Running mvn dependency:tree on the sample project posted in the bug link specified above,
[INFO] Building MEAR-143 1.0-SNAPSHOT
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO]
[INFO] --- maven-dependency-plugin:2.3:tree (default-cli) @ mear-143 ---
[INFO] ljnelson:mear-143:pom:1.0-SNAPSHOT
[INFO] \- junit:junit:jar:4.8.2:test
[INFO]
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] Building MEAR-143 Leaf 1.0-SNAPSHOT
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO]
[INFO] --- maven-dependency-plugin:2.3:tree (default-cli) @ mear-143-leaf ---
[INFO] ljnelson:mear-143-leaf:jar:1.0-SNAPSHOT
[INFO] \- junit:junit:jar:4.8.2:test
[INFO]
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] Building MEAR-143 Middle 1.0-SNAPSHOT
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO]
[INFO] --- maven-dependency-plugin:2.3:tree (default-cli) @ mear-143-middle ---
[INFO] ljnelson:mear-143-middle:jar:1.0-SNAPSHOT
[INFO] +- ljnelson:mear-143-leaf:jar:1.0-SNAPSHOT:runtime
[INFO] \- junit:junit:jar:4.8.2:test
[INFO]
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] Building MEAR-143 EAR 1.0-SNAPSHOT
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO]
[INFO] --- maven-dependency-plugin:2.3:tree (default-cli) @ mear-143-ear ---
[INFO] ljnelson:mear-143-ear:ear:1.0-SNAPSHOT
[INFO] +- ljnelson:mear-143-middle:jar:1.0-SNAPSHOT:runtime
[INFO] | \- ljnelson:mear-143-leaf:jar:1.0-SNAPSHOT:test (scope managed from ru
ntime)
[INFO] \- junit:junit:jar:4.8.2:test
The dependency scope of mear-143-leaf in mear-143-middle, where the dependency is explicitly defined is indeed runtime, overriding the test scope defined in the dependencyManagement section of parent pom, mear-143.
In mear-143-ear, mear-143-leaf gets included transitively. Here the test scope defined in dependencyManagement of mear-143 takes precedence over the inherited runtime scope.
This, I guess is in line with what is specified in the second bullet point in the section you have referred above. Quoting it here and highlighting in bold and italics the relevant parts:
b is defined in B’s parent’s dependency management section and since
dependency management takes precedence over dependency mediation for
transitive dependencies, version 1.0 will be selected should it be
referenced in a or c’s pom. b will also have compile scope