Feature request: a function to load file content as string

[begoon]

For example:

TAG := trim(file_content("TAG.txt"))

docker-push:
	docker push ...:{{VERSION}}

Proposed PR: #2507

[laniakea64]

Why not use cat? -

TAG := trim(`cat TAG.txt`)

docker-push:
	docker push ...:{{VERSION}}

[begoon]

It is possible to use `cat`. However, loading a file is an everyday use case in CI scripting, so having a fast built-in would be convenient. It is similar to the `datetime()` function, which can be replaced by `(shell date ...)`, but there is a built-in.

[begoon]

Also, cat may not be available on Windows.

[casey]

Merged in #2507 as read_to_string(path). Perhaps we should change it to just read(path) before the next release? I originally intended the name to be more verbose to be more explicit, but in reality, just only has strings, so there's no way the function can return anything else.

[casey]

Renamed to read(path) in #2518.