yaml multi line syntax without newline to space conversion

Question

I have something like this dictionary:

env: qat
target_host: >
         {%if env in ['prd'] %}one
         {%elif env in ['qat','stg'] %}two
         {%else%}three
         {%endif%}

when I print it I get:

ok: [localhost] => { "var": { "target_host": "two " } }

So it is converting the \n at the end of the line to a space. Which is exactly what it is supposed to do. However in this case I am just trying to spread out the lines to make the structure of the if/else more readable and I don't want the extra space. It works as expected if I put it all on one line without the > but I would like to be able to make it multiline just so its easier to read.

I found this question Is there a way to represent a long string that doesnt have any whitespace on multiple lines in a YAML document?

So I could do:

env: qat
target_host: "{%if env in ['prd'] %}one\
              {%elif env in ['qat','stg'] %}two\
              {%else%}three\
              {%endif%}"

And that gives the desired result.

Is there anyway to accomplish this without cluttering it up even more?

Possible duplicate of [In YAML, how do I break a string over multiple lines?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3790454/in-yaml-how-do-i-break-a-string-over-multiple-lines) — Hamish Downer, Sep 19 '17 at 15:17

score 10 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 25 '15 at 22:45

10

In Jinja* you can strip whitespaces/newlines by adding a minus sign to the start/end of a block. This should do the trick:

env: qat
target_host: >
         {%if env in ['prd'] -%}one
         {%- elif env in ['qat','stg'] -%}two
         {%- else -%}three
         {%- endif%}

* Jinja 2 is the templating engine used by Ansible.

answered Jun 25 '15 at 22:45

udondan

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Perfect! exactly what I wanted. – Russ Huguley Jun 25 '15 at 23:54

score 5 · Answer 2 · edited Aug 29 '15 at 08:03

5

Maybe what you need is the | literal?

env: qat
target_host: |
         {%if env in ['prd'] %}one
         {%elif env in ['qat','stg'] %}two
         {%else%}three
         {%endif%}

This will not 'fold' newlines into spaces, as oposed to >

edited Aug 29 '15 at 08:03

Yu Hao

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answered Aug 29 '15 at 07:51

franmr

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3

this one adds "\n" for me – BorisS Aug 08 '19 at 05:57
1

Add `-`, so `|-` This does not end a `\n` at the end – raphaëλ Aug 09 '22 at 06:30

yaml multi line syntax without newline to space conversion

2 Answers2