Add possibility to change detectIndent option

[vladshcherbin]

Hey 👋

Internal write-json-file has a detectIndent option to detect indentation of existing file which is false by default. write-pkg provides this option which is hardcoded to true.

If existing file has empty {} contents inside, added fields will be saved as a single line:

{"name":"test","version":"1.0.0"}

It's impossible to fix such file indentation using any indentation options, the only way is to remove file and regenerate it. It would be nice to have detectIndent not hardcoded and have possibility to overwrite it.

[sindresorhus]

I think it would be better to fix your specific issue instead. We could just default to 2-space indentation if the existing indentation could not be detected.

[vladshcherbin]

@sindresorhus can you give more details? Do you mean check indentation using detect-indent and then pass other options in this package or something else?

[vladshcherbin]

Actually, I do think its better to fix this using the linked PR. I can give you another use case - you can have badly indented package.json and want to fix it using indent: 2 for example. It also won't work because detectIndent is set to true.

There may be another use cases, I do think it's a better idea to give control and choice to a developer.

I've changed the issue name, maybe it gave false meaning, the PR doesn't remove default true option, it just gives you a way to change it if needed.

[sindresorhus]

Actually, I do think its better to fix this using the linked PR.

The linked PR is not fixing it. It's giving you the ability to work around it. That's different. I want to actually fix it so everyone doesn't have to specify the option to get the expected behavior when the package.json is empty.

you can have badly indented package.json and want to fix it using indent: 2 for example. It also won't work because detectIndent is set to true.

I'm not a big fan of doing changes based on imaginary scenarios. There's also no indent option here.

[vladshcherbin]

The linked PR is not fixing it. It's giving you the ability to work around it.

Oh, I see what you mean, totally understandable :)

I'm not a big fan of doing changes based on imaginary scenarios. There's also no indent option here.

I'm using indent option from write-json-file, which sets indentation to 2. My use case is:

No matter what indentation is in existing file, set indentation to 2 spaces. It works with detectIndent: false + indent: 2 combo. So, the first issue is with {}, second is with non-updatable indentation.

I see by default you set detectIndent to true to respect existing indentation, however I don't need to use existing indentation and my use case won't work if detectIndent is true.

Suggest how to solve this to work both ways, I'll update PR :)

[vladshcherbin]

So, I see a fix in two parts:

1. Solve issue with {} for everyone with 2 space default indentation.
2. Give possibility to set detectIndent to false for cases like mine.

@sindresorhus what do you think?

[sindresorhus]

Sorry, I totally missed your comment. Yes, that plan sounds good.