JuliaDynamics/DrWatson.jl

Pkg.activate is not enough for forcing correct environment

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#245 opened on Apr 28, 2021

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good first issue

Description

This is perhaps a bit of a drive-by comment (I haven't used the package myself), and perhaps it has been discussed before but Pkg.activate is not enough to make sure you use the correct environment. Here is one example:

$ JULIA_LOAD_PATH=/tmp/Project.toml: julia --project=. -q
julia> Base.active_project()
"/tmp/tmp.ovN3Dd5eeE/Project.toml"

julia> Base.load_path()
4-element Vector{String}:
 "/tmp/Project.toml"
 "/tmp/tmp.ovN3Dd5eeE/Project.toml"
 "/home/fredrik/.julia/environments/v1.6/Project.toml"
 "/opt/julia/julia-1.6/share/julia/stdlib/v1.6"

Contributor guide

Tech stack
None
Domain
developer experiencetooling
Issue type
bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
Julia basicsPkg.jlenvironment management
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
35
Research direction
Investigate the interaction between Pkg.activate and JULIA LOAD PATH. The issue shows that even after activating a project, the load path can be influenced by an external environment variable. Consider whether DrWatson should override the load path or issue a warning. Look at load path handling in DrWatson.jl source code and check for existing discussions or PRs. Implement a test that reproduces the scenario and propose a solution.