[BUG] Strings in both Pillar and States rendered as decimals, i.e. 3006.10 as 3006.1, if not quoted (in both Pillar and State)

[rjc]

Description
pkg.installed version parameter treats version 3006.10, i.e. ending with .10, like a floating point number, rather than a string - it renders it as 3006.1. The same goes for Pillar. Only when quoted, does this have desired effect.

Setup

Pillar:

 salt_version: 3006.10

State:

# cat /var/salt/test.sls
salt-minion:
  pkg.installed:
    - version: {{ pillar['salt_version'] }}

Then run:

# salt 'foo' pillar.get salt_version
test:
    3006.1

and I get 3006.1 instead of the expedcted 3006.10.

The same goes for state:

# salt 'foo' state.show_sls test
foo:
    ----------
    salt-minion:
        ----------
        __env__:
            base
        __sls__:
            test
        pkg:
            |_
              ----------
              version:
                  3006.1
            - installed
            |_
              ----------
              order:
                  10000

Again, 3006.1 instead of 3006.10.

After quoting the Pillar value:

 salt_version: '3006.10'

I eventually get 3006.10:

# salt 'foo' pillar.get salt_version
foo:
    3006.10

But, when rendering the SLS, I still get 3006.1:

# salt 'foo' state.show_sls test
foo:
    ----------
    salt-minion:
        ----------
        __env__:
            base
        __sls__:
            test
        pkg:
            |_
              ----------
              version:
                  3006.1
            - installed
            |_
              ----------
              order:
                  10000

Now, if I quote the Pillar data like so (quote types don't matter - they can be either single or double):

salt-minion:
  pkg.installed:
    - version: '{{ pillar['salt_version'] }}'

I eventually get:

# salt 'foo' state.show_sls test
foo:
    ----------
    salt-minion:
        ----------
        __env__:
            base
        __sls__:
            test
        pkg:
            |_
              ----------
              version:
                  3006.10
            - installed
            |_
              ----------
              order:
                  10000

BTW, the same thing happens if I don't use Pillar at all:

# cat /var/salt/test.sls
salt-minion:
  pkg.installed:
    - version: 3006.10

and then render it:

# salt 'foo' state.show_sls test
foo:
    ----------
    salt-minion:
        ----------
        __env__:
            base
        __sls__:
            test
        pkg:
            |_
              ----------
              version:
                  3006.1
            - installed
            |_
              ----------
              order:
                  10000

Quoting (again, doesn't matter whether single or double), like so:

# cat /srv/salt/test.sls
salt-minion:
  pkg.installed:
    - version: '3006.10'

obviously solves the issue:

# salt 'foo' state.show_sls test
foo:
    ----------
    salt-minion:
        ----------
        __env__:
            base
        __sls__:
            test
        pkg:
            |_
              ----------
              version:
                  3006.10
            - installed
            |_
              ----------
              order:
                  10000

• VM (Virtualbox, KVM, etc. please specify)
• onedir packaging

Steps to Reproduce the behavior
Setup above already describes the steps required to reproduce the issue.

Expected behavior
I'd expect that both the State and Pillar will treat 3006.10 as 3006.10, not as 3006.1, without any additional quoting. In case when Pillar is being used, that's double the quoting - one in the Pillar, one in the State.

As far as I could see, none of this is documented, so it is a bug either way.

Versions Report

salt --versions-report

# salt --versions-report
Salt Version:
          Salt: 3006.10

Python Version:
        Python: 3.10.16 (main, Mar  6 2025, 02:23:15) [GCC 11.2.0]

Dependency Versions:
          cffi: 1.16.0
      cherrypy: unknown
  cryptography: 42.0.5
      dateutil: 2.8.1
     docker-py: Not Installed
         gitdb: Not Installed
     gitpython: Not Installed
        Jinja2: 3.1.6
       libgit2: 1.7.2
  looseversion: 1.0.2
      M2Crypto: Not Installed
          Mako: Not Installed
       msgpack: 1.0.2
  msgpack-pure: Not Installed
  mysql-python: Not Installed
     packaging: 22.0
     pycparser: 2.21
      pycrypto: Not Installed
  pycryptodome: 3.19.1
        pygit2: 1.14.1
  python-gnupg: 0.4.8
        PyYAML: 6.0.1
         PyZMQ: 23.2.0
        relenv: 0.18.1
         smmap: Not Installed
       timelib: 0.2.4
       Tornado: 4.5.3
           ZMQ: 4.3.4

System Versions:
          dist: ubuntu 24.04.2 noble
        locale: utf-8
       machine: x86_64
       release: 6.11.0-19-generic
        system: Linux
       version: Ubuntu 24.04.2 noble

[dmurphy18]

@rjc Suggest you read the yaml specification, it is working as normal, not a bug.
If you want a string you need to use single or double quotes.

[rjc]

If I was writing something which produces/parses/validates YAML, sure.

Do I need to read YAML specification to be able to merely use Salt? No, all I should need is your (Salt's) documentation.

But, if you insist, the first full length example (Example 2.27 Invoice) uses precisely that:

[...]
  price       : 450.00
[...]
  price       : 2392.00
[...]

No quoting whatsoever.

Moreover, your (Salt's) documentation, at least somewhat, hints at it being a string:

version (str) --

And the closest example after that reads:

vim-enhanced:
  pkg.installed:
    - version: 2:7.4.160-1.el7

No quotes.

You do mention, in some places, when one form of quoting, or another, is required, but most examples are unquoted.

An example of quoting being mentioned:

NOTE: When using comparison operators, the expression must be enclosed in quotes to avoid a YAML render error.

And example when it is not mentioned, but shown in a code example:

WILDCARD VERSIONS

As of the 2017.7.0 release, this state now supports wildcards in package versions for SUSE SLES/Leap/Tumbleweed, Debian/Ubuntu, RHEL/CentOS, Arch Linux, and their derivatives. Using wildcards can be useful for packages where the release name is built into the version in some way, such as for RHEL/CentOS which typically has version numbers like 1.2.34-5.el7. An example of the usage for this would be:

mypkg:
  pkg.installed:
    - version: '1.2.34*'

So yes, I still maintain that it is a bug in your (Salt's) documentation.

[dmurphy18]

@rjc Salt doesn't repeat how to write yaml, and I understand that documnetation for does have some issues but the points you are rising are now an issue
try

- just: write some
- yaml: 
  - [here, and]
  - {it: updates, in: real-time}
- dgm:
    key: 3004.10
    key2: 123.45
    key3: "678.9"

in this yaml parser https://yaml-online-parser.appspot.com and you will see the json generated is similar to Salt.

So still not a bug and this issue will remain closed.