dotdrop/docs/config/usage-actions.md

• Dotfile actions
• Default actions
• Profile actions
• Fake dotfile and actions

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Note: any action with a key starting with an underscore (_) won't be shown in output. This can be useful when working with sensitive data containing passwords for example.

Dotfile actions

It is sometimes useful to execute some kind of action when deploying a dotfile.

Note that dotfile actions are only executed when the dotfile is installed.

For example let's consider Vundle is used to manage vim's plugins, the following action could be set to update and install the plugins when vimrc is deployed:

actions:
  vundle: vim +VundleClean! +VundleInstall +VundleInstall! +qall
config:
  backup: true
  create: true
  dotpath: dotfiles
dotfiles:
  f_vimrc:
    dst: ~/.vimrc
    src: vimrc
    actions:
      - vundle
profiles:
  home:
    dotfiles:
    - f_vimrc

Thus when f_vimrc is installed, the command vim +VundleClean! +VundleInstall +VundleInstall! +qall will be executed.

Sometimes, you may even want to execute some action prior to deploying a dotfile. Let's take another example with vim-plug:

actions:
  pre:
    vim-plug-install: test -e ~/.vim/autoload/plug.vim || (mkdir -p ~/.vim/autoload; curl
      -fLo ~/.vim/autoload/plug.vim https://raw.githubusercontent.com/junegunn/vim-plug/master/plug.vim)
  vim-plug: vim +PlugInstall +qall
config:
  backup: true
  create: true
  dotpath: dotfiles
dotfiles:
  f_vimrc:
    dst: ~/.vimrc
    src: vimrc
    actions:
       - vim-plug-install
       - vim-plug
profiles:
  home:
    dotfiles:
    - f_vimrc

This way, we make sure vim-plug is installed prior to deploying the ~/.vimrc dotfile.

You can also define post actions like this:

actions:
  post:
    some-action: echo "Hello, World!" >/tmp/log

If you don't specify neither post nor pre, the action will be executed after the dotfile deployment (which is equivalent to post). Actions cannot obviously be named pre or post.

Actions can even be parameterized. For example:

actions:
  echoaction: echo '{0}' > {1}
config:
  backup: true
  create: true
  dotpath: dotfiles
dotfiles:
  f_vimrc:
    dst: ~/.vimrc
    src: vimrc
    actions:
      - echoaction "vim installed" /tmp/mydotdrop.log
  f_xinitrc:
    dst: ~/.xinitrc
    src: xinitrc
    actions:
      - echoaction "xinitrc installed" /tmp/myotherlog.log
profiles:
  home:
    dotfiles:
    - f_vimrc
    - f_xinitrc

The above will execute echo 'vim installed' > /tmp/mydotdrop.log when vimrc is installed and echo 'xinitrc installed' > /tmp/myotherlog.log' when xinitrc is installed.

Default actions

Dotdrop allows to execute an action for any dotfile installation. These actions work as any other action (pre or post).

For example, the below action will log each dotfile installation to a file.

actions:
  post:
    loginstall: "echo {{@@ _dotfile_abs_src @@}} installed to {{@@ _dotfile_abs_dst @@}} >> {0}"
config:
  backup: true
  create: true
  dotpath: dotfiles
  default_actions:
  - loginstall "/tmp/dotdrop-installation.log"
dotfiles:
  f_vimrc:
    dst: ~/.vimrc
    src: vimrc
profiles:
  hostname:
    dotfiles:
    - f_vimrc

Profile actions

Profile can be either pre or post actions. Those are executed before any dotfile installation (for pre) and after all dotfiles installation (for post) only if at least one dotfile has been installed.

Fake dotfile and actions

Fake dotfile can be created by specifying no dst and no src (see config format). By binding an action to such a fake dotfile, you make sure the action is always executed since fake dotfile are always considered installed.

actions:
  always_action: 'date > ~/.dotdrop.log'
dotfiles:
  fake:
    src:
    dst:
    actions:
    - always_action