Remove required positional arguments from run-external and exec (#14765)

# Description
This PR removes the required positional argument from `run-external` and
`exec` in favor of the rest arguments, meaning lists of external
commands can be spread directly into `run-external` and `exec`. This
does have the drawback of making calling `run-external` and `exec` with
no arguments a run-time error rather than a parse error, but I don't
imagine that is an issue.

Before (for both `run-external` and `exec`):
```nushell
run-external
# => Error: nu::parser::missing_positional
# => 
# =>   × Missing required positional argument.
# =>    ╭─[entry #9:1:13]
# =>  1 │ run-external
# =>    ╰────
# =>   help: Usage: run-external <command> ...(args) . Use `--help` for more
# =>         information.

let command = ["cat" "hello.txt"]
run-external ...$command
# => Error: nu::parser::missing_positional
# => 
# =>   × Missing required positional argument.
# =>    ╭─[entry #11:1:14]
# =>  1 │ run-external ...$command
# =>    ·              ▲
# =>    ·              ╰── missing command
# =>    ╰────
# =>   help: Usage: run-external <command> ...(args) . Use `--help` for more
# =>         information.
run-external ($command | first) ...($command | skip 1)
# => hello world!
```

After (for both `run-external` and `exec`):
```nushell
run-external
# => Error: nu:🐚:missing_parameter
# => 
# =>   × Missing parameter: no command given.
# =>    ╭─[entry #2:1:1]
# =>  1 │ run-external
# =>    · ──────┬─────
# =>    ·       ╰── missing parameter: no command given
# =>    ╰────
# => 

let command = ["cat" "hello.txt"]
run-external ...$command
# => hello world!
```



# User-Facing Changes
Lists can now be spread directly into `run-external` and `exec`:

```nushell
let command = [cat hello.txt]
run-external ...$command
# => hello world!
``` 

# Tests + Formatting
- 🟢 `toolkit fmt`
- 🟢 `toolkit clippy`
- 🟢 `toolkit test`
- 🟢 `toolkit test stdlib`

# After Submitting
N/A

Author: 132ikl

Cargo.lock

@@ -145,6 +145,7 @@ rmp = "0.8"
 rmp-serde = "1.3"
 roxmltree = "0.20"
 rstest = { version = "0.23", default-features = false }
+rstest_reuse = "0.7"
 rusqlite = "0.31"
 rust-embed = "8.5.0"
 scopeguard = { version = "1.2.0" }

Cargo.toml

@@ -196,6 +196,7 @@ mockito = { workspace = true, default-features = false }
 quickcheck = { workspace = true }
 quickcheck_macros = { workspace = true }
 rstest = { workspace = true, default-features = false }
+rstest_reuse = { workspace = true }
 pretty_assertions = { workspace = true }
 tempfile = { workspace = true }
-rand_chacha = { workspace = true }
+rand_chacha = { workspace = true }

crates/nu-command/Cargo.toml

@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+use std::borrow::Cow;
+
 use nu_engine::{command_prelude::*, env_to_strings};
 
 #[derive(Clone)]
@@ -11,7 +13,11 @@ impl Command for Exec {
     fn signature(&self) -> Signature {
         Signature::build("exec")
             .input_output_types(vec![(Type::Nothing, Type::Any)])
-            .required("command", SyntaxShape::String, "The command to execute.")
+            .rest(
+                "command",
+                SyntaxShape::OneOf(vec![SyntaxShape::GlobPattern, SyntaxShape::Any]),
+                "External command to run, with arguments.",
+            )
             .allows_unknown_args()
             .category(Category::System)
     }
@@ -33,15 +39,29 @@ On Windows based systems, Nushell will wait for the command to finish and then e
         _input: PipelineData,
     ) -> Result<PipelineData, ShellError> {
         let cwd = engine_state.cwd(Some(stack))?;
+        let rest = call.rest::<Value>(engine_state, stack, 0)?;
+        let name_args = rest.split_first();
+
+        let Some((name, call_args)) = name_args else {
+            return Err(ShellError::MissingParameter {
+                param_name: "no command given".into(),
+                span: call.head,
+            });
+        };
+
+        let name_str: Cow<str> = match &name {
+            Value::Glob { val, .. } => Cow::Borrowed(val),
+            Value::String { val, .. } => Cow::Borrowed(val),
+            _ => Cow::Owned(name.clone().coerce_into_string()?),
+        };
 
         // Find the absolute path to the executable. If the command is not
         // found, display a helpful error message.
-        let name: Spanned<String> = call.req(engine_state, stack, 0)?;
         let executable = {
             let paths = nu_engine::env::path_str(engine_state, stack, call.head)?;
-            let Some(executable) = crate::which(&name.item, &paths, cwd.as_ref()) else {
+            let Some(executable) = crate::which(name_str.as_ref(), &paths, cwd.as_ref()) else {
                 return Err(crate::command_not_found(
-                    &name.item,
+                    &name_str,
                     call.head,
                     engine_state,
                     stack,
@@ -73,7 +93,7 @@ On Windows based systems, Nushell will wait for the command to finish and then e
         }
 
         // Configure args.
-        let args = crate::eval_arguments_from_call(engine_state, stack, call)?;
+        let args = crate::eval_external_arguments(engine_state, stack, call_args.to_vec())?;
         command.args(args.into_iter().map(|s| s.item));
 
         // Execute the child process, replacing/terminating the current process

crates/nu-command/src/system/exec.rs

@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ pub use nu_check::NuCheck;
 pub use ps::Ps;
 #[cfg(windows)]
 pub use registry_query::RegistryQuery;
-pub use run_external::{command_not_found, eval_arguments_from_call, which, External};
+pub use run_external::{command_not_found, eval_external_arguments, which, External};
 pub use sys::*;
 pub use uname::UName;
 pub use which_::Which;

crates/nu-command/src/system/mod.rs

@@ -34,15 +34,10 @@ impl Command for External {
     fn signature(&self) -> nu_protocol::Signature {
         Signature::build(self.name())
             .input_output_types(vec![(Type::Any, Type::Any)])
-            .required(
-                "command",
-                SyntaxShape::OneOf(vec![SyntaxShape::GlobPattern, SyntaxShape::String]),
-                "External command to run.",
-            )
             .rest(
-                "args",
+                "command",
                 SyntaxShape::OneOf(vec![SyntaxShape::GlobPattern, SyntaxShape::Any]),
-                "Arguments for external command.",
+                "External command to run, with arguments.",
             )
             .category(Category::System)
     }
@@ -55,7 +50,15 @@ impl Command for External {
         input: PipelineData,
     ) -> Result<PipelineData, ShellError> {
         let cwd = engine_state.cwd(Some(stack))?;
-        let name: Value = call.req(engine_state, stack, 0)?;
+        let rest = call.rest::<Value>(engine_state, stack, 0)?;
+        let name_args = rest.split_first();
+
+        let Some((name, call_args)) = name_args else {
+            return Err(ShellError::MissingParameter {
+                param_name: "no command given".into(),
+                span: call.head,
+            });
+        };
 
         let name_str: Cow<str> = match &name {
             Value::Glob { val, .. } => Cow::Borrowed(val),
@@ -151,7 +154,7 @@ impl Command for External {
         command.envs(envs);
 
         // Configure args.
-        let args = eval_arguments_from_call(engine_state, stack, call)?;
+        let args = eval_external_arguments(engine_state, stack, call_args.to_vec())?;
         #[cfg(windows)]
         if is_cmd_internal_command(&name_str) || potential_nuscript_in_windows {
             // The /D flag disables execution of AutoRun commands from registry.
@@ -290,14 +293,13 @@ impl Command for External {
     }
 }
 
-/// Evaluate all arguments from a call, performing expansions when necessary.
-pub fn eval_arguments_from_call(
+/// Evaluate all arguments, performing expansions when necessary.
+pub fn eval_external_arguments(
     engine_state: &EngineState,
     stack: &mut Stack,
-    call: &Call,
+    call_args: Vec<Value>,
 ) -> Result<Vec<Spanned<OsString>>, ShellError> {
     let cwd = engine_state.cwd(Some(stack))?;
-    let call_args = call.rest::<Value>(engine_state, stack, 1)?;
     let mut args: Vec<Spanned<OsString>> = Vec::with_capacity(call_args.len());
 
     for arg in call_args {