From 9ca1e68007cecdf09b6da222da74246651e9ff8a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Abdessamad Derraz <3028866+Abdess@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sun, 18 Oct 2026 16:20:50 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] fix: word the alias refusal as a sentence

---
 scripts/common.py               | 14 ++++++++++++--
 tests/test_audit_regressions.py | 22 ++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 34 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/scripts/common.py b/scripts/common.py
index f5b7ab66..2c408de1 100644
--- a/scripts/common.py
+++ b/scripts/common.py
@@ -1651,9 +1651,19 @@ def select_emulator_profiles(
         profile = all_profiles[name]
         kind = profile.get("type", "libretro")
         if kind == "alias":
+            # An alias without alias_of is found through the profile whose
+            # cores: names it, as the buildbot reverse index does.
+            target = profile.get("alias_of") or next(
+                (
+                    key for key, value in all_profiles.items()
+                    if value.get("type") != "alias" and name in (value.get("cores") or [])
+                ),
+                None,
+            )
             raise ProfileSelectionError(
-                f"{name} is an alias of {profile.get('alias_of', '?')} "
-                f"-use --emulator {profile.get('alias_of', '?')}"
+                f"{name} is an alias of {target}: use --emulator {target}"
+                if target
+                else f"{name} is an alias with no profile of its own to name"
             )
         if kind == "launcher":
             raise ProfileSelectionError(
diff --git a/tests/test_audit_regressions.py b/tests/test_audit_regressions.py
index 0bf569c8..44c47600 100644
--- a/tests/test_audit_regressions.py
+++ b/tests/test_audit_regressions.py
@@ -4968,5 +4968,27 @@ class ANamedPackThatIsAbsentFails(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertIn("generate_pack.py --platform retroarch", result.stdout)
 
 
+
+class AnAliasNamesItsProfile(unittest.TestCase):
+    """"flycast_gles2 is an alias of flycast -use --emulator flycast": the
+    dash read as an option, and an alias without alias_of advised
+    "--emulator ?"."""
+
+    def test_the_message(self):
+        from scripts.common import ProfileSelectionError, select_emulator_profiles
+
+        profiles = {
+            "flycast": {"type": "libretro", "cores": ["flycast", "flycast_gles2"]},
+            "flycast_gles2": {"type": "alias", "alias_of": "flycast"},
+            "orphan": {"type": "alias"},
+            "core": {"type": "libretro", "cores": ["orphan"]},
+        }
+        for name, expected in (("flycast_gles2", "alias of flycast: use --emulator flycast"),
+                               ("orphan", "alias of core: use --emulator core")):
+            with self.subTest(name=name), self.assertRaises(ProfileSelectionError) as caught:
+                select_emulator_profiles([name], profiles)
+            self.assertIn(expected, str(caught.exception))
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     unittest.main()