Modify script helper addon for chezmoi (experimental branch)

NOTE! This is version 2, which is a rewrite in Rust. See the conversion guide if you are upgrading from the previous Python version. Good news: This version is ~50x faster.

Addon for chezmoi for deals with settings files that contain a mix of settings and state. So far handling INI-style files are supported.

A typical example of this is KDE settings files. These contain (apart from settings) state like recently opened files and positions of windows and dialog boxes. Other programs (such as PrusaSlicer) also do the same thing.

The program in this repository allows you to ignore certain sections of those INI files when managing the configuration files with chezmoi.

Theory of operation

For each settings file you want to manage with chezmoi_modify_manager there will be two files in your chezmoi source directory:

• A modify script. One of:
  • modify_<config file>, eg. modify_private_kdeglobals (for installs into PATH, recommended)
  • modify_<config file>.tmpl, eg. modify_private_kdeglobals.tmpl (for installs into the chezmoi source directory)
• <config file>.src.ini, eg. private_kdeglobals.src.ini

The modify_ script is responsible for generating the new state of the file given the current state in your home directory. The modify_ script is set up to use chezmoi_modify_manager as an interpreter to do so. chezmoi_modify_manager will read the modify script to read configuration and the .src.ini file and by default will apply that file exactly (ignoring blank lines and comments).

However, by giving additional directives to chezmoi_modify_manager in the modify_ script you can tell it to ignore certain sections (see chezmoi_modify_manager --help-syntax for details). For example:

bash ignore "KFileDialog Settings" "Show Inline Previews" ignore section "DirSelect Dialog"

will tell it to ignore the key Show Inline Previews in the section KFileDialog Settings and the entire section DirSelect Dialog.

Note! If a key appears before the first section, use <NO_SECTION> as the section.

Supported features

For detailed usage instructions on the filtering see chezmoi_modify_manager --help-syntax.

• Ignore entire section.
• Ignore specific key in specific section.
• Ignore key in section based on regular expressions.
• Apply a transformation to the value of a specified key. These are implemented as python functions. A list of transforms is available via --help-transforms.

The command can also be used to add files (see chezmoi_ini_add --help for details):

• Smart re-add mode (re-add files as managed .src.ini if they are already managed, otherwise add with plain chezmoi).
• Conversion mode (convert from plain chezmoi to managed to .src.ini).
• User specified hook. Can be used to filter out passwords when adding or re-adding configuration files. See EXAMPLES.md for details.

Finally, the command has a built in updater (similar to chezmoi upgrade).

Installation

1. To your root .chezmoiignore add: **/*.src.ini. These files should not be checked out into your target directory, but acts as the "source of truth" for the modify script.

2. Do one of these:

   • Recommended: Install chezmoi_modify_manager into your $PATH. This can be done by one of:
     • Using a distro package (if available for what you use)
     • Download the binary from the releases here.
   • Not recommended: Install chezmoi_modify_manager from the releases page into .utils/chezmoi_modify_manager-<os>-<arch> where <os> is typically linux and <arch> is typically x86-64. If you use another path, the template modify script that is added will be wrong.

3. You are in control of updates. Nothing will happen unless you pass --upgrade. Consider subscribing to be notified of new releases on the github repository. This can be done via Watch -> Custom in the top right corner. Or just remember to check with --upgrade occasionally.

Updating

Depending on the installation method: * chezmoi_modify_manager --upgrade * With your package manager * For each OS and architecture, update the file .utils/chezmoi_modify_manager-<os>-<arch>. Note! For executables that you can run (i.e. the native one) you can still use --upgrade to do this.

Usage

Details of supported actions can be seen with chezmoi_modify_manager --help.

Some example usages to add new files:

```bash

Add configs to be handled by chezmoimodifymanager (or convert configs

managed by chezmoi to be managed by chezmoimodifymanager).

chezmoimodifymanager --add ~/.config/kdeglobals ~/.config/kwinrc

Re-add config after changes in the live system.

chezmoimodifymanager --add ~/.config/kdeglobals

Don't remember if chezmoimodifymanager handles the file or if it is raw chezmoi?

Use smart mode (-s/--smart-add) to update the file!

chezmoimodifymanager --smart-add ~/.config/PrusaSlicer/PrusaSlicer.ini ```

Some examples on various ignore flags and transforms can be found in EXAMPLES.md.

Requirements

The binary is self contained, only needing: * Linux: glibc and OpenSSL * Other OSes: TBD

Requirements to build (if there is no native binary for your platform): * Rust 1.68 or newer

Limitations

• When a key exists in the .src.ini file but not in the target state it will be added to the end of the relevant section. This is not an issue as the program will usually just resort the file next time it writes out its settings.
• modify_ scripts bypass the check for "Did the file change in the target state" that chezmoi performs. This is essential for proper operation. However it also means that you will not be asked about overwriting changes. Always look at chezmoi diff first! I do have some ideas on how to mitigate this in the future. See also this chezmoi bug for a more detailed discussion on this.