Many rule have string argument when they should be label

[guibou]

Description of the problem / feature request:

Many rules have string argument for things which, from my point of view, must be label.

For example, http_archive contains a patch_tool argument, which is a string and can be filled with the path to a patch binary. However, I'm building my patch binary using an external bazel repository, so I don't know beforehand the path for my patch binary. If patch_tool was accepting a label, I may just set it to @mypatch//:bin/patch for example.

I already opened a bug report for some specific rules here: #8438, but this bug report tries to be more general.

Feature requests: what underlying problem are you trying to solve with this feature?

I'm trying to have a fully reproducible build environment which does not depend on anything on the user system. To do that, I'm building / fetching everything in bazel, from simple tools such as patch to complex things such as CC toolchain. Unfortunately, a lot of rule in bazel expect string with the (absolute) path to utilities on the system, so that's technically non possible.

My current solution is to break a few bazel assumption and force my external repository rules to produce output in directories that I manage. Hence, I know beforehand the static path of my utilities.

The solution I'd like either:

• Allows label everywhere string are allowed, and simply replace them by the path to the label
• Allows $(location) (or similar invocation) in string argument for most rules.

What operating system are you running Bazel on?

Linux, macos and windows.

What's the output of bazel info release?

All bazel version are impacted.

Have you found anything relevant by searching the web?

no

Any other information, logs, or outputs that you want to share?

[laurentlb]

Thanks for the feedback.
To clarify the request, I think it's mostly about repository functions.

In Starlark rules, I think the API is more consistent about the types.

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