fix: inline error check and assert invalid step result ref error

pkg/reconciler/taskrun/resources/apply.go

@@ -91,19 +91,18 @@ func applyStepActionParameters(step *v1.Step, spec *v1.TaskSpec, tr *v1.TaskRun,
 	}
 
 	// 4. set step result replacements last
-	stepResultReplacements, err := replacementsFromStepResults(step, stepParams, defaults)
-	if err != nil {
+	if stepResultReplacements, err := replacementsFromStepResults(step, stepParams, defaults); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
-	}
-	for k, v := range stepResultReplacements {
-		stringReplacements[k] = v
+	} else {
+		for k, v := range stepResultReplacements {
+			stringReplacements[k] = v
+		}
 	}
 
 	// check if there are duplicate keys in the replacements
 	// if the same key is present in both stringReplacements and arrayReplacements, it means
 	// that the default value and the passed value have different types.
-	err = checkForDuplicateKeys(stringReplacements, arrayReplacements)
-	if err != nil {
+	if err := checkForDuplicateKeys(stringReplacements, arrayReplacements); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 

pkg/reconciler/taskrun/resources/taskspec_test.go

@@ -1665,10 +1665,10 @@ func TestGetStepActionsData_InvalidStepResultReference(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 	}
 
+	expectedError := `must be one of the form 1). "steps.<stepName>.results.<resultName>"; 2). "steps.<stepName>.results.<objectResultName>.<individualAttribute>"`
 	ctx := context.Background()
 	tektonclient := fake.NewSimpleClientset(stepAction)
-	_, err := resources.GetStepActionsData(ctx, *tr.Spec.TaskSpec, tr, tektonclient, nil, nil)
-	if err == nil {
-		t.Error("Expected error due to invalid step result reference, but got nil")
+	if _, err := resources.GetStepActionsData(ctx, *tr.Spec.TaskSpec, tr, tektonclient, nil, nil); err.Error() != expectedError {
+		t.Errorf("Expected error message %s but got %s", expectedError, err.Error())
 	}
 }