[chef-dev] Announce: chef-dk-template-plugin - easy distribution of ChefDK templates as gems

["FitzGibbon, James" < >]

Ohai Chefs!

I would like to announce the first release of chef-dk-template-plugin, a stab 
at making it easy to distribute custom ChefDK templates inside and outside of 
your organization.

Here’s a brief demo.  Let’s assume you have a plugin class like this:

require 'chef-dk/template/plugin_base'
require 'chef-dk/template/mixins'

# the Chef Development Kit
module ChefDK
  # templates for 'chef generate'
  module Template
    # a pluggable framework for distributing templates as ruby gems
    class Plugin
      # an example plugin for chef-dk-template-plugin
      class Example < PluginBase
        include ChefDK::Template::Mixin::CookbookBase

        # the version of the gem
        VERSION = '0.1.0'

        class << self
          def description
            'Example cookbook template'
          end
        end
      end
    end
  end
end

And you have a generator recipe like this:

template = ChefDK::Template::Plugin::Example.new(self)
template.generate

Now when you run ‘chef generate cookbook foo’, you’ll get a cookbook that has 
all the things provided by the ‘CookbookBase’ mixin (things like a README, 
CHANGELOG, metadata.rb, etc.)

Because the generators are Ruby classes:

- you can extend, inherit and metaprogram them to your heart’s delight

- you can test them using RSpec or minitest or Aruba/Cucumber

- you can create mixins for other people to use

- you can distribute your mixins or templates as ruby gems

- you can update them using ‘chef gem install’

My hope is that this will spur more sharing of good cookbook practice while 
still allowing you to compose templates that meet the various needs you have 
inside your organization.

Feedback and PRs are welcome.

Plugin Framework: https://github.com/Nordstrom/chef-dk-template-plugin

Example Plugin: https://github.com/Nordstrom/chef-dk-template-example

Cheers