Proposal: Allow default ".repos" file (similar to how Docker handles Dockerfile)

[caioaamaral]

Feature Request

Description

Default the .repos file to $(cwd)/.repos.

Users would still be able to set a custom file via the --file argument (similar to how Docker operates on a default Dockerfile).

Motivation

Running vcs import in a workspace that has a canonical .repos file should not require re-typing the file path every time. Defaulting to $(cwd)/.repos removes that friction while keeping full control via --file for anything non-default.

Proposed Solution

usage: vcs import [-h] [--file FILE_OR_URL] [--force] [--shallow] [--recursive] [--retry N] [--skip-existing] [--debug] [-w N] [--repos] [path]

Import the list of repositories

options:
  -h, --help           show this help message and exit

"import" command parameters:
  --file FILE_OR_URL   Where to read the .repos file (default: "$(cwd)/.repos")
  --force              Delete existing directories if they don't contain the repository being imported (default: False)
  --shallow            Create a shallow clone without a history (default: False)
  --recursive          Recurse into submodules (default: False)
  --retry N            Retry commands requiring network access N times on failure (default: 2)
  --skip-existing      Don't overwrite existing directories or change custom checkouts in repos using the same URL (but fetch repos with same URL) (default: False)

Common parameters:
  --debug              Show debug messages (default: False)
  -w N, --workers N    Number of parallel worker threads (default: 20)
  --repos              List repositories which the command operates on (default: False)
  path                 Base path to clone repositories to (default: .)

Typical use-cases

• Use import without specifying a .repos file:

# looks for a '.repos' file in cwd
vcs import

• Still set a custom .repos file by giving its location:

# set the '.repos' file location
vcs import --file ros2.repos

• Import a subset of repositories from $(cwd)/.repos:

vcs import --repos my_package_drivers my_package_bringup

Notes

• vcs import (with no input specified) is valid, but expects input from stdin.
• Ideally we would drop --input (or deprecate it) in favor of --file.
• Not sure if there are other vcs commands affected.

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Moved from dirk-thomas/vcstool#294