@pytest.mark.xfail
 def test_compare_properties():
     p1 = db.Property()
     p2 = db.Property()
 
-    diff_r1, diff_r2 = compare_entities(p1, p2)
-    assert len(diff_r1["parents"]) == 0
-    assert len(diff_r2["parents"]) == 0
-    assert len(diff_r1["properties"]) == 0
-    assert len(diff_r2["properties"]) == 0
-
-    p1.importance = "SUGGESTED"
-    diff_r1, diff_r2 = compare_entities(p1, p2)
-    assert len(diff_r1["parents"]) == 0
-    assert len(diff_r2["parents"]) == 0
-    assert len(diff_r1["properties"]) == 0
-    assert len(diff_r2["properties"]) == 0
-    assert "importance" in diff_r1
-    assert diff_r1["importance"] == "SUGGESTED"
-
-    # TODO: I'm not sure why it is not like this:
-    # assert diff_r2["importance"] is None
-    # ... but:
-    assert "importance" not in diff_r2
-
-    p2.importance = "SUGGESTED"
-    p1.value = 42
-    p2.value = 4
-
-    diff_r1, diff_r2 = compare_entities(p1, p2)
-    assert len(diff_r1["parents"]) == 0
-    assert len(diff_r2["parents"]) == 0
-    assert len(diff_r1["properties"]) == 0
-    assert len(diff_r2["properties"]) == 0
-
-    # Comparing values currently does not seem to be implemented:
-    assert "value" in diff_r1
-    assert diff_r1["value"] == 42
-    assert "value" in diff_r2
-    assert diff_r2["value"] == 4
+    with pytest.raises(NotImplementedError, match=".*abstract properties.*"):
+        compare_entities(p1, p2)
+    
 
 
 def test_copy_entities():