feat(config): add support for multiple boolean formats in environment variables.

Add `is_truthy()` function to accept `True`, `true`, and `1` as boolean `True` values when reading environment variables. This makes configuration more flexible and user-friendly.

- Add new `is_truthy()` utility function in config.py
- Update environment variable checks in options.py to use the new function
- Add parametrized tests to verify functionality with various input values

Signed-off-by: Paulo Vital <[email protected]>

Author: pvital

src/instana/options.py

@@ -14,17 +14,15 @@
     - GCROptions - Options class for Google cloud Run.  Holds settings specific to GCR.
 """
 
-import os
 import logging
+import os
 from typing import Any, Dict
 
+from instana.configurator import config
 from instana.log import logger
-from instana.util.config import (
-    parse_ignored_endpoints,
-    parse_ignored_endpoints_from_yaml,
-)
+from instana.util.config import (is_truthy, parse_ignored_endpoints,
+                                 parse_ignored_endpoints_from_yaml)
 from instana.util.runtime import determine_service_name
-from instana.configurator import config
 
 
 class BaseOptions(object):
@@ -76,10 +74,9 @@ def set_trace_configurations(self) -> None:
                 str(os.environ["INSTANA_EXTRA_HTTP_HEADERS"]).lower().split(";")
             )
 
-        if "1" in [
-            os.environ.get("INSTANA_ALLOW_EXIT_AS_ROOT", None),  # deprecated
-            os.environ.get("INSTANA_ALLOW_ROOT_EXIT_SPAN", None),
-        ]:
+        # Check if either of the environment variables is truthy
+        if is_truthy(os.environ.get("INSTANA_ALLOW_EXIT_AS_ROOT", None)) or \
+           is_truthy(os.environ.get("INSTANA_ALLOW_ROOT_EXIT_SPAN", None)):
             self.allow_exit_as_root = True
 
         # The priority is as follows:
@@ -102,9 +99,7 @@ def set_trace_configurations(self) -> None:
             )
 
         if "INSTANA_KAFKA_TRACE_CORRELATION" in os.environ:
-            self.kafka_trace_correlation = (
-                os.environ["INSTANA_KAFKA_TRACE_CORRELATION"].lower() == "true"
-            )
+            self.kafka_trace_correlation = is_truthy(os.environ["INSTANA_KAFKA_TRACE_CORRELATION"])
         elif isinstance(config.get("tracing"), dict) and "kafka" in config["tracing"]:
             self.kafka_trace_correlation = config["tracing"]["kafka"].get(
                 "trace_correlation", True
@@ -167,8 +162,8 @@ def set_tracing(self, tracing: Dict[str, Any]) -> None:
                 )
                 and "trace-correlation" in tracing["kafka"]
             ):
-                self.kafka_trace_correlation = (
-                    str(tracing["kafka"].get("trace-correlation", True)) == "true"
+                self.kafka_trace_correlation = is_truthy(
+                    tracing["kafka"].get("trace-correlation", True)
                 )
 
             if (

src/instana/util/config.py

@@ -146,3 +146,34 @@ def parse_ignored_endpoints_from_yaml(file_path: str) -> List[str]:
         return ignored_endpoints
     else:
         return []
+
+
+def is_truthy(value: Any) -> bool:
+    """
+    Check if a value is truthy, accepting various formats.
+    
+    @param value: The value to check
+    @return: True if the value is considered truthy, False otherwise
+    
+    Accepts the following as True:
+    - True (Python boolean)
+    - "True", "true" (case-insensitive string)
+    - "1" (string)
+    - 1 (integer)
+    """
+    if value is None:
+        return False
+    
+    if isinstance(value, bool):
+        return value
+    
+    if isinstance(value, int):
+        return value == 1
+    
+    if isinstance(value, str):
+        value_lower = value.lower()
+        return value_lower == "true" or value == "1"
+    
+    return False
+
+# Made with Bob

tests/util/test_config.py

@@ -1,12 +1,11 @@
 # (c) Copyright IBM Corp. 2025
 
-from instana.util.config import (
-    parse_endpoints_of_service,
-    parse_ignored_endpoints,
-    parse_ignored_endpoints_dict,
-    parse_kafka_methods,
-    parse_service_pair,
-)
+import pytest
+
+from instana.util.config import (is_truthy, parse_endpoints_of_service,
+                                 parse_ignored_endpoints,
+                                 parse_ignored_endpoints_dict,
+                                 parse_kafka_methods, parse_service_pair)
 
 
 class TestConfig:
@@ -168,3 +167,24 @@ def test_parse_kafka_methods_as_str(self) -> None:
         test_rule_as_str = ["send"]
         parsed_rule = parse_kafka_methods(test_rule_as_str)
         assert parsed_rule == ["kafka.send.*"]
+        
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("value, expected", [
+        (True, True),
+        (False, False),
+        ("True", True),
+        ("true", True),
+        ("1", True),
+        (1, True),
+        ("False", False),
+        ("false", False),
+        ("0", False),
+        (0, False),
+        (None, False),
+        ("TRUE", True),
+        ("FALSE", False),
+        ("yes", False),  # Only "true" and "1" are considered truthy
+        ("no", False),
+    ])
+    def test_is_truthy(self, value, expected) -> None:
+        """Test the is_truthy function with various input values."""
+        assert is_truthy(value) == expected