"no export data": clearer error message

[kevinburkesegment]

Welcome

• Yes, I've searched similar issues on GitHub and didn't find any.
• I agree to follow this project's Code of Conduct

How did you install golangci-lint?

go install

Your feature request related to a problem? Please describe

"no export data" frequently obscures a more tractable error message - for example a type check failure or other build failure. Many issues reported on Github have this error message attached.

Describe the solution you'd like

If it is possible for goanalysis_metalinter to expose the underlying error, that would be very helpful. Failing that, if the metalinter could detect if the error message contains "no export data", and give a hint - "are you sure the project can be built with no errors?" - that would also help.

Describe alternatives you've considered

We could just keep presenting unclear error messages to end users

Additional context

No response

Supporter

• I am a sponsor through GitHub or OpenCollective

[ldez]

Hello,

There is no additional information we can provide when no export data error occurs.
Also, in most cases, this error is produced by the tooling and not golangci-lint itself.

[kevinburkesegment]

"Are you sure the project can be built with no errors" is additional information - it lets the user know that the error message might be obscuring a deeper error.

It seems like a lot of users are running into this problem and would be helped by additional information. #1920

[ldez]

The error is not typed and, in most cases, it comes from code outside golangci-lint.

You can try to make any argumentum ad populum through our issues (even if this is not respectful), but the reality will not change.

[kevinburkesegment]

Yes, I understand. You said there was "no additional information" but "it comes from code outside golangci-lint" is useful information that you are not presenting to users! You could include this information as part of the error message!

When node-gyp fails, npm includes info that says "this is not a problem with npm or node-gyp", which helps users figure out at least where to start looking.

I'm sure you don't enjoy responding to github issues/discussions which is why I'm confused why you want to continue fielding users questions about "no export data" even though they're typically unrelated to your project.

[ldez]

I neither enjoy nor "don't enjoy" responding to issues.

My answers are concise because I'm not a native speaker, and also because I don't like chit-chat or writing books as answers.

I think my answers were clear enough, but as you are insisting, I have already tried to improve "generic error messages" (#4536), but this is not as trivial as you might think, and doesn't have the consequences you might think.

So, my answer is still the same.

[kevinburkesegment]

It's not just "go mod tidy" as is clear from reading through any of the discussion history.

I submitted #6058 with a potential fix to this issue.

[ldez]

I think I was not clear: the PR I referenced was just an example, not something related directly to this issue.

You are focused on your problem, and you don't understand.

I may reopen your AI-generated PR later, but for now, I'm exasperated.

[kevinburkesegment]

You are focused on your problem, and you don't understand.

To be clear, this is not a problem that I ran into; I'm focused on the problem that engineers at my company are having using golangci-lint. The error presented by the linter is making it difficult to find the actual issue with their code. And a quick scan of the issues discussions page, to say nothing of e.g. the Gophers Slack channel, makes clear that many other users of golangci-lint are running into the same issue.

And what is also clear from reading, is that many people are mis-diagnosing the cause of 'no export data'; which is why I thought it was important to try to update the error message to make more clear where people should look and how to attack the problem.

I may reopen your AI-generated PR later, but for now, I'm exasperated.

It wasn't AI generated, and I probably spent an hour tweaking the logic, recompiling and rerunning, to try to get the error message to present in a clear way. Thanks.

[ldez]

I was analyzing your first PR because maybe it was interesting, and I missed something.

But you opened a 2nd PR... I don't understand this.

Why are your 2 PRs different?

• pkg/goanalysis: expose underlying errors #6058 is trying to find the root cause inside packages and add elements to the error.
• pkg/goanalysis: add better error message for 'no export data' failure #6059 is a simple modification of the message.