Problems with –project-dir option to pio init

[NormanDunbar]

What kind of issue is this?

• [ *] PlatformIO Core.
  If you’ve found a bug, please provide an information below.

---

Configuration

Operating system: Linux Mint 21.1 Vera (64 bit.)

PlatformIO Version : 6.1.13

Description of problem

I'm experimenting because I'm working through the author review part of the second edition of Arduino Software Internals, and the PlatformIO chapter has been updated.

I note that there is a --project-dir or -d option to pio init. However, the operation is inconsitent.

In my first test, I didn't create the output directory, and it failed, advising me that the output directory didn't exist. I can cope with that, but it would be nice if it created the output as it creates the src, lib directories anyway, normally.

In my second test, I created the directory and specified it thus:

mkdir fred
pio init -b uno -d fred

That fell over with a lot of red text and Python errors---see below. However, it did create the usual directories and most of platformio.ini---the comments were there but the [env:uno] environment was missing.

I cleared out and tried again with a relative path.

rm -Rf fred
mkdir fred
pio init -b uno -d ./fred

Same problem, same messages, same output.

Finally, I tested with a full path:

rm -Rf fred
mkdir fred
pio init -b uno -d $PWD/fred

And this worked perfectly.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Create a new directory, xxxx.
2. Run pio init -b uno -d xxxx or pio init -b uno -d ./xxxx and it will fail.
3. Run pio init -b uno -d $PWD/xxxx and it will work.

Actual Results

The output from the failing tests is:

The following files/directories have been created in fred
include - Put project header files here
lib - Put project specific (private) libraries here
src - Put project source files here
platformio.ini - Project Configuration File
FileNotFoundError: Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/norman/.platformio/penv/lib/python3.10/site-packages/platformio/__main__.py", line 103, in main
    cli()  # pylint: disable=no-value-for-parameter
  File "/home/norman/.platformio/penv/lib/python3.10/site-packages/click/core.py", line 1157, in __call__
    return self.main(*args, **kwargs)
  File "/home/norman/.platformio/penv/lib/python3.10/site-packages/click/core.py", line 1078, in main
    rv = self.invoke(ctx)
  File "/home/norman/.platformio/penv/lib/python3.10/site-packages/platformio/cli.py", line 85, in invoke
    return super().invoke(ctx)
  File "/home/norman/.platformio/penv/lib/python3.10/site-packages/click/core.py", line 1688, in invoke
    return _process_result(sub_ctx.command.invoke(sub_ctx))
  File "/home/norman/.platformio/penv/lib/python3.10/site-packages/click/core.py", line 1434, in invoke
    return ctx.invoke(self.callback, **ctx.params)
  File "/home/norman/.platformio/penv/lib/python3.10/site-packages/click/core.py", line 783, in invoke
    return __callback(*args, **kwargs)
  File "/home/norman/.platformio/penv/lib/python3.10/site-packages/platformio/project/commands/init.py", line 92, in project_init_cmd
    update_board_envs(project_dir, boards, project_options, env_prefix)
  File "/home/norman/.platformio/penv/lib/python3.10/site-packages/platformio/project/commands/init.py", line 336, in update_board_envs
    config.save()
  File "/home/norman/.platformio/penv/lib/python3.10/site-packages/platformio/project/config.py", line 551, in save
    with open(path or self.path, mode="w+", encoding="utf8") as fp:
FileNotFoundError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'fred/platformio.ini'

============================================================

An unexpected error occurred. Further steps:

* Verify that you have the latest version of PlatformIO using
  `python -m pip install -U platformio` command

* Try to find answer in FAQ Troubleshooting section
  https://docs.platformio.org/page/faq/index.html

* Report this problem to the developers
  https://github.com/platformio/platformio-core/issues

============================================================

Expected Results

I expected the platformio.ini file to be correctly created with the environment for an Uno board.

If problems with PlatformIO Build System:

The content of platformio.ini:

; PlatformIO Project Configuration File
;
;   Build options: build flags, source filter
;   Upload options: custom upload port, speed and extra flags
;   Library options: dependencies, extra library storages
;   Advanced options: extra scripting
;
; Please visit documentation for the other options and examples
; https://docs.platformio.org/page/projectconf.html

Source file to reproduce issue:

No source file as the pio init command failed.

Additional info

The bit about "FileNotFoundError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'fred/platformio.ini'" seems misleading as it managed to create the file, although I suspect that's more of a "copy and paste" operation. I suspect it's trying to open the file to write the environment settings. I'm not a Python programmer but it looks to me like it can't tell the difference between a full path or a relative one, and I find that hard to believe.

[valeros]

Hi @NormanDunbar, thanks for reporting. Indeed seems like a bug to me, although it only occurs when the --board argument is set.

PS: it's highly desirable to use the actual "pio project init" command for initializing new projects.

[ivankravets]

Does pio project init -d work?

[NormanDunbar]

Sorry about the delay getting back to you.
@valeros I have not been aware of pio project init until you mentioned it, thanks. I'll try to use it in future, however, the same bug behaviour is seen if the board option is specified.

@ivankravets The project will be initialised if I specify just the -d xxx option, provided 'xxx' is an existing directory. If I use the -b option, I get the same errors as with pio init -b uno -d xxx.

Cheers,
Norman.

[ivankravets]

The issue is reproducible once you pass the relative path. A temporary solution is to pass the full path to -d.

[NormanDunbar]

Thank you both.

Regards,
Norman.