fix: prevent unwanted subprocess termination

Snakefile

@@ -317,6 +317,17 @@ def terminate_if_cutout_exists(config=config):
     Check if any of the requested cutout files exist.
     If that's the case, terminate execution to avoid data loss.
     """
+    import argparse
+
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+    parser.add_argument("--mode", type=int, default=snakemake.Mode.default)
+    parser.add_argument("--target-jobs", type=str, nargs="+", default=[])
+    args, _ = parser.parse_known_args(sys.argv)
+    if args.mode == snakemake.Mode.subprocess and "build_cutout" not in " ".join(
+        args.target_jobs
+    ):
+        return
+
     config_cutouts = [
         d_value["cutout"] for tc, d_value in config["renewable"].items()
     ] + list(config["atlite"]["cutouts"].keys())

doc/release_notes.rst

@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ PyPSA-Earth 0.4.1
 * Fixed problematic float parsing (`_parse_float`) in `clean_osm_data.py` to make sure all OSM lines are correctly accounted for `PR #1089 <https://github.com/pypsa-meets-earth/pypsa-earth/pull/1089>`__
 * Fix minor bug for advanced csp implementation `PR #1076 <https://github.com/pypsa-meets-earth/pypsa-earth/pull/1076>`__
 * Fix minor bug in `build_powerplants.py` where the gas technology assignment incorrectly introduced NaN values for all powerplant technologies. `PR #1102 <https://github.com/pypsa-meets-earth/pypsa-earth/pull/1102>`__
+* Fix unwanted termination due to existing cutout during snakemake subprocess calls `PR #1079 <https://github.com/pypsa-meets-earth/pypsa-earth/pull/1079>`__
 
 
 PyPSA-Earth 0.4.0

test/test_cutout_termination.smk

@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText:  PyPSA-Earth and PyPSA-Eur Authors
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later
+
+import os
+import sys
+
+CUTOUT = "cutout.nc"
+
+
+def terminate_if_cutout_exists(subprocess_check=False):
+    """
+    Check if any of the requested cutout files exist.
+    If that's the case, terminate execution to avoid data loss.
+    """
+    if subprocess_check:
+        import argparse
+
+        parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+        parser.add_argument("--mode", type=int, default=snakemake.Mode.default)
+        parser.add_argument("--target-jobs", type=str, nargs="+", default=[])
+        args, _ = parser.parse_known_args(sys.argv)
+        if args.mode == snakemake.Mode.subprocess and "build_cutout" not in " ".join(
+            args.target_jobs
+        ):
+            return
+
+    if os.path.exists(CUTOUT):
+        os.remove(CUTOUT)
+        raise Exception(
+            f"A cutout file {CUTOUT} exists and risks to be overwritten. "
+            "If this is an intended behavior, please move or delete this file and re-run the rule."
+        )
+
+
+terminate_if_cutout_exists(subprocess_check=config.get("subprocess_check", False))
+
+
+rule remove_cutout:
+    input:
+        cutout=CUTOUT,
+    run:
+        os.remove(input.cutout)
+
+
+rule build_cutout:
+    output:
+        cutout=CUTOUT,
+    shell:
+        "echo build_cutout > {output.cutout}"