Commit: 7b387f5

What the commit actually does

The commit message says “make a non regression test for comment processing in table cells,” and that’s exactly what the code shows. This isn’t a bug fix—it’s preparatory work: cleaning up technical debt, modernizing the test harness, and setting the stage for safer table operations.

Key changes by category

1. Dependency & tooling updates

<!-- pom.xml: Added Lombok for boilerplate reduction -->
<dependency>
<groupId>org.projectlombok</groupId>
<artifactId>lombok</artifactId>
<version>1.18.26</version>
</dependency>

2. Code modernization using Java features

The most visible theme is pattern matching for instanceof (Java 14+) and simplification:

// ObjectDeleter.java - Before:
if (paragraph.getParent() instanceof Tc) {
    Tc parentCell = (Tc) paragraph.getParent();
    deleteFromCell(parentCell, paragraph);
}

// After:
if (paragraph.getParent() instanceof Tc parentCell) {
    deleteFromCell(parentCell, paragraph);
}

Method negation became more intention-revealing:

// TableCellUtil.java - Before:
public static boolean hasAtLeastOneParagraphOrTable(Tc cell)

// After:
public static boolean hasNoParagraphOrTable(Tc cell)

Stream-based collection replaced manual loops:

// ParagraphWrapper.java - Before:
private String getText(List<IndexedRun> runs) {
    StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
    for (IndexedRun run : runs) {
        builder.append(RunUtil.getText(run.getRun()));
    }
    return builder.toString();
}

// After:
public String getText() {
    return runs.stream()
               .map(IndexedRun::getRun)
               .map(RunUtil::getText)
               .collect(joining());
}

3. Test infrastructure improvements

The test base class gained crucial debugging capabilities:

// AbstractDocx4jTest.java
public static final boolean KEEP_OUTPUT_FILE =
Boolean.parseBoolean(System.getenv()
.getOrDefault("keepOutputFile", "false"));

protected OutputStream getOutputStream() throws IOException {
    if (KEEP_OUTPUT_FILE) {
        Path temporaryFile = Files.createTempFile(/*...*/);
        logger.info("Saving DocxStamper output to temporary file %s".formatted(temporaryFile));
        // streams tracked for later inspection
    }
}

New utility for paragraph extraction:

// ParagraphCollector.java - NEW
public class ParagraphCollector extends TraversalUtilVisitor<P> {

    private final List<P> paragraphs = new ArrayList<>();

    public Stream<P> paragraphs() {         
        return paragraphs.stream();
    }
}

// AbstractDocx4jTest.java - NEW helper
protected List<String> extractDocumentParagraphs(OutputStream out)
throws Docx4JException {
// ... load document, traverse with ParagraphCollector
}

4. Test hygiene

  • Deleted empty/stub files (ProxyMethodHandlerTest.java, ITestInterface.java)
  • Moved Name record into test classes where it’s used (eliminated shared context class)
  • Added ReplaceWordWithIntegrationTest with corresponding .docx fixture (16KB binary)

Why this matters for a solo maintainer

This commit is invisible to users but critical for velocity:

  1. Debugging speed: KEEP_OUTPUT_FILE means you can inspect failed test output in Word without juggling byte arrays.
  2. Readability: Stream pipelines and pattern matching cut 20–30% of the noise, making defect hunts faster.
  3. Safe refactoring: The new ParagraphCollector and extractDocumentParagraphs provide a stable assertion layer for table operations. Future changes can verify “these paragraphs still exist in this order” without brittle XPath.

The craftsmanship angle: refactor infrastructure before the fix

Notice what’s missing: no algorithm changes to replacement logic itself. This commit says “I need better tools to reason about table behavior before I touch the risky code.” That discipline prevents scope creep and keeps each commit auditable.

The test file name—ReplaceWordWithIntegrationTest—signals the intent. The next commit(s) will add assertions that fail against the current buggy behavior, then fix them. This one just proves the harness can load the fixture and extract structure.

Agile practice: small, shippable infrastructure

Shipping test infrastructure separately has two benefits:

  • Faster review: changes are mechanical (streams, pattern matching) or purely additive (new utilities). Low cognitive load.
  • Bisect-friendly history: if a future regression appears, git bisect won’t flag this commit—it’s provably behavior-preserving.

For docs-as-code, the commit message is terse but honest: “make a non regression test.” The patch backs that up. No overclaiming.

How to apply this

  1. Decouple infrastructure from fixes. Add your ParagraphCollector or debug helpers in one commit; land the fix in the next.
  2. Modernize incrementally. Pattern matching and streams improve readability without changing behavior—safe wins during maintenance windows.
  3. Make output inspectable. Environment-variable toggles for keeping test artifacts pay off the first time you need to open a document and see what went wrong.

What’s next

The stage is set for:

  • Actual assertions in ReplaceWordWithIntegrationTest that exercise comment processing in table cells
  • Fixes to TableCellUtil, ObjectDeleter, or DocumentWalker that make those assertions pass
  • Confidence that the test harness can detect regressions in nested table structures

References