Grunt set option for task and run that task using new value

Question

I have Grunt build automation added in my project.

I have created one custom task which sets a variable for other task and now I want to run the task using the value I set.

grunt.registerTask('dist-flow', function () {
    if (!grunt.option('env')) {
        grunt.option('env', 'prod');
        console.log(grunt.option('env'));
    }
    grunt.registerTask('dist',['dev_prod_switch']);
    grunt.task.run('distdev');
});

But whenever I run the dist-flow task it will set env to prod but dev_prod_switch always take default value which I set for dev_prod_switch.

So I want set the options from task and run specific task using that new value.

Answer 1

The problem:

Based on your question and comments, I'm assuming your Gruntfile.js looks something like this.

Gruntfile.js:

module.exports = function(grunt) {

    grunt.initConfig({
        dev_prod_switch: {
            options: {
                environment: grunt.option('env') || 'dev',
                env_char: '#',
                env_block_dev: 'env:dev',
                env_block_prod: 'env:prod'
            },
            all: {
                files: {
                    'appCommon/config.js': 'appCommon/config.js',
                }
            }
        },
    });

    grunt.registerTask('dist-flow', function () {
        if (!grunt.option('env') ) {
            grunt.option('env', 'prod');
            console.log(grunt.option('env'));
        }
        grunt.registerTask('dist',['dev_prod_switch']);
        grunt.task.run('distdev');
    });
};

Your issue is that you are trying to set the option inside a task, and read it back in the initConfig object. The trouble is, initConfig runs before your tasks, so environment has already been set to the default when your dist-flow task is run.

This line:

environment: grunt.option('env') || 'dev',

Runs before this line:

grunt.option('env', 'prod');

A Solution:

Inside your task, you can access your config option through grunt.config, so you could modify the value in the config object like so.

grunt.config.data.dev_prod_switch.options.environment = grunt.option('env');

Example Gruntfile.js:

module.exports = function(grunt) {

    grunt.initConfig({
        dev_prod_switch: {
            options: {
                environment: grunt.option('env') || 'dev',
                env_char: '#',
                env_block_dev: 'env:dev',
                env_block_prod: 'env:prod'
            },
            all: {
                files: {
                    'appCommon/config.js': 'appCommon/config.js',
                }
            }
        },
    });

    grunt.registerTask('dist-flow', function () {
        if (!grunt.option('env') ) {
            grunt.option('env', 'prod');
            console.log(grunt.option('env'));
            grunt.config.data.dev_prod_switch.options.environment = grunt.option('env');
            console.log(grunt.config.data.dev_prod_switch.options.environment);
        }
        grunt.registerTask('dist',['dev_prod_switch']);
        grunt.task.run('distdev');
    });
};