fix: resolve path between dst_path and answers_file to handle dst_path not already existing

[Aohzan]

Hello,

--answers-file must be relative to the destination path, but when this one doesn't exist, the answers file cannot be found, example:

copier copy --answers-file ../../../.copier-answers.yml mytemplate my/dest/path

will not found the .copier-answers.yml file

an other solution (or complementary) will be to search the file in the current dir.

[sisp]

Could you add a test case, please?

[Aohzan]

Could you add a test case, please?

done

[sisp]

Thanks for adding the test! 👍 I've left a few remarks.

[sisp]

This setup is not representative of a real one.

Suggested change

	(src / ".copier-answers.yml"): (
	"""\
	project_name: "test project"
	"""
	),
	(src / "{{ _copier_conf.answers_file }}.jinja"): (
	"{{ _copier_answers|to_nice_yaml }}"
	),

[Aohzan]

where is defined the _copier_answers?

[sisp]

This is a Jinja variable available in our render context.

https://copier.readthedocs.io/en/stable/creating/#_copier_answers

[Aohzan]

yes but where do I define that project_name: "test project"

[sisp]

You can either set it as the default answer in copier.yml

             (src / "copier.yml"): (
                 """\
                 project_name:
                   type: str
+                  default: test project
                 """
             ),

and run

copier.run_copy(..., defaults=True, ...)

(as you're doing already) or instead pass the answer via the data argument:

copier.run_copy(..., data={"project_name": "test project"}, ...)

[Aohzan]

Ok but I don't test my case where I want to be dure that the existing answers file is loaded, no?

[sisp]

Does your use case assume an existing answers file? If so, why? This seems like an unusual pattern. The answers file is generated by Copier to record previous answers plus metadata to enable updating to new template versions. It looks like you're assuming the answers file to exist before the first copier copy call. Are you trying to pass answers to copier copy from a file instead of via interactive prompting or inline answers via the -d,--data flag? If so, perhaps --data-file is what you're looking for.

[Aohzan]

one of our use case is to have a template for the repository, then we can add terraform stack in subdirs, and we call the initial answer file to not repeat common questions

[sisp]

I think --data-file might work for this use case as well although you'd be passing an answers file, which is a superset of a typical data file.

[sisp]

Or _external_data might be worth checking out.

[sisp]

The result might be same, but this setup is a bit unintuitive because you're generating the project in a subdirectory of the template's sources. I'd follow the usual setup with

src, dst = map(tmp_path_factory.mktemp, ("src", "dst"))

and generate in dst = src / "my" / "dest" / "path" instead.

[Aohzan]

you mean dst_dir = dst / "my" / "dest" / "path" ? or I miss something

[sisp]

Sorry, yes, I mistyped.

[sisp]

I think you should also assert that the .copier-answers.yml file exists in the expected location.