An easier way to partial match metric attributes is needed for the metricdatatest assert functions

[MrAlias]

Problem Statement

I'm always frustrated when I need to assert an incomplete set of attributes exist for a metric using the metricdatatest assert functions.

For example, I know all of my sums should contain the attribute.String("statement", "INSERT") attribute, but they will also contain an attribute describing the host. The host changes every test, therefore, I only want to assert the attribute set contains the known attribute and not fail because it also contains extra attributes.

Proposed Solution

Add an option to support this

Alternatives

Define a new type in the attribute package that acts as a "minimal set" and when compared to a Set it would do the desired comparison.

[paivagustavo]

This is probably about the default resources (sorry if it is not), would there be a way to create a mock for the default resources during tests, making them deterministic or at least using an empty resource for those cases?

I feel like having exact matches for tests is better and lead to less buggy code than checking for a subset of things.

[MrAlias]

This is probably about the default resources (sorry if it is not), would there be a way to create a mock for the default resources during tests, making them deterministic or at least using an empty resource for those cases?

I feel like having exact matches for tests is better and lead to less buggy code than checking for a subset of things.

It was for metric instruments: https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go-contrib/pull/2962/files#diff-4952dc7ae3d29c757b4554040c9b95d338aeb80ce6f88691cf17f845280f78e6R378-R392

Though I do wonder if we should provide something that says "check for the default resource".

[MrAlias]

#3487 adds a function to assert a type has a set of attributes, but it does not resolve this issue. It is still not possible to compare a minimal set of attributes are contained by a type.

The function added in #3487 may need to be updated to accept a configuration to signal this type of comparison, or another function will need to be added. We need to have a plan prior to GA as this will be an API breaking change to add a config.

[MadVikingGod]

#3487 does allow for a partial match. It specifically checks if attrs is a subset of every attribute.Set in the collection or datapoint.

Here is an example: https://go.dev/play/p/2gAJjYE_SC0
If any of the datapoints did not have "statement": "INSERT" in their attributes it would fail.

[MrAlias]

#3487 does allow for a partial match. It specifically checks if attrs is a subset of every attribute.Set in the collection or datapoint.

Here is an example: https://go.dev/play/p/2gAJjYE_SC0 If any of the datapoints did not have "statement": "INSERT" in their attributes it would fail.

Hmm, yeah, that looks correct. I'm not sure why I thought otherwise 😕.

Closing then as this looks resolved by #3487