Feature: format-as

[sikraemer]

Hello,

I often found the need to store the parameters passed to a command in a variable.
e.g. the options of find_package, so they can be exported into the find-module definition.

It would be nice if these instances could be marked as such:
e.g.:

set(boost_find_package_args Boost 1.81 REQUIRED CONFIG
  COMPONENTS
    chrono
    date_time
    filesystem
)
find_package($(boost_find_package_args})
export_dependency("Boost" $(boost_find_package_args})

It would be nice to annotate the set command with the information that the parameters are used as parameters of a find_package.
e.g.:

# gersemi: format-as=find_package[offset=1] # offset=1 to skip `boost_find_package_args`
set(boost_find_package_args Boost 1.81 REQUIRED CONFIG
  COMPONENTS
    chrono
    date_time
    filesystem
)
find_package($(boost_find_package_args})
export_dependency("Boost" $(boost_find_package_args})

Similar ideas have also been thought of in cmake-format:
https://cmake-format.readthedocs.io/en/latest/format-case_studies.html#set

[BlankSpruce]

If there is an open source example, that you know about, with this kind of approach to passing parameters, would you be able to share? I don't work with CMake as intensively right now so it's not immediately obvious to me why I would need to that in the first place.

[sikraemer]

I will have a look if I can find an open-source example.

[BlankSpruce]

I think this feature could also be implemented as some kind of phantom keyword (see: #119) like so:

set(boost_find_package_args
    #[[gersemi: format-as=find_package]] 
        Boost
        1.81
        REQUIRED
        CONFIG
        COMPONENTS chrono date_time filesystem
)
find_package($(boost_find_package_args})
export_dependency("Boost" $(boost_find_package_args})

[sikraemer]

Unfortunately I was not able to find an open-source example yet.
At least not based on find_package.

But if this can be done in a similar fashion then the inline-sort that would be great.

I did however think of an additional use-case in combination with extensions.
This would allow to add re-usable custom formats for commands without redefining built-ins.
By defining an extension for a custom command that doesn't actually exist and reusing that definition with format-as.

That would at least open a whole new bag of customizability.