Use YAML with variables

Question

Are variables within YAML files possible? For example:

theme:
  name: default
  css_path: compiled/themes/$theme.name
  layout_path: themes/$theme.name
         


        

Answer 1

This is an old post, but I had a similar need and this is the solution I came up with. It is a bit of a hack, but it works and could be refined.

require 'erb'
require 'yaml'

doc = <<-EOF
  theme:
  name: default
  css_path: compiled/themes/<%= data['theme']['name'] %>
  layout_path: themes/<%= data['theme']['name'] %>
  image_path: <%= data['theme']['css_path'] %>/images
  recursive_path: <%= data['theme']['image_path'] %>/plus/one/more
EOF

data = YAML::load("---" + doc)

template = ERB.new(data.to_yaml);
str = template.result(binding)
while /<%=.*%>/.match(str) != nil
  str = ERB.new(str).result(binding)
end

puts str

A big downside is that it builds into the yaml document a variable name (in this case, "data") that may or may not exist. Perhaps a better solution would be to use $ and then substitute it with the variable name in Ruby prior to ERB. Also, just tested using hashes2ostruct which allows data.theme.name type notation which is much easier on the eyes. All that is required is to wrap the YAML::load with this

data = hashes2ostruct(YAML::load("---" + doc))

Then your YAML document can look like this

doc = <<-EOF
  theme:
  name: default
  css_path: compiled/themes/<%= data.theme.name %>
  layout_path: themes/<%= data.theme.name %>
  image_path: <%= data.theme.css_path %>/images
  recursive_path: <%= data.theme.image_path %>/plus/one/more
EOF