test: Uniformly canonicalize actual and expected JSON

Previously, we used a variety of ad-hoc canonicalizations for JSON
output in the test suite, but were ultimately very sensitive to JSON
irrelevancies such as whitespace.  This introduces a new test
comparison function, test_expect_equal_json, that first pretty-prints
*both* the actual and expected JSON and the compares the result.

The current implementation of this simply uses Python's json.tool to
perform pretty-printing (with a fallback to the identity function if
parsing fails).  However, since the interface it introduces is
semantically high-level, we could swap in other mechanisms in the
future, such as another pretty-printer or something that does not
re-order object keys (if we decide that we care about that).

In general, this patch does not remove the existing ad-hoc
canonicalization because it does no harm.  We do have to remove the
newline-after-comma rule from notmuch_json_show_sanitize and
filter_show_json because it results in invalid JSON that cannot be
pretty-printed.

Most of this patch simply replaces test_expect_equal and
test_expect_equal_file with test_expect_equal_json.  It changes the
expected JSON in a few places where sanitizers had placed newlines
after commas inside strings.

6 files changed, 55 insertions, 60 deletions

diff --git a/test/crypto b/test/crypto
index be752b1..5dd14c4 100755
--- a/test/crypto
+++ b/test/crypto
@@ -51,8 +51,7 @@ expected='[[[{"id": "XXXXX",
  "headers": {"Subject": "test signed message 001",
  "From": "Notmuch Test Suite <test_suite@notmuchmail.org>",
  "To": "test_suite@notmuchmail.org",
- "Date": "Sat,
- 01 Jan 2000 12:00:00 +0000"},
+ "Date": "Sat, 01 Jan 2000 12:00:00 +0000"},
  "body": [{"id": 1,
  "sigstatus": [{"status": "good",
  "fingerprint": "'$FINGERPRINT'",
@@ -64,7 +63,7 @@ expected='[[[{"id": "XXXXX",
  {"id": 3,
  "content-type": "application/pgp-signature"}]}]},
  []]]]'
-test_expect_equal \
+test_expect_equal_json \
     "$output" \
     "$expected"
 
@@ -85,8 +84,7 @@ expected='[[[{"id": "XXXXX",
  "headers": {"Subject": "test signed message 001",
  "From": "Notmuch Test Suite <test_suite@notmuchmail.org>",
  "To": "test_suite@notmuchmail.org",
- "Date": "Sat,
- 01 Jan 2000 12:00:00 +0000"},
+ "Date": "Sat, 01 Jan 2000 12:00:00 +0000"},
  "body": [{"id": 1,
  "sigstatus": [{"status": "good",
  "fingerprint": "'$FINGERPRINT'",
@@ -99,7 +97,7 @@ expected='[[[{"id": "XXXXX",
  {"id": 3,
  "content-type": "application/pgp-signature"}]}]},
  []]]]'
-test_expect_equal \
+test_expect_equal_json \
     "$output" \
     "$expected"
 
@@ -119,8 +117,7 @@ expected='[[[{"id": "XXXXX",
  "headers": {"Subject": "test signed message 001",
  "From": "Notmuch Test Suite <test_suite@notmuchmail.org>",
  "To": "test_suite@notmuchmail.org",
- "Date": "Sat,
- 01 Jan 2000 12:00:00 +0000"},
+ "Date": "Sat, 01 Jan 2000 12:00:00 +0000"},
  "body": [{"id": 1,
  "sigstatus": [{"status": "error",
  "keyid": "'$(echo $FINGERPRINT | cut -c 25-)'",
@@ -132,7 +129,7 @@ expected='[[[{"id": "XXXXX",
  {"id": 3,
  "content-type": "application/pgp-signature"}]}]},
  []]]]'
-test_expect_equal \
+test_expect_equal_json \
     "$output" \
     "$expected"
 mv "${GNUPGHOME}"{.bak,}
@@ -193,8 +190,7 @@ expected='[[[{"id": "XXXXX",
  "headers": {"Subject": "test encrypted message 001",
  "From": "Notmuch Test Suite <test_suite@notmuchmail.org>",
  "To": "test_suite@notmuchmail.org",
- "Date": "Sat,
- 01 Jan 2000 12:00:00 +0000"},
+ "Date": "Sat, 01 Jan 2000 12:00:00 +0000"},
  "body": [{"id": 1,
  "encstatus": [{"status": "good"}],
  "sigstatus": [],
@@ -210,7 +206,7 @@ expected='[[[{"id": "XXXXX",
  "content-type": "application/octet-stream",
  "filename": "TESTATTACHMENT"}]}]}]},
  []]]]'
-test_expect_equal \
+test_expect_equal_json \
     "$output" \
     "$expected"
 
@@ -221,7 +217,7 @@ output=$(notmuch show --format=json --part=4 --decrypt subject:"test encrypted m
 expected='{"id": 4,
  "content-type": "text/plain",
  "content": "This is a test encrypted message.\n"}'
-test_expect_equal \
+test_expect_equal_json \
     "$output" \
     "$expected"
 
@@ -248,8 +244,7 @@ expected='[[[{"id": "XXXXX",
  "headers": {"Subject": "test encrypted message 001",
  "From": "Notmuch Test Suite <test_suite@notmuchmail.org>",
  "To": "test_suite@notmuchmail.org",
- "Date": "Sat,
- 01 Jan 2000 12:00:00 +0000"},
+ "Date": "Sat, 01 Jan 2000 12:00:00 +0000"},
  "body": [{"id": 1,
  "encstatus": [{"status": "bad"}],
  "content-type": "multipart/encrypted",
@@ -258,7 +253,7 @@ expected='[[[{"id": "XXXXX",
  {"id": 3,
  "content-type": "application/octet-stream"}]}]},
  []]]]'
-test_expect_equal \
+test_expect_equal_json \
     "$output" \
     "$expected"
 mv "${GNUPGHOME}"{.bak,}
@@ -283,8 +278,7 @@ expected='[[[{"id": "XXXXX",
  "headers": {"Subject": "test encrypted message 002",
  "From": "Notmuch Test Suite <test_suite@notmuchmail.org>",
  "To": "test_suite@notmuchmail.org",
- "Date": "Sat,
- 01 Jan 2000 12:00:00 +0000"},
+ "Date": "Sat, 01 Jan 2000 12:00:00 +0000"},
  "body": [{"id": 1,
  "encstatus": [{"status": "good"}],
  "sigstatus": [{"status": "good",
@@ -298,7 +292,7 @@ expected='[[[{"id": "XXXXX",
  "content-type": "text/plain",
  "content": "This is another test encrypted message.\n"}]}]},
  []]]]'
-test_expect_equal \
+test_expect_equal_json \
     "$output" \
     "$expected"
 
@@ -338,8 +332,7 @@ expected='[[[{"id": "XXXXX",
  "headers": {"Subject": "test signed message 001",
  "From": "Notmuch Test Suite <test_suite@notmuchmail.org>",
  "To": "test_suite@notmuchmail.org",
- "Date": "Sat,
- 01 Jan 2000 12:00:00 +0000"},
+ "Date": "Sat, 01 Jan 2000 12:00:00 +0000"},
  "body": [{"id": 1,
  "sigstatus": [{"status": "error",
  "keyid": "6D92612D94E46381",
@@ -351,7 +344,7 @@ expected='[[[{"id": "XXXXX",
  {"id": 3,
  "content-type": "application/pgp-signature"}]}]},
  []]]]'
-test_expect_equal \
+test_expect_equal_json \
     "$output" \
     "$expected"
 
diff --git a/test/json b/test/json
index 831e105..d86ee46 100755
--- a/test/json
+++ b/test/json
@@ -5,21 +5,21 @@ test_description="--format=json output"
 test_begin_subtest "Show message: json"
 add_message "[subject]=\"json-show-subject\"" "[date]=\"Sat, 01 Jan 2000 12:00:00 -0000\"" "[body]=\"json-show-message\""
 output=$(notmuch show --format=json "json-show-message")
-test_expect_equal "$output" "[[[{\"id\": \"${gen_msg_id}\", \"match\": true, \"excluded\": false, \"filename\": \"${gen_msg_filename}\", \"timestamp\": 946728000, \"date_relative\": \"2000-01-01\", \"tags\": [\"inbox\",\"unread\"], \"headers\": {\"Subject\": \"json-show-subject\", \"From\": \"Notmuch Test Suite <test_suite@notmuchmail.org>\", \"To\": \"Notmuch Test Suite <test_suite@notmuchmail.org>\", \"Date\": \"Sat, 01 Jan 2000 12:00:00 +0000\"}, \"body\": [{\"id\": 1, \"content-type\": \"text/plain\", \"content\": \"json-show-message\n\"}]}, []]]]"
+test_expect_equal_json "$output" "[[[{\"id\": \"${gen_msg_id}\", \"match\": true, \"excluded\": false, \"filename\": \"${gen_msg_filename}\", \"timestamp\": 946728000, \"date_relative\": \"2000-01-01\", \"tags\": [\"inbox\",\"unread\"], \"headers\": {\"Subject\": \"json-show-subject\", \"From\": \"Notmuch Test Suite <test_suite@notmuchmail.org>\", \"To\": \"Notmuch Test Suite <test_suite@notmuchmail.org>\", \"Date\": \"Sat, 01 Jan 2000 12:00:00 +0000\"}, \"body\": [{\"id\": 1, \"content-type\": \"text/plain\", \"content\": \"json-show-message\n\"}]}, []]]]"
 
 # This should be the same output as above.
 test_begin_subtest "Show message: json --body=true"
 output=$(notmuch show --format=json --body=true "json-show-message")
-test_expect_equal "$output" "[[[{\"id\": \"${gen_msg_id}\", \"match\": true, \"excluded\": false, \"filename\": \"${gen_msg_filename}\", \"timestamp\": 946728000, \"date_relative\": \"2000-01-01\", \"tags\": [\"inbox\",\"unread\"], \"headers\": {\"Subject\": \"json-show-subject\", \"From\": \"Notmuch Test Suite <test_suite@notmuchmail.org>\", \"To\": \"Notmuch Test Suite <test_suite@notmuchmail.org>\", \"Date\": \"Sat, 01 Jan 2000 12:00:00 +0000\"}, \"body\": [{\"id\": 1, \"content-type\": \"text/plain\", \"content\": \"json-show-message\n\"}]}, []]]]"
+test_expect_equal_json "$output" "[[[{\"id\": \"${gen_msg_id}\", \"match\": true, \"excluded\": false, \"filename\": \"${gen_msg_filename}\", \"timestamp\": 946728000, \"date_relative\": \"2000-01-01\", \"tags\": [\"inbox\",\"unread\"], \"headers\": {\"Subject\": \"json-show-subject\", \"From\": \"Notmuch Test Suite <test_suite@notmuchmail.org>\", \"To\": \"Notmuch Test Suite <test_suite@notmuchmail.org>\", \"Date\": \"Sat, 01 Jan 2000 12:00:00 +0000\"}, \"body\": [{\"id\": 1, \"content-type\": \"text/plain\", \"content\": \"json-show-message\n\"}]}, []]]]"
 
 test_begin_subtest "Show message: json --body=false"
 output=$(notmuch show --format=json --body=false "json-show-message")
-test_expect_equal "$output" "[[[{\"id\": \"${gen_msg_id}\", \"match\": true, \"excluded\": false, \"filename\": \"${gen_msg_filename}\", \"timestamp\": 946728000, \"date_relative\": \"2000-01-01\", \"tags\": [\"inbox\",\"unread\"], \"headers\": {\"Subject\": \"json-show-subject\", \"From\": \"Notmuch Test Suite <test_suite@notmuchmail.org>\", \"To\": \"Notmuch Test Suite <test_suite@notmuchmail.org>\", \"Date\": \"Sat, 01 Jan 2000 12:00:00 +0000\"}}, []]]]"
+test_expect_equal_json "$output" "[[[{\"id\": \"${gen_msg_id}\", \"match\": true, \"excluded\": false, \"filename\": \"${gen_msg_filename}\", \"timestamp\": 946728000, \"date_relative\": \"2000-01-01\", \"tags\": [\"inbox\",\"unread\"], \"headers\": {\"Subject\": \"json-show-subject\", \"From\": \"Notmuch Test Suite <test_suite@notmuchmail.org>\", \"To\": \"Notmuch Test Suite <test_suite@notmuchmail.org>\", \"Date\": \"Sat, 01 Jan 2000 12:00:00 +0000\"}}, []]]]"
 
 test_begin_subtest "Search message: json"
 add_message "[subject]=\"json-search-subject\"" "[date]=\"Sat, 01 Jan 2000 12:00:00 -0000\"" "[body]=\"json-search-message\""
 output=$(notmuch search --format=json "json-search-message" | notmuch_json_show_sanitize | notmuch_search_sanitize)
-test_expect_equal "$output" "[{\"thread\": \"XXX\",
+test_expect_equal_json "$output" "[{\"thread\": \"XXX\",
  \"timestamp\": 946728000,
  \"date_relative\": \"2000-01-01\",
  \"matched\": 1,
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ test_expect_equal "$output" "[{\"thread\": \"XXX\",
 test_begin_subtest "Show message: json, utf-8"
 add_message "[subject]=\"json-show-utf8-body-sübjéct\"" "[date]=\"Sat, 01 Jan 2000 12:00:00 -0000\"" "[body]=\"jsön-show-méssage\""
 output=$(notmuch show --format=json "jsön-show-méssage")
-test_expect_equal "$output" "[[[{\"id\": \"${gen_msg_id}\", \"match\": true, \"excluded\": false, \"filename\": \"${gen_msg_filename}\", \"timestamp\": 946728000, \"date_relative\": \"2000-01-01\", \"tags\": [\"inbox\",\"unread\"], \"headers\": {\"Subject\": \"json-show-utf8-body-sübjéct\", \"From\": \"Notmuch Test Suite <test_suite@notmuchmail.org>\", \"To\": \"Notmuch Test Suite <test_suite@notmuchmail.org>\", \"Date\": \"Sat, 01 Jan 2000 12:00:00 +0000\"}, \"body\": [{\"id\": 1, \"content-type\": \"text/plain\", \"content\": \"jsön-show-méssage\n\"}]}, []]]]"
+test_expect_equal_json "$output" "[[[{\"id\": \"${gen_msg_id}\", \"match\": true, \"excluded\": false, \"filename\": \"${gen_msg_filename}\", \"timestamp\": 946728000, \"date_relative\": \"2000-01-01\", \"tags\": [\"inbox\",\"unread\"], \"headers\": {\"Subject\": \"json-show-utf8-body-sübjéct\", \"From\": \"Notmuch Test Suite <test_suite@notmuchmail.org>\", \"To\": \"Notmuch Test Suite <test_suite@notmuchmail.org>\", \"Date\": \"Sat, 01 Jan 2000 12:00:00 +0000\"}, \"body\": [{\"id\": 1, \"content-type\": \"text/plain\", \"content\": \"jsön-show-méssage\n\"}]}, []]]]"
 
 test_begin_subtest "Show message: json, inline attachment filename"
 subject='json-show-inline-attachment-filename'
@@ -45,12 +45,12 @@ emacs_deliver_message \
      (insert \"Message-ID: <$id>\n\")"
 output=$(notmuch show --format=json "id:$id")
 filename=$(notmuch search --output=files "id:$id")
-test_expect_equal "$output" "[[[{\"id\": \"$id\", \"match\": true, \"excluded\": false, \"filename\": \"$filename\", \"timestamp\": 946728000, \"date_relative\": \"2000-01-01\", \"tags\": [\"inbox\"], \"headers\": {\"Subject\": \"$subject\", \"From\": \"Notmuch Test Suite <test_suite@notmuchmail.org>\", \"To\": \"test_suite@notmuchmail.org\", \"Date\": \"Sat, 01 Jan 2000 12:00:00 +0000\"}, \"body\": [{\"id\": 1, \"content-type\": \"multipart/mixed\", \"content\": [{\"id\": 2, \"content-type\": \"text/plain\", \"content\": \"This is a test message with inline attachment with a filename\"}, {\"id\": 3, \"content-type\": \"application/octet-stream\", \"filename\": \"README\"}]}]}, []]]]"
+test_expect_equal_json "$output" "[[[{\"id\": \"$id\", \"match\": true, \"excluded\": false, \"filename\": \"$filename\", \"timestamp\": 946728000, \"date_relative\": \"2000-01-01\", \"tags\": [\"inbox\"], \"headers\": {\"Subject\": \"$subject\", \"From\": \"Notmuch Test Suite <test_suite@notmuchmail.org>\", \"To\": \"test_suite@notmuchmail.org\", \"Date\": \"Sat, 01 Jan 2000 12:00:00 +0000\"}, \"body\": [{\"id\": 1, \"content-type\": \"multipart/mixed\", \"content\": [{\"id\": 2, \"content-type\": \"text/plain\", \"content\": \"This is a test message with inline attachment with a filename\"}, {\"id\": 3, \"content-type\": \"application/octet-stream\", \"filename\": \"README\"}]}]}, []]]]"
 
 test_begin_subtest "Search message: json, utf-8"
 add_message "[subject]=\"json-search-utf8-body-sübjéct\"" "[date]=\"Sat, 01 Jan 2000 12:00:00 -0000\"" "[body]=\"jsön-search-méssage\""
 output=$(notmuch search --format=json "jsön-search-méssage" | notmuch_json_show_sanitize | notmuch_search_sanitize)
-test_expect_equal "$output" "[{\"thread\": \"XXX\",
+test_expect_equal_json "$output" "[{\"thread\": \"XXX\",
  \"timestamp\": 946728000,
  \"date_relative\": \"2000-01-01\",
  \"matched\": 1,
diff --git a/test/maildir-sync b/test/maildir-sync
index 01348d3..b748d04 100755
--- a/test/maildir-sync
+++ b/test/maildir-sync
@@ -4,11 +4,9 @@ test_description="maildir synchronization"
 
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
-# Much easier to examine differences if the "notmuch show
-# --format=json" output includes some newlines. Also, need to avoid
-# including the local value of MAIL_DIR in the result.
+# Avoid including the local value of MAIL_DIR in the result.
 filter_show_json() {
-    sed -e 's/, /,\n/g'  | sed -e "s|${MAIL_DIR}/|MAIL_DIR/|"
+    sed -e "s|${MAIL_DIR}/|MAIL_DIR/|"
     echo
 }
 
@@ -44,7 +42,7 @@ test_expect_equal "$output" "adding-replied-tag:2,RS"
 
 test_begin_subtest "notmuch show works with renamed file (without notmuch new)"
 output=$(notmuch show --format=json id:${gen_msg_id} | filter_show_json)
-test_expect_equal "$output" '[[[{"id": "adding-replied-tag@notmuch-test-suite",
+test_expect_equal_json "$output" '[[[{"id": "adding-replied-tag@notmuch-test-suite",
 "match": true,
 "excluded": false,
 "filename": "MAIL_DIR/cur/adding-replied-tag:2,RS",
@@ -54,8 +52,7 @@ test_expect_equal "$output" '[[[{"id": "adding-replied-tag@notmuch-test-suite",
 "headers": {"Subject": "Adding replied tag",
 "From": "Notmuch Test Suite <test_suite@notmuchmail.org>",
 "To": "Notmuch Test Suite <test_suite@notmuchmail.org>",
-"Date": "Fri,
-05 Jan 2001 15:43:57 +0000"},
+"Date": "Fri, 05 Jan 2001 15:43:57 +0000"},
 "body": [{"id": 1,
 "content-type": "text/plain",
 "content": "This is just a test message (#3)\n"}]},
diff --git a/test/multipart b/test/multipart
index 72d3927..3ccf27f 100755
--- a/test/multipart
+++ b/test/multipart
@@ -334,7 +334,7 @@ cat <<EOF >EXPECTED
 {"id": 8, "content-type": "text/plain", "content": "And this message is signed.\n\n-Carl\n"}]}, 
 {"id": 9, "content-type": "application/pgp-signature"}]}]}
 EOF
-test_expect_equal_file OUTPUT EXPECTED
+test_expect_equal_json "$(cat OUTPUT)" "$(cat EXPECTED)"
 
 test_begin_subtest "--format=json --part=1, message body"
 notmuch show --format=json --part=1 'id:87liy5ap00.fsf@yoom.home.cworth.org' | sed 's|{"id":|\n{"id":|g' >OUTPUT
@@ -351,7 +351,7 @@ cat <<EOF >EXPECTED
 {"id": 8, "content-type": "text/plain", "content": "And this message is signed.\n\n-Carl\n"}]}, 
 {"id": 9, "content-type": "application/pgp-signature"}]}
 EOF
-test_expect_equal_file OUTPUT EXPECTED
+test_expect_equal_json "$(cat OUTPUT)" "$(cat EXPECTED)"
 
 test_begin_subtest "--format=json --part=2, multipart/mixed"
 notmuch show --format=json --part=2 'id:87liy5ap00.fsf@yoom.home.cworth.org' | sed 's|{"id":|\n{"id":|g' >OUTPUT
@@ -366,7 +366,7 @@ cat <<EOF >EXPECTED
 {"id": 7, "content-type": "text/plain", "filename": "attachment", "content": "This is a text attachment.\n"}, 
 {"id": 8, "content-type": "text/plain", "content": "And this message is signed.\n\n-Carl\n"}]}
 EOF
-test_expect_equal_file OUTPUT EXPECTED
+test_expect_equal_json "$(cat OUTPUT)" "$(cat EXPECTED)"
 
 test_begin_subtest "--format=json --part=3, rfc822 part"
 notmuch show --format=json --part=3 'id:87liy5ap00.fsf@yoom.home.cworth.org' | sed 's|{"id":|\n{"id":|g' >OUTPUT
@@ -378,7 +378,7 @@ cat <<EOF >EXPECTED
 {"id": 5, "content-type": "text/html"}, 
 {"id": 6, "content-type": "text/plain", "content": "This is an embedded message, with a multipart/alternative part.\n"}]}]}]}
 EOF
-test_expect_equal_file OUTPUT EXPECTED
+test_expect_equal_json "$(cat OUTPUT)" "$(cat EXPECTED)"
 
 test_begin_subtest "--format=json --part=4, rfc822's multipart/alternative"
 notmuch show --format=json --part=4 'id:87liy5ap00.fsf@yoom.home.cworth.org' | sed 's|{"id":|\n{"id":|g' >OUTPUT
@@ -389,7 +389,7 @@ cat <<EOF >EXPECTED
 {"id": 5, "content-type": "text/html"}, 
 {"id": 6, "content-type": "text/plain", "content": "This is an embedded message, with a multipart/alternative part.\n"}]}
 EOF
-test_expect_equal_file OUTPUT EXPECTED
+test_expect_equal_json "$(cat OUTPUT)" "$(cat EXPECTED)"
 
 test_begin_subtest "--format=json --part=5, rfc822's html part"
 notmuch show --format=json --part=5 'id:87liy5ap00.fsf@yoom.home.cworth.org' | sed 's|{"id":|\n{"id":|g' >OUTPUT
@@ -398,7 +398,7 @@ cat <<EOF >EXPECTED
 
 {"id": 5, "content-type": "text/html"}
 EOF
-test_expect_equal_file OUTPUT EXPECTED
+test_expect_equal_json "$(cat OUTPUT)" "$(cat EXPECTED)"
 
 test_begin_subtest "--format=json --part=6, rfc822's text part"
 notmuch show --format=json --part=6 'id:87liy5ap00.fsf@yoom.home.cworth.org' | sed 's|{"id":|\n{"id":|g' >OUTPUT
@@ -407,7 +407,7 @@ cat <<EOF >EXPECTED
 
 {"id": 6, "content-type": "text/plain", "content": "This is an embedded message, with a multipart/alternative part.\n"}
 EOF
-test_expect_equal_file OUTPUT EXPECTED
+test_expect_equal_json "$(cat OUTPUT)" "$(cat EXPECTED)"
 
 test_begin_subtest "--format=json --part=7, inline attachment"
 notmuch show --format=json --part=7 'id:87liy5ap00.fsf@yoom.home.cworth.org' | sed 's|{"id":|\n{"id":|g' >OUTPUT
@@ -416,7 +416,7 @@ cat <<EOF >EXPECTED
 
 {"id": 7, "content-type": "text/plain", "filename": "attachment", "content": "This is a text attachment.\n"}
 EOF
-test_expect_equal_file OUTPUT EXPECTED
+test_expect_equal_json "$(cat OUTPUT)" "$(cat EXPECTED)"
 
 test_begin_subtest "--format=json --part=8, plain text part"
 notmuch show --format=json --part=8 'id:87liy5ap00.fsf@yoom.home.cworth.org' | sed 's|{"id":|\n{"id":|g' >OUTPUT
@@ -425,7 +425,7 @@ cat <<EOF >EXPECTED
 
 {"id": 8, "content-type": "text/plain", "content": "And this message is signed.\n\n-Carl\n"}
 EOF
-test_expect_equal_file OUTPUT EXPECTED
+test_expect_equal_json "$(cat OUTPUT)" "$(cat EXPECTED)"
 
 test_begin_subtest "--format=json --part=9, pgp signature (unverified)"
 notmuch show --format=json --part=9 'id:87liy5ap00.fsf@yoom.home.cworth.org' | sed 's|{"id":|\n{"id":|g' >OUTPUT
@@ -434,7 +434,7 @@ cat <<EOF >EXPECTED
 
 {"id": 9, "content-type": "application/pgp-signature"}
 EOF
-test_expect_equal_file OUTPUT EXPECTED
+test_expect_equal_json "$(cat OUTPUT)" "$(cat EXPECTED)"
 
 test_expect_success \
     "--format=json --part=10, no part, expect error" \
@@ -617,8 +617,7 @@ notmuch reply --format=json 'id:87liy5ap00.fsf@yoom.home.cworth.org' | notmuch_j
 cat <<EOF >EXPECTED
 {"reply-headers": {"Subject": "Re: Multipart message",
  "From": "Notmuch Test Suite <test_suite@notmuchmail.org>",
- "To": "Carl Worth <cworth@cworth.org>,
- cworth@cworth.org",
+ "To": "Carl Worth <cworth@cworth.org>, cworth@cworth.org",
  "In-reply-to": "<87liy5ap00.fsf@yoom.home.cworth.org>",
  "References": " <87liy5ap00.fsf@yoom.home.cworth.org>"},
  "original": {"id": "XXXXX",
@@ -631,8 +630,7 @@ cat <<EOF >EXPECTED
  "headers": {"Subject": "Multipart message",
  "From": "Carl Worth <cworth@cworth.org>",
  "To": "cworth@cworth.org",
- "Date": "Fri,
- 05 Jan 2001 15:43:57 +0000"},
+ "Date": "Fri, 05 Jan 2001 15:43:57 +0000"},
  "body": [{"id": 1,
  "content-type": "multipart/signed",
  "content": [{"id": 2,
@@ -642,16 +640,14 @@ cat <<EOF >EXPECTED
  "content": [{"headers": {"Subject": "html message",
  "From": "Carl Worth <cworth@cworth.org>",
  "To": "cworth@cworth.org",
- "Date": "Fri,
- 05 Jan 2001 15:42:57 +0000"},
+ "Date": "Fri, 05 Jan 2001 15:42:57 +0000"},
  "body": [{"id": 4,
  "content-type": "multipart/alternative",
  "content": [{"id": 5,
  "content-type": "text/html"},
  {"id": 6,
  "content-type": "text/plain",
- "content": "This is an embedded message,
- with a multipart/alternative part.\n"}]}]}]},
+ "content": "This is an embedded message, with a multipart/alternative part.\n"}]}]}]},
  {"id": 7,
  "content-type": "text/plain",
  "filename": "YYYYY",
@@ -662,7 +658,7 @@ cat <<EOF >EXPECTED
  {"id": 9,
  "content-type": "application/pgp-signature"}]}]}}
 EOF
-test_expect_equal_file OUTPUT EXPECTED
+test_expect_equal_json "$(cat OUTPUT)" "$(cat EXPECTED)"
 
 test_begin_subtest "'notmuch show --part' does not corrupt a part with CRLF pair"
 notmuch show --format=raw --part=3 id:base64-part-with-crlf > crlf.out
diff --git a/test/search-output b/test/search-output
index 8b57a43..c2a87eb 100755
--- a/test/search-output
+++ b/test/search-output
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ cat <<EOF >EXPECTED
 "THREADID",
 "THREADID"]
 EOF
-test_expect_equal_file OUTPUT EXPECTED
+test_expect_equal_json "$(cat OUTPUT)" "$(cat EXPECTED)"
 
 test_begin_subtest "--output=messages"
 notmuch search --output=messages '*' >OUTPUT
diff --git a/test/test-lib.sh b/test/test-lib.sh
index 06aaea2..791d2dc 100644
--- a/test/test-lib.sh
+++ b/test/test-lib.sh
@@ -512,6 +512,16 @@ test_expect_equal_file ()
     fi
 }
 
+# Like test_expect_equal, but arguments are JSON expressions to be
+# canonicalized before diff'ing.  If an argument cannot be parsed, it
+# is used unchanged so that there's something to diff against.
+test_expect_equal_json () {
+    output=$(echo "$1" | python -mjson.tool || echo "$1")
+    expected=$(echo "$2" | python -mjson.tool || echo "$2")
+    shift 2
+    test_expect_equal "$output" "$expected" "$@"
+}
+
 test_emacs_expect_t () {
 	test "$#" = 2 && { prereq=$1; shift; } || prereq=
 	test "$#" = 1 ||
@@ -565,10 +575,9 @@ notmuch_show_sanitize_all ()
 
 notmuch_json_show_sanitize ()
 {
-    sed -e 's|, |,\n |g' | \
-	sed \
-	-e 's|"id": "[^"]*",|"id": "XXXXX",|' \
-	-e 's|"filename": "[^"]*",|"filename": "YYYYY",|'
+    sed \
+	-e 's|"id": "[^"]*",|"id": "XXXXX",|g' \
+	-e 's|"filename": "[^"]*",|"filename": "YYYYY",|g'
 }
 
 # End of notmuch helper functions