30 lines
1.2 KiB
Markdown
30 lines
1.2 KiB
Markdown
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# Development Shell helpers {#chap-devShellTools}
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The `nix-shell` command has popularized the concept of transient shell environments for development or testing purposes.
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<!--
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We should try to document the product, not its development process in the Nixpkgs reference manual,
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but *something* needs to be said to provide context for this library.
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This is the most future proof sentence I could come up with while Nix itself does yet make use of this.
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Relevant is the current status of the devShell attribute "project": https://github.com/NixOS/nix/issues/7501
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-->
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However, `nix-shell` is not the only way to create such environments, and even `nix-shell` itself can indirectly benefit from this library.
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This library provides a set of functions that help create such environments.
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## `devShellTools.valueToString` {#sec-devShellTools-valueToString}
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Converts Nix values to strings in the way the [`derivation` built-in function](https://nix.dev/manual/nix/2.23/language/derivations) does.
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:::{.example}
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## `valueToString` usage examples
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```nix
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devShellTools.valueToString (builtins.toFile "foo" "bar")
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=> "/nix/store/...-foo"
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```
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```nix
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devShellTools.valueToString false
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=> ""
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```
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