Add parseFlakeRef and flakeRefToString builtins (NixOS#8670)

Over the last year or so I've run into several use cases where I need to
parse and/or serialize URLs for use by `builtins.fetchTree` or
`builtins.getFlake`, largely in order to produce _lockfile-like_ files
for lang2nix frameworks or tools which use `nix` internally to drive
builds.

I've gone through the painstaking process of emulating
`nix::FlakeRef::fromAttrs` and `nix::parseFlakeRef` several times with
mixed success; but these are difficult to create and even harder to
maintain if I hope to stay aligned with changes to the real
parser/serializer.

I understand why adding new `builtins` isn't something we want to do
flagrantly. I'm recommending this addition simply because I keep
encountering use cases where I need to parse/serialize these URIs in
`nix` expressions, and I want a reliable solution.

Co-authored-by: Eelco Dolstra <[email protected]>
Co-authored-by: John Ericson <[email protected]>

doc/manual/src/release-notes/rl-next.md

@@ -1 +1,8 @@
 # Release X.Y (202?-??-??)
+
+- Two new builtin functions,
+  [`builtins.parseFlakeRef`](@docroot@/language/builtins.md#builtins-parseFlakeRef)
+  and
+  [`builtins.flakeRefToString`](@docroot@/language/builtins.md#builtins-flakeRefToString),
+  have been added.
+  These functions are useful for converting between flake references encoded as attribute sets and URLs.

src/libexpr/flake/flake.cc

@@ -793,6 +793,101 @@ static RegisterPrimOp r2({
     .experimentalFeature = Xp::Flakes,
 });
 
+static void prim_parseFlakeRef(
+    EvalState & state,
+    const PosIdx pos,
+    Value * * args,
+    Value & v)
+{
+    std::string flakeRefS(state.forceStringNoCtx(*args[0], pos,
+        "while evaluating the argument passed to builtins.parseFlakeRef"));
+    auto attrs = parseFlakeRef(flakeRefS, {}, true).toAttrs();
+    auto binds = state.buildBindings(attrs.size());
+    for (const auto & [key, value] : attrs) {
+        auto s = state.symbols.create(key);
+        auto & vv = binds.alloc(s);
+        std::visit(overloaded {
+            [&vv](const std::string    & value) { vv.mkString(value); },
+            [&vv](const uint64_t       & value) { vv.mkInt(value);    },
+            [&vv](const Explicit<bool> & value) { vv.mkBool(value.t); }
+        }, value);
+    }
+    v.mkAttrs(binds);
+}
+
+static RegisterPrimOp r3({
+    .name =  "__parseFlakeRef",
+    .args = {"flake-ref"},
+    .doc = R"(
+      Parse a flake reference, and return its exploded form.
+
+      For example:
+      ```nix
+      builtins.parseFlakeRef "github:NixOS/nixpkgs/23.05?dir=lib"
+      ```
+      evaluates to:
+      ```nix
+      { dir = "lib"; owner = "NixOS"; ref = "23.05"; repo = "nixpkgs"; type = "github"; }
+      ```
+    )",
+    .fun = prim_parseFlakeRef,
+    .experimentalFeature = Xp::Flakes,
+});
+
+
+static void prim_flakeRefToString(
+    EvalState & state,
+    const PosIdx pos,
+    Value * * args,
+    Value & v)
+{
+    state.forceAttrs(*args[0], noPos,
+        "while evaluating the argument passed to builtins.flakeRefToString");
+    fetchers::Attrs attrs;
+    for (const auto & attr : *args[0]->attrs) {
+        auto t = attr.value->type();
+        if (t == nInt) {
+            attrs.emplace(state.symbols[attr.name],
+                          (uint64_t) attr.value->integer);
+        } else if (t == nBool) {
+            attrs.emplace(state.symbols[attr.name],
+                          Explicit<bool> { attr.value->boolean });
+        } else if (t == nString) {
+            attrs.emplace(state.symbols[attr.name],
+                          std::string(attr.value->str()));
+        } else {
+            state.error(
+                "flake reference attribute sets may only contain integers, Booleans, "
+                "and strings, but attribute '%s' is %s",
+                state.symbols[attr.name],
+                showType(*attr.value)).debugThrow<EvalError>();
+        }
+    }
+    auto flakeRef = FlakeRef::fromAttrs(attrs);
+    v.mkString(flakeRef.to_string());
+}
+
+static RegisterPrimOp r4({
+    .name =  "__flakeRefToString",
+    .args = {"attrs"},
+    .doc = R"(
+      Convert a flake reference from attribute set format to URL format.
+
+      For example:
+      ```nix
+      builtins.flakeRefToString {
+        dir = "lib"; owner = "NixOS"; ref = "23.05"; repo = "nixpkgs"; type = "github";
+      }
+      ```
+      evaluates to
+      ```nix
+      "github:NixOS/nixpkgs/23.05?dir=lib"
+      ```
+    )",
+    .fun = prim_flakeRefToString,
+    .experimentalFeature = Xp::Flakes,
+});
+
 }
 
 Fingerprint LockedFlake::getFingerprint() const

tests/lang/eval-okay-flake-ref-to-string.exp

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+"github:NixOS/nixpkgs/23.05?dir=lib"

tests/lang/eval-okay-flake-ref-to-string.nix

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+builtins.flakeRefToString {
+  type  = "github";
+  owner = "NixOS";
+  repo  = "nixpkgs";
+  ref   = "23.05";
+  dir   = "lib";
+}

tests/lang/eval-okay-parse-flake-ref.exp

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{ dir = "lib"; owner = "NixOS"; ref = "23.05"; repo = "nixpkgs"; type = "github"; }

tests/lang/eval-okay-parse-flake-ref.nix

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+  builtins.parseFlakeRef "github:NixOS/nixpkgs/23.05?dir=lib"