FAILURE MAP
← Case archive

FA-4701 / Multiset accounting / Open access

Counter union maximum positive count · case 01

The operation returns a result or retained state that violates this contract: Counter union takes the maximum count for each member, retaining only positive maxima.

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

ROOT CAUSE

Adding counts implements bag addition rather than maximum-count union.

VERIFIED REPAIR

Counter union takes the maximum count for each member, retaining only positive maxima.

Unsuccessful approach: Right-biased overwriting can decrease a count and retains nonpositive entries.

Case contract

Counter union takes the maximum count for each member, retaining only positive maxima. Inputs are the finite Python values shown by the executable fixtures; no concurrent execution is assumed.

Why this case matters

A controlled local-runtime regression for collection APIs, language semantics, or ownership wrappers. Fixtures include boundary and interaction cases.

1 / The failure

Exit 1
"""Failure Map reference implementation. Python standard library only."""
import json
from collections import Counter, ChainMap, deque
import heapq
N = 1
observations = []
def solve(x, y=None):
    return dict(Counter(x)+Counter(y))
def check(label, actual, expected):
    observations.append({"check": label, "actual": actual, "expected": expected, "passed": actual == expected})
check('maximum instead of sum or overwrite', solve({'a': 3, 'b': 1}, {'a': 2, 'c': 2}), {'a': 3, 'b': 1, 'c': 2})
check('negative maxima omitted', solve({'a': -1}, {'a': -2}), {})
check('zero omitted', solve({'a': 0}, {}), {})
check('empty', solve({}, {}), {})
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
maximum instead of sum or overwrite{'a': 5, 'b': 1, 'c': 2}{'a': 3, 'b': 1, 'c': 2}Failed
negative maxima omitted{}{}Passed
zero omitted{}{}Passed
empty{}{}Passed

SHA-256 / 76df15e14a84ebe2e66975e168c9b21143098a77919ef37d727b9e901569cf16

2 / The unsuccessful fix

Exit 1
"""Failure Map reference implementation. Python standard library only."""
import json
from collections import Counter, ChainMap, deque
import heapq
N = 1
observations = []
def solve(x, y=None):
    a=dict(x); a.update(y); return a
def check(label, actual, expected):
    observations.append({"check": label, "actual": actual, "expected": expected, "passed": actual == expected})
check('maximum instead of sum or overwrite', solve({'a': 3, 'b': 1}, {'a': 2, 'c': 2}), {'a': 3, 'b': 1, 'c': 2})
check('negative maxima omitted', solve({'a': -1}, {'a': -2}), {})
check('zero omitted', solve({'a': 0}, {}), {})
check('empty', solve({}, {}), {})
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
maximum instead of sum or overwrite{'a': 2, 'b': 1, 'c': 2}{'a': 3, 'b': 1, 'c': 2}Failed
negative maxima omitted{'a': -2}{}Failed
zero omitted{'a': 0}{}Failed
empty{}{}Passed

SHA-256 / 4bd09cd34de5cea8b2ab01c5e6c4e060c009080d5c451ef3c2268ad00b6313de

3 / The verified repair

Exit 0
"""Failure Map reference implementation. Python standard library only."""
import json
from collections import Counter, ChainMap, deque
import heapq
N = 1
observations = []
def solve(x, y=None):
    return dict(Counter(x)|Counter(y))
def check(label, actual, expected):
    observations.append({"check": label, "actual": actual, "expected": expected, "passed": actual == expected})
check('maximum instead of sum or overwrite', solve({'a': 3, 'b': 1}, {'a': 2, 'c': 2}), {'a': 3, 'b': 1, 'c': 2})
check('negative maxima omitted', solve({'a': -1}, {'a': -2}), {})
check('zero omitted', solve({'a': 0}, {}), {})
check('empty', solve({}, {}), {})
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
maximum instead of sum or overwrite{'a': 3, 'b': 1, 'c': 2}{'a': 3, 'b': 1, 'c': 2}Passed
negative maxima omitted{}{}Passed
zero omitted{}{}Passed
empty{}{}Passed

SHA-256 / 35fa51540348c435c53aea1edbef4b2eca8193f7ebf4377fa312a70bba085db6

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 2026-09-29T14:37:41.977978+00:00.

Case digest / e14a9d60ad2454a63169cf859b81d5bffb29acd0fb6766303d75ddada5bed1fe