[RFC] Configuration with user input

[covex-nn]

Sometimes it is not posible to create a recipe without some knowledge about application. For example, Flex does not know how application stores and operates with its data. Only the developer has this knowledge! So, Flex could ask developer about application and store all answers in composer.json somewhere under extra key.

With this knowledge, Flex could replace some placeholders in configuration files or copy different files for different user input.

Examples:

• User could choose db_driver for friendsofsymfony/user-bundle. A recipe could be created with replacing some placeholder with user choice (orm, mongodb, couchdb or custom);
• User could choose database layer for sonata-project/media-bundle (orm, phpcr or mongodb) and copy some classes only into Entity/, Document/ or PHPCR/ directory.

What do you think?

[fabpot]

I've thought about being more interactive before but I've decided early on that it would be out of the scope for Flex. Flex is all about auto-configurability, which forbids asking questions. I've seen so many projects (private ones) where installing the code means answering tens of questions you've no idea about which answers would be the best.

So, even if I like the idea, that's not something I'm wiling to consider for Flex. We still have some progress to do on being smarter, but interactivity is not on my list.

Thanks for proposing.

[slootjes]

@covex-nn I solved this with some recipes to create a console command and in the post-install.txt I tell the user to run it. Not ideal but it does the trick.

[covex-nn]

@slootjes +1, if Flex will not be interactive, a console command (or maker for symfony/maker-bundle) is the only way for additional configuration.

[covex-nn]

@slootjes also there is an interface Symfony\Component\DependencyInjection\Extension\PrependExtensionInterface, and if Extension implements that interface, it is possible to prepend another bundle's configuration in prepend method