Function behaves differently inside a package than outside

Question

I defined a function TestHead in a notebook as follows:

TestHead[z___] := TrueQ[{z} == Cases[{z}, x_ /; Head[x] === avar]]

to test whether a bunch of variables all have a certain head avar. When I do this in a notebook and define a variable a using

a /: Head[a]=avar

this works fine and gives True for TestHead[a]. However, when I make a package

BeginPackage["TestHead`"]
TestHead::usage=""
Begin["`Private`"]
TestHead[z___] := TrueQ[{z}==Cases[{z},x_/;Head[x]===avar]]
End[]
EndPackage[]

load the package and again define a variable a as above, the function TestHead now gives False when acting on a.

Why is this and how I can remedy it?

Answer 1

It's because avar is in the TestHead`Private` context. One fix is to write your package with an explicit context on avar, such as Global`:

TestHead[z___] := TrueQ[{z}==Cases[{z},x_/;Head[x]===Global`avar]]

You could have debugged this for instance with Trace and you would have seen instantly, why your SameQ results in False:

Trace@TestHead[a]

(*
{TestHead[a],TrueQ[{a}==Cases[{a},TestHead`Private`x_/;Head[TestHead`Private`x]
===TestHead`Private`avar]],
{{Cases[{a},TestHead`Private`x_/;Head[TestHead`Private`x]===
TestHead`Private`avar],{{Head[a],avar},avar===TestHead`Private`avar,False},{}},
{a}=={},False},TrueQ[False],False}
*)

Answer 2

The other possibility, of course, is to have avar be declared by the package (it will thus be under the TestHead` context, i.e. its full declaration is TestHead`avar):

BeginPackage["TestHead`"]
TestHead::usage = ""
avar::usage = ""
Begin["`Private`"]
TestHead[z___] := TrueQ[{z} == Cases[{z}, x_ /; Head[x] === avar]]
End[]
EndPackage[]