Issue 746 — testsuite::delete() returns null: no test suite can be deleted via PHP API

Issue: #746 Branch: fix/issue-746-testsuite-delete · Commit: 2d1218b10 (fix, +1/-0) Status: FIXED & VERIFIED (2026-08-26)

Symptom

testsuite::delete($suiteId) returns null for ALL test suites when called via the PHP API (BFF suite_delete action). The BFF endpoint reports:

{"status":"ok","message":"Suite deleted","result":null}

Programmatic callers checking the return value see a falsy null and conclude deletion failed, even though the SQL DELETE operations execute correctly at the database level.

Reproduced live against http://localhost:8082 (PHP 8.x, MariaDB): fixtures created through the BFF API, deletion confirmed working at DB level but returning null to callers.

Root cause chain

1. lib/functions/testsuite.class.php:287-318 — testsuite::delete() has NO return statement. PHP functions without explicit returns yield null.
2. api/testcases/index.php:882-883 — BFF API captures this null: $ret = $tsuiteMgr->delete($sid); and includes it as "result": $ret.
3. lib/functions/testcase.class.php:1655 — testcase::delete() returns 1 on success, establishing the expected pattern that testsuite::delete() violates.

Blast radius

• testsuite::delete() callers:
  • api/testcases/index.php:882 (BFF suite_delete) — affected: null result
  • lib/testcases/containerEdit.php:659 via delete_deep() — not affected: return value is never checked
• All programmatic consumers of testsuite::delete() receive falsy null, unable to verify deletion success.

Approach — add return statement (minimal)

At the end of testsuite::delete(), add return true; after the final event_signal() call.

Rejected alternatives:

• Changing the return type to a result map (like create() returns {status_ok, msg, id}) — over-engineered for a delete method; the existing testcase::delete() only returns 1.
• Adding parameter validation or null checks on $tsuite_info — out of scope; the method works correctly for valid IDs.

Verification (Suite 746 — all PASS, see tmp/TLU_Test_Cases.md)

Case	Result
TC-746-01 BFF API suite_delete returns "result":true	PASS
TC-746-02 Suite + child TC fully cleaned up after delete	PASS
TC-746-03 Pre-fix returned null, post-fix returns true	PASS
Event Viewer	No new Error/Warning entries
php -l lib/functions/testsuite.class.php	No syntax errors