create "block off" or something to comment or remove a block of nml

[jordansread]

function to easily turn off (for example) aed part of the sim

[lawinslow]

@dzrobert upvotes this

[jordansread]

@lawinslow got any suggestions for the syntax on this? I think I can implement it (and will self-assign), but should this be an arg in set_nml, or a different function?

[lawinslow]

No clue, would we be able to turn it back on? If not, it seems you'd just need a rm_nml_block or something function. Otherwise, toggle or enable/disable would be nice functionality.

[jordansread]

the complexity of this wildly varies depending on whether we want "switch off" vs "toggle on/off". If it is a toggle, it is kind of more in-line with the support of comments in #139

[lawinslow]

Yeah, I know. @dzrobert, would just rm_nml_block be helpful? Or do you want to toggle it on and off?

[jordansread]

@hdugan did you have a use-case for this, or does it not apply to your workflow?

[jordansread]

@lawinslow I think I may add the rm_nml_block and then a quick add_nml_block that accepts a list of depth = 1. To get fancy, the return of rm_nml_block could be an invisible list of that block that was removed, so if you wanted to toggle:

aed_block <- rm_nml_block(glm_nml, 'wq_setup')
#...write glm etc
# run sim w/ aed off
add_nml_block(glm_nml, aed_block)
# run sim w/ aed off

ugg, nevermind, that won't work w/ pass by copy.

Would actually need to do a much uglier:

aed_block <- glm_nml['wq_setup']
glm_nml<- rm_nml_block(glm_nml, 'wq_setup')
#...write glm etc
# run sim w/ aed off
add_nml_block(glm_nml, aed_block)
# run sim w/ aed off

Other ideas to support a toggle without a major overhaul?

[lawinslow]

Ok, how about this

#this gets a block
cached_block = glm_nml['&wq_setup'] 

#this sets a new block or overwrites one with that name
glm_nml['&wq_2_setup'] = cached_block

#this removes a block
glm_nml['&wq_setup'] = NULL

#this gets a value for a variable in a specific block (supporting AED files)
glm_nml['&wq_setup/variable']

#this sets that variable inside the block
glm_nml['&wq_setup/variable'] = newvalue

#this works just like get_nml_value
glm_nml['variable']

#This works jus tlike set_nml
glm_nml['variable'] = 'some new value'

Thoughts?

[jordansread]

I like this a lot.

Personally, I do like going with
glm_nml['&wq_setup::variable'] = newvalue
to follow R's hierarchy for package::function, instead of treating it like xpath. I would like to converge on something though, because I am using something similar in geoknife to do quick feature grabs (webgeom('state::NH') for the state of New Hampshire; similar for ecoregions, etc.) I would like to have consistency w/ this too.

[jordansread]

Curious though, @lawinslow - is this kind of thing possible with the [ generic?

glm_nml['variable','variable_2'] = c('some new value','other new value')

[lawinslow]

It would be possible, but maybe not desirable given the conflation of dimensionality.

How about

glm_nml[c('variable','variable_2')] = c('some new value','other new value')

[jordansread]

yes, that works for me

[jordansread]

Closing for #255