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Co-authored-by: Valentin Gagarin <valentin.gagarin@tweag.io>
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Robert Hensing 2024-04-19 16:55:23 +02:00 committed by Robert Hensing
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doc/manual/src/language/values.md
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@ -94,11 +94,10 @@
*Paths* are distinct from strings and can be expressed by path literals such as `./builder.sh`.
Paths are the preferred type for referring to local files.
This is thanks to the following properties:
- Path values are always in a canonical form, so that you are relieved from trailing slashes, `.` and `..`.
- Path literals are automatically resolved [relative to the file](@docroot@/glossary.md#gloss-base-directory).
- Path values are automatically copied into the Nix store when used in a string interpolation or concatenation.
Paths are suitable for referring to local files, and are often preferable over strings.
- Path values do not contain trailing slashes, `.` and `..`, as they are resolved when evaluating a path literal.
- Path literals are automatically resolved relative to their [base directory](@docroot@/glossary.md#gloss-base-directory).
- The files referred to by path values are automatically copied into the Nix store when used in a string interpolation or concatenation.
- Tooling can recognize path literals and provide additional features, such as autocompletion, refactoring automation and jump-to-file.
A path literal must contain at least one slash to be recognised as such.
@ -106,10 +105,13 @@
it's parsed as an expression that selects the attribute `sh` from the variable `builder`.
Path literals may also refer to absolute paths by starting with a slash.
This is generally not recommended, because it makes the expression less portable.
In the case where a path literal is translated into an absolute path string for a configuration file, it is recommended to just use strings.
This avoids some confusion about whether files at that location will be used during evaluation,
and it avoids unintentional situations where some function might try to copy everything at the location into the store.
> **Note**
>
> Absolute paths make expressions less portable.
> In the case where a function translates a path literal into an absolute path string for a configuration file, it is recommended to write a string literal instead.
> This avoids some confusion about whether files at that location will be used during evaluation.
> It also avoids unintentional situations where some function might try to copy everything at the location into the store.
If the first component of a path is a `~`, it is interpreted such that the rest of the path were relative to the user's home directory.
For example, `~/foo` would be equivalent to `/home/edolstra/foo` for a user whose home directory is `/home/edolstra`.