The --javaArgs argument is parsed incorrectly when using the CLI

[MackinnonBuck]

Summary

When using the command line interface, the --javaArgs argument value gets interpreted as a string and expanded to an array containing each character in the string. For example, in the case of --javaArgs=-Dfoobar, the "-Dfoobar" gets expanded to ['-', 'D', 'f', 'o', 'o', 'b,' 'a', 'r'].

This is where the expansion occurs:

selenium-standalone/lib/start.js

Line 145 in 0c4041c

args.push(...opts.javaArgs, '-jar', fsPaths.selenium.installPath, ...opts.seleniumArgs);

This is fine when using the API directly, because opts.javaArgs is expected to be an array. However, the parsing logic for the CLI doesn't appear to take this into account.

Expected Behavior

The --javaArgs argument value should be correctly parsed and passed through to selenium-server.

Current Behavior

Each character in the --javaArgs argument value is passed as a separate argument to selenium-server.

Steps to Reproduce

npm install selenium-standalone -g
selenium-standalone install
selenium-standalone start --javaArgs=-Xmx512m

Logs

Unrecognized option: -
Error: Could not create the Java Virtual Machine.
Error: A fatal exception has occurred. Program will exit.
/home/currentuser/.nvm/versions/node/v16.17.1/lib/node_modules/selenium-standalone/lib/check-started.js:44
      throw new Error(
            ^

Error: Selenium exited before it could start with code 1
Stdout:
Stderr:
    at checkStarted (/home/currentuser/.nvm/versions/node/v16.17.1/lib/node_modules/selenium-standalone/lib/check-started.js:44:13)
    at async Object.start (/home/currentuser/.nvm/versions/node/v16.17.1/lib/node_modules/selenium-standalone/lib/start.js:160:3)
    at async Object.start (/home/currentuser/.nvm/versions/node/v16.17.1/lib/node_modules/selenium-standalone/bin/selenium-standalone:23:16)

Your Environment

• Version of selenium-standalone that you are using: 8.2.4
• Is there another tool calling selenium-standalone on your behalf: No
• System/platform: Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS
• Other details that might be important:
  This bug was encountered in Update selenium dependency versions dotnet/aspnetcore#44834

[christian-bromann]

Thanks for reporting!

Any contributions that resolves the bug are highly appreciated. Please take a look into our contribution guidelines and let us know if you have any questions. Cheers!

[erwinheitzman]

Resolved by #852 when released