--propOverwrites: how to overload a property that is itself a comma-separated list of values

[FALLAI-Denis]

Hi,

In the build.groovy script, the --propOverwrites / -po parameter allows you to override or replace properties declared in the server or application configuration files.

This parameter accepts a comma-separated list of values in the form key1=value1,key2=value2,...,keyI=valueI.
But what if the value already contains commas?

Example: How to overload the applicationSrcDirs property with multiple folders?

There is no escape mechanism provided in the build.conf script.

// populate property overwrites from argument list                                                                         
if (opts.po) props.propOverwrites = opts.po                                                                                
if (props.propOverwrites) {                                                                                                
 String[] propOverwrites = props.propOverwrites.split(',')                                                                 
 propOverwrites.each { buildPropertyOverwrite ->                                                                           
  (key, value) = buildPropertyOverwrite.tokenize('=')                                                                      
  if (key && value) {                                                                                                      
   if (opts.v) println "** Overwriting build property ${key} from cli argument --propOverwrite with value ${value}"        
   props.put(key, value)                                                                                                   
  }                                                                                                                        
  else {                                                                                                                   
   println "*! Overwriting build property from cli argument --propOverwrite failed due a null value ( key: $key , value :$v
  }                                                                                                                        
 }                                                                                                                         
}            

Thanks.

[dennis-behm]

Hi Denis,

indeed, a parameter with a comma-separated value is not supported by the current implementation. In that case, I would recommend to look into --propFiles that enables you to pass in a set of overrides as a properties file.

Would this work for your need?

--propOverwrites was not intended to pass a significant list of attributes to the build framework.

Thanks.
Dennis

[FALLAI-Denis]

Hi @dennis-behm,

Thanks for this response.

Will the properties of type comma separated list contained in an additional properties file replace (overwrite) the default properties (list) declared at the server level, or even the properties declared at the application level, or will they complement them (merge)?

Therefore, we can have (at least) four sources of properties:

• at the server level
• at the application level
• at the command level via a properties file parameter
• at the command level via a property parameter

Is this the order in which they are taken into account?

Thanks.

[dennis-behm]

Hi @FALLAI-Denis -

You have 5 sources of properties files, that are loaded in the order:

1. the referenced buildPropFiles defined in build-conf/build.properities
2. the properties from applicationDefaultPropFiles defined in build-conf/build.properities
3. application-conf from the application directories, or if relocated from the central place based on applicationConfDir
4. the --propFiles from the CLI
5. the --propOverwrites from the CLI

See the order of the loading process in https://github.com/IBM/dbb-zappbuild/blob/main/build.groovy#L370-L460

If you are overriding an existing build property, you will replace its' value.

You can even consider the File Property Management another level to configure build configuration for build files.