output .tool-versions contents as an object

[jthegedus]

problem

asdf only has *nix support but sometimes we use asdf to build tools for all platforms. When it comes to writting tests for unsupported platforms, namely Windows, we have to resort to doubling up our workflow tool installation.

An example from svelte-adapter-firebase CI pipeline:

      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - name: install asdf
        if: matrix.os != 'windows-latest'
        uses: asdf-vm/actions/install@v1
        with:
          before_install: bash -c '${ASDF_DATA_DIR:=$HOME/.asdf}/plugins/nodejs/bin/import-release-team-keyring'

      # START: Windows
      - name: install Node.js on Windows
        if: matrix.os == 'windows-latest'
        uses: actions/setup-node@v2
        with:
          node-version: 14.16.1
      - name: install pnpm on Windows
        if: matrix.os == 'windows-latest'
        run: curl -f https://get.pnpm.io/v6.js | node - add --global pnpm@6
      # END: Windows

      - name: Install svelte-adapter-firebase deps
        run: pnpm install

Note the hardcoded node-version in the Windows section.

solution

If asdf were to output the contents of the .tool-versions file as an object, this could be referenced in later steps in the CI pipeline, removing the need for hard-coded values when supporting other OSs.

EG:

# .tool-versions
nodejs 14.16.1

// asdf action output (asdf_tools)
{
  "nodejs": "14.16.1"
}

# github action
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - name: install asdf
+       id: install_asdf
        if: matrix.os != 'windows-latest'
        uses: asdf-vm/actions/install@v1
        with:
          before_install: bash -c '${ASDF_DATA_DIR:=$HOME/.asdf}/plugins/nodejs/bin/import-release-team-keyring'

      # START: Windows
      - name: install Node.js on Windows
        if: matrix.os == 'windows-latest'
        uses: actions/setup-node@v2
        with:
-         node-version: 14.16.1
+         node-version: steps.install_asdf.outputs.asdf_tools.nodejs

This seems relatively simple to implement and give a more flexible solution to this problem than currently available.

alternatives

I have yet to explore running WSL in the Action Windows runner, which might prove a more useful solution.

[steebchen]

This would be extremely useful to have

[klippx]

Very useful, take my money! ✋ 💵