Project config parameters description

[j3k0]

Packages parameters are defined with an ID and a default value. A nice addition would be some text description.

Currently:

$ apm project config
apsEnvironment=development
facebookAutoInitEnabled=true

My idealized output:

$ apm project config

# Apple push notifications environment (development | production)
apsEnvironment=development

# Tell the Facebook SDK not to initialize automatically
# See https://docs.airnativeextensions.com/docs/facebookapi/core/initialise-the-extension
facebookAutoInitEnabled=true

--

In package.json this could be done like so:

{
  "parameters": [
    {
      "name": "facebookAutoInitEnabled",
      "defaultValue": "true",
      "description": "Tell the Facebook SDK not to initialize automatically\nSee https://docs.airnativeextensions.com/docs/facebookapi/core/initialise-the-extension"
    }
  ]
}

[j3k0]

Two additional ideas:

• Mark some parameters as "required": true, so it breaks the build when they are not set. Useful when there's no sensible default, like the facebookAppId for instance. (already exists apparently)
• List the extensions using a given parameter, so it makes it easier to go look for the related documentation.

[marchbold]

The required flag already exists and should work as you described. But I do plan to do some more work around it. I was thinking required values could be presented when you install a package as a question, (which can be skipped). Just to make a user aware that the package had configuration options required. Currently they can slip past a little too easily I feel?

We like the description addition, feel free to log that as enhancement issue request. We may need some logic around it's handling, eg if there are multiple packages using the same value, we probably don't want to build up an essay of duplicate descriptions so might have to just choose the latest? Or maybe it could be more like:

$ apm project config describe <param>

<param>=XXX

Description:

[com.package.a] : Package A description

[com.package.b] : Package B description 

[j3k0]

I created an issue here, however it wouldn't let me change the label to set it as an enhancement.

[j3k0]

I was thinking required values could be presented when you install a package as a question, (which can be skipped). Just to make a user aware that the package had configuration options required. Currently they can slip past a little too easily I feel?

...or just displaying the list of new parameters (for those not already set in the project config), with those required shown in bold font or something.

But ideally, I think apm generate app-descriptor should just fail with an error if a required parameter is not set. Required parameters should probably have empty default value.

That's the expected workflow:

1. install a plugin
2. configure parameters
3. generate app-descriptor

So any errors should probably be caught in step 3.