[chef] How do attributes in nested roles work?

[Jason Boxman < >]

I can't wrap my head around it, so I have to ask:  How do attributes
work in the context of nesting roles?

The behavior I see on 0.10.6 on Ruby 1.8.7 and 0.10.10 on Ruby 1.9.1
(omnibus) under SL 6.1 is unexpected.  Specifically, I have a role, A,
included in my node's run_list.  That role includes another role, B.
In role B, I set a default_attribute overriding a cookbook default
attribute.  The run is a solo run, so the node has no normal attribute
set.

When I do the run, the attribute is the cookbook default.  If I
instead set the default_attribute in role A, it overrides the value in
the cookbook.

Is this the behavior I should expect?  Do attributes propagate from
leaf roles up through to the node?  Could it be because I am using
solo?

Thanks.

-- 
Thursday next week is indeed time for a thorough insight
into the swirling red debian vortex. — leeta