FAILURE MAP
← Case archive

FA-3621 / Binary formats / Open access

Zigzag decoding loses odd-value signs · case 01

Zigzag decoding loses odd-value signs.

Verified by executionVariant 1 · 4 checks per implementationDownload source bundle ↓JSON ↗

ROOT CAUSE

The implementation applies an operation whose text or grammar semantics violate this contract: Decode a nonnegative ZigZag integer to its signed integer.

VERIFIED REPAIR

Implement the complete stated contract, including the boundary fixtures: Decode a nonnegative ZigZag integer to its signed integer.

Unsuccessful approach: The attempted repair handles the primary example but still violates a separate boundary of the same contract.

Case contract

Decode a nonnegative ZigZag integer to its signed integer.

Why this case matters

A local executable model for consumers of structured text; oracle values are authored literals, not outputs copied from the repaired implementation.

1 / The failure

Exit 1
"""Failure Map reference implementation. Python standard library only."""
import json
import re, unicodedata, json, csv, io, html, base64, binascii, codecs, struct
from urllib.parse import quote, unquote, unquote_to_bytes, urlencode, parse_qsl, urlsplit, urlunsplit
from email.header import decode_header, make_header
from email.utils import getaddresses
from xml.etree import ElementTree as ET
import shlex, string, textwrap

N = 1
observations = []
def solve(x):
    try:
        return x//2
    except Exception as exc:
        return {"error": type(exc).__name__}
def check(label, actual, expected):
    observations.append({"check": label, "actual": actual, "expected": expected, "passed": actual == expected})
check('boundary 1', solve(1), -1)
check('boundary 2', solve(3), -2)
check('boundary 3', solve(2), 1)
check('boundary 4', solve(0), 0)
print(json.dumps({"observations": observations, "passed": all(x["passed"] for x in observations)}, ensure_ascii=False))
raise SystemExit(0 if all(x["passed"] for x in observations) else 1)
Boundary fixtureActualExpectedOutcome
boundary 10-1Failed
boundary 21-2Failed
boundary 311Passed
boundary 400Passed

SHA-256 / d1c57cfd2d9c64cb4566f2876fa2b1b435db848507a84fc4c6880fe762d934a1

2 / The unsuccessful fix

Exit 1
"""Failure Map reference implementation. Python standard library only."""
import json
import re, unicodedata, json, csv, io, html, base64, binascii, codecs, struct
from urllib.parse import quote, unquote, unquote_to_bytes, urlencode, parse_qsl, urlsplit, urlunsplit
from email.header import decode_header, make_header
from email.utils import getaddresses
from xml.etree import ElementTree as ET
import shlex, string, textwrap

N = 1
observations = []
def solve(x):
    try:
        return -(x//2) if x&1 else x//2
    except Exception as exc:
        return {"error": type(exc).__name__}
def check(label, actual, expected):
    observations.append({"check": label, "actual": actual, "expected": expected, "passed": actual == expected})
check('boundary 1', solve(1), -1)
check('boundary 2', solve(3), -2)
check('boundary 3', solve(2), 1)
check('boundary 4', solve(0), 0)
print(json.dumps({"observations": observations, "passed": all(x["passed"] for x in observations)}, ensure_ascii=False))
raise SystemExit(0 if all(x["passed"] for x in observations) else 1)
Boundary fixtureActualExpectedOutcome
boundary 10-1Failed
boundary 2-1-2Failed
boundary 311Passed
boundary 400Passed

SHA-256 / bea41d4507264cb471d358a8ad818b2da3256536642cc2710c6b7a660b01ed2d

3 / The verified repair

Exit 0
"""Failure Map reference implementation. Python standard library only."""
import json
import re, unicodedata, json, csv, io, html, base64, binascii, codecs, struct
from urllib.parse import quote, unquote, unquote_to_bytes, urlencode, parse_qsl, urlsplit, urlunsplit
from email.header import decode_header, make_header
from email.utils import getaddresses
from xml.etree import ElementTree as ET
import shlex, string, textwrap

N = 1
observations = []
def solve(x):
    try:
        return (x>>1)^-(x&1)
    except Exception as exc:
        return {"error": type(exc).__name__}
def check(label, actual, expected):
    observations.append({"check": label, "actual": actual, "expected": expected, "passed": actual == expected})
check('boundary 1', solve(1), -1)
check('boundary 2', solve(3), -2)
check('boundary 3', solve(2), 1)
check('boundary 4', solve(0), 0)
print(json.dumps({"observations": observations, "passed": all(x["passed"] for x in observations)}, ensure_ascii=False))
raise SystemExit(0 if all(x["passed"] for x in observations) else 1)
Boundary fixtureActualExpectedOutcome
boundary 1-1-1Passed
boundary 2-2-2Passed
boundary 311Passed
boundary 400Passed

SHA-256 / cffd15d08c92277ba67ecfdddb265cba36715680ad0315435945529477304c8c

Verification & scope

This reproducer isolates one failure mechanism. Results cover the supplied fixtures. Variants within a family share a test contract and should remain grouped when constructing evaluation splits. Related mechanisms with a shared evaluation_group must also remain together; these controlled models are not independent production incidents.

Observations recorded using Python 3.12.14 at 2026-09-29T14:37:28.427757+00:00.

Case digest / 1109eedae8c9639bf0ae8b26c2352f9ce4c1e2b021c1b777346d41d2c5c0084a