MOD-14486: Fix module args handling for odd number of words and flexible merging

[meiravgri]

Summary

Refactors fix_modulesArgs in RLTest/utils.py to support module arguments with any number of values (flags, multi-value args) without requiring semicolons.

Problem

Previously, when modulesArgs was provided as a plain string without semicolons (e.g., 'WORKERS 4 TIMEOUT 80'), the function assumed all arguments were strict key-value pairs and split them into pairs of two words. This broke for:

• Flags (zero-value args) like FORK_GC_CLEAN_NUMERIC_EMPTY_NODES
• Multi-value args like FLAG TIMEOUT 80

An odd number of words caused an IndexError crash.

Solution

Introduced two merge strategies based on input type:

_merge_by_words — for plain strings (no semicolons)

• Keeps the explicit string as a single unsplit blob
• For each default arg, extracts its key (first word) and checks if it appears as a standalone word (case-insensitive) in the explicit string
• If the key is missing, appends the full default arg to the string
• Prevents false substring matches (e.g., GC won't match nogc)

_merge_by_dict — for structured inputs (semicolons or lists)

• Uses the existing dict-based merge logic
• Each arg's key is the first word; explicit keys override defaults

fix_modulesArgs routing

• Detects input type and routes to the appropriate merge function
• Plain string without semicolons → _merge_by_words
• Semicolon-separated string or list input → _merge_by_dict
• None input → deep copy of defaults

Examples

# Plain string with defaults — word-based merge
defaults = [['FORK_GC_CLEAN_NUMERIC_EMPTY_NODES', 'TIMEOUT 90']]
fix_modulesArgs(['/mod.so'], 'workers 0 nogc FORK_GC_CLEAN_NUMERIC_EMPTY_NODES timeout 90', defaults)
# → [['workers 0 nogc FORK_GC_CLEAN_NUMERIC_EMPTY_NODES timeout 90']]
# Both default keys found in explicit string → nothing appended

# Partial override — missing defaults appended
defaults = [['WORKERS 8', 'TIMEOUT 60', 'EXTRA 1']]
fix_modulesArgs(['/mod.so'], 'WORKERS 4 TIMEOUT 80', defaults)
# → [['WORKERS 4 TIMEOUT 80 EXTRA 1']]

# Odd number of words — no crash
fix_modulesArgs(['/mod.so'], 'FLAG TIMEOUT 80')
# → [['FLAG TIMEOUT 80']]

Tests

15 unit tests in tests/unit/test_utils.py covering:

• Plain strings with and without defaults
• Semicolon-separated args
• List and multi-module inputs
• Case-insensitive matching
• Substring collision prevention (GC vs nogc)
• Odd word counts (no crash)
• None input with deep copy verification

[ofiryanai]

Looks more comprehensive and well designed than my #244, closing mine. thanks