| RFC | Title | Author | Status | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
40 |
On-Demand Cookbook Libraries |
John Keiser <[email protected]> |
Accepted |
Standards Track |
As a library cookbook writer,
I want to have nested directories,
So that I can organize my code and make it more readable.
As a library cookbook writer,
I want to control the load order of my library,
So that I can have code in one file that refers to code in another file without constraining the filenames.
As a library cookbook writer,
I want to be able to `require` files in my library cookbook,
So that I don't have to deal with the pitfalls of `require_relative` (particularly that it loads things multiple times).
As a library cookbook user,
I want to be able to `require` files in the library cookbooks I use,
So that I can pick and choose what functionality I want to load.
When a user creates a cookbook, they can add the following directive to the metadata:
# metadata.rb
name "mylibrary"
version "0.0.1"
eager_load_libraries falseIf eager_load_libraries is false, Chef Client would instead append it to the ruby load path. This would occur in the phase where the libraries files of a cookbook otherwise be automatically required in alphabetical order. All recipes, libraries, and other Ruby code running in the Chef Client can then use require 'filename'`` and it will load cookbooks/mycookbook/libraries/filename` if present.
If eager_load_libraries contains a list of files or globs, the library path is appended to the Ruby load path, and the listed files are loaded during the library load phase.
If eager_load_libraries is true or not specified, Chef Client loads the top level of files in alphabetical order, as before.
When a user wants to create a more complex library cookbook with multiple Ruby files, they have an issue right now: the library is automatically loaded in alphabetical order, making it hard to organize files. You can circumvent it somewhat using require_relative to load the other files out of order, but that may load a file twice, leading to other problems. This RFC circumvents that by requiring files to be loaded explicitly by the user or library writer using require, but allowing for an entry point (default.rb).
There is also the fact that you don't necessarily need all the functionality in a library cookbook, and this RFC lets you pick and choose what to load.
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