Working with Properties

Encode/Decode/Roundtrip to/from a property file. Line comments on value nodes will be copied across.
By default, empty maps and arrays are not encoded - see below for an example on how to encode a value for these.
Note that versions prior to 4.18 require the 'eval/e' command to be specified.
yq e <exp> <file>
Encode properties
Note that empty arrays and maps are not encoded by default.
Given a sample.yml file of:
# block comments don't come through
person: # neither do comments on maps
    name: Mike Wazowski # comments on values appear
    pets: 
    - cat # comments on array values appear
    food: [pizza] # comments on arrays do not
emptyArray: []
emptyMap: []
then
yq -o=props sample.yml
will output
# comments on values appear
person.name = Mike Wazowski
​
# comments on array values appear
person.pets.0 = cat
person.food.0 = pizza
Encode properties: scalar encapsulation
Note that string values with blank characters in them are encapsulated with double quotes
Given a sample.yml file of:
# block comments don't come through
person: # neither do comments on maps
    name: Mike Wazowski # comments on values appear
    pets: 
    - cat # comments on array values appear
    food: [pizza] # comments on arrays do not
emptyArray: []
emptyMap: []
then
yq -o=props --unwrapScalar=false sample.yml
will output
# comments on values appear
person.name = "Mike Wazowski"
​
# comments on array values appear
person.pets.0 = cat
person.food.0 = pizza
Encode properties: no comments
Given a sample.yml file of:
# block comments don't come through
person: # neither do comments on maps
    name: Mike Wazowski # comments on values appear
    pets: 
    - cat # comments on array values appear
    food: [pizza] # comments on arrays do not
emptyArray: []
emptyMap: []
then
yq -o=props '... comments = ""' sample.yml
will output
person.name = Mike Wazowski
person.pets.0 = cat
person.food.0 = pizza
Encode properties: include empty maps and arrays
Use a yq expression to set the empty maps and sequences to your desired value.
Given a sample.yml file of:
# block comments don't come through
person: # neither do comments on maps
    name: Mike Wazowski # comments on values appear
    pets: 
    - cat # comments on array values appear
    food: [pizza] # comments on arrays do not
emptyArray: []
emptyMap: []
then
yq -o=props '(.. | select( (tag == "!!map" or tag =="!!seq") and length == 0)) = ""' sample.yml
will output
# comments on values appear
person.name = Mike Wazowski
​
# comments on array values appear
person.pets.0 = cat
person.food.0 = pizza
emptyArray = 
emptyMap = 
Decode properties
Given a sample.properties file of:
# comments on values appear
person.name = Mike Wazowski
​
# comments on array values appear
person.pets.0 = cat
person.food.0 = pizza
then
yq -p=props sample.properties
will output
person:
    name: Mike Wazowski # comments on values appear
    pets:
        - cat # comments on array values appear
    food:
        - pizza
Roundtrip
Given a sample.properties file of:
# comments on values appear
person.name = Mike Wazowski
​
# comments on array values appear
person.pets.0 = cat
person.food.0 = pizza
then
yq -p=props -o=props '.person.pets.0 = "dog"' sample.properties
will output
# comments on values appear
person.name = Mike Wazowski
​
# comments on array values appear
person.pets.0 = dog
person.food.0 = pizza

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Encode properties

Encode properties: scalar encapsulation

Encode properties: no comments

Encode properties: include empty maps and arrays

Decode properties

Roundtrip