4.8.0

• Introduce the edit sub-command that opens modulefile passed as argument in a text editor. Modulefile can be specified like with any other sub-command, leveraging defined symbolic versions, aliases or using advanced version specifiers.
• Add the editor configuration option to select the text editor to use with edit sub-command. When this option is set through the config sub-command, the MODULES_EDITOR environment variable is set. The --with-editor installation option controls the default value of editor configuration option. If not set at installation time, vi is set as default editor.
• Default value of editor configuration option is overridden by the VISUAL or the EDITOR environment variables, which are both in turn overridden by the MODULES_EDITOR environment variable.
• Doc: fix modulecmd.tcl internal state check in recipes example codes. (fix issue #396)
• The Advanced module version specifiers mechanism now allows the use of version range in version list (for instance mod@:1.2,1.4:1.6,1.8:). Such specification helps to exclude specific versions. (fix issue #397)
• Install: fix installation scripts to allow building Modules when its repository is set as a git submodule. (fix issue #398)
• Doc: demonstrate in the source-script-in-modulefile recipe how to use the source-sh command when software provide a specific initialization script for each shell it supports. (fix issue #399)
• When defining a shell function with the set-function modulefile command, only export this function when using the Bash shell (using the export -f shell command) to make it available in sub-shell contexts. Shell function export is not supported on other kind of sh shell (sh, ksh and zsh). (fix issue #401)
• Doc: add variants design notes.
• Add the variant modulefile command that enables to pass down arguments, specified when designating the module to evaluate, within modulefile evaluation context. This command defines a variant name and a list of allowed values. When evaluated, variant instantiates an element in the ModuleVariant array whose name equals variant name and value is set with value specified for variant when module is designated. If specified value does not correspond to an allowed value or if no value is specified for variant an error is raised.
• Enhance the Advanced module version specifiers to handle variant specification following Spack_'s syntax (e.g., name=value). When the advanced_version_spec configuration is enabled, variant could be specified anywhere a module can be specified.
• Add the --default option to the variant modulefile command to indicate the default value of the variant to apply when the designation of the evaluating module does not mention this variant.
• Add the --boolean option to the variant modulefile command to indicate that the variant defined is of the Boolean type, thus no list of accepted value is expected.
• Enhance the Advanced module version specifiers to handle Boolean variant specification following Spack_'s syntax (e.g., +name, ~name and -name). The -name syntax is not supported on ml(1) command as the minus sign already means to unload designated module.
• Accept any minus argument (-word) set after the sub-command name when the advanced_version_spec configuration is enabled and if sub-command accepts Advanced module version specifiers (like load or unload sub-commands). A false value may be set to Boolean variant this way.
• Add the variant_shortcut configuration option to define shortcut characters that could be used to specify and report module variants. Default value for this option could be set at installation time with the --with-variant-shortcut option. No variant shortcut is defined by default. This value could be superseded by setting up the variant_shortcut option with config sub-command. Which sets the MODULES_VARIANT_SHORTCUT environment variable.
• Enhance the Advanced module version specifiers to handle variant shortcut specification (e.g., value).
• Record in user loaded environment, with MODULES_LMVARIANT environment variable, the value specified for the variants defined in the loaded modulefiles and their properties (if it is a Boolean variant and if the value set is the default one).
• Add the variant element in the allowed value list of the list_output and list_terse_output configuration options. Set this new element in the default value list of the list_output option. When set, the variant defined for loaded modules are reported on module list command output.
• Add the va color key in default light and dark color palettes to graphically enhance the report of variant value.
• Update the key section to explain on list sub-command output the reported variant elements (name=value, +name, -name or value)
• Record variant specification of loaded modules when saving collections and reload specified variants when restoring these collections.
• When collection_pin_version configuration is disabled, only record in collections the variants whose value is not the default one.
• Update module designation in error, warning or informational messages to report variant specification enclosed in curly braces ({}), enclose module name and version or variant specification in single quotes ('') if they contain a space character and highlight the module designation in report message if configured.
• Introduce the getvariant modulefile command to query for currently evaluating module the value of a given variant name.
• When translating the @loaded version specifier also retrieve the variant specified for corresponding loaded module.
• Update hide, forbid and tag mechanisms to apply them only if they match selected module variant.
• Any variant defined in module specification passed as argument to search sub-commands (avail, whatis, is-avail, path and paths) is ignored.
• Raise an error if a variant named version is declared in a modulefile to let room for the future implementation of this specific variant.
• Doc: describe in the diff_v3_v4 document argument handling change on setenv since v3.2. (fix issue #402)
• Introduce the try-load sub-command which like load sub-command tries to load the modulefile passed as argument, but does not complain if this modulefile cannot be found. (fix issue #392)
• Init: fix stderr redirection in fish shell initialization script, now that use of the ^ character to redirect stderr is disabled by default (fish >=3.3).
• Protect quarantine mechanism code from rcexpandparam Zsh option when initializing the module command on this shell. (fix issue #403)