Module search path broken?

[FGasper]

I have a filter file ~/code/jq-filters/mongodb-mvlogs.jq that starts with:

include "./comma";

I have a file ~/code/jq-filters/comma.jq that contains:

def comma: (
    tostring
    | split("")
    | reverse
    | join("")
    | [scan(".{1,3}")]
    | join(",")
    | split("")
    | reverse
    | join("")
);

jq’s online docs say:

For paths starting with ./ or paths that are ., the path of the including file is substituted for .. For top-level programs given on the command-line, the current directory is used.

And yet, when I run jq 1.8.1:

jq -r -f ~/code/jq-filters/mongodb-mvlogs.jq

… I get:

jq: error: module not found: ./comma

jq: 1 compile error

If I add -L ~/code/jq-filters to the jq invocation, then everything works as I expect.

Is the documentation wrong? Or how else can I import a module that lives in the including file’s directory?

Thank you!

[wader]

Hey, i think the "." in "substituted for ." probably refers to the working directory of the jq process. Does it work if you run it from the ~/code/jq-filters directory? but yes it would be useful to be able to include relative of current file somehow, not sure if that is possible. @itchyny @nicowilliams do you know?

[FGasper]

i think the "." in "substituted for ." probably refers to the working directory of the jq process

This contradicts the documentation, though, which says that “the path of the including file” is what . means.

Is the documentation wrong, is the code wrong, or am I somehow misunderstanding this functionality?

Thank you!

[pkoppstein]

The jq 1.8 documentation (https://jqlang.org/manual/#modules) says that the RelativePathString is "relative to a directory in a search path". That is the governing documentation at this point, at least for jq 1.8. Recent versions of jaq and gojq seem to adhere to the same principle. Indeed, using your program and file layout, I've checked that the following works for jq, jaq and gojq:

$ cd
$  $jq -L ~/code/jq-filters -r -f ~/code/jq-filters/mongodb-mvlogs.jq

[FGasper]

@pkoppstein In what circumstances does . refer to “the path of the including file” (as the documentation also says)?

It would seem really useful to include files from the including file’s directory, by whatever syntax.

[pkoppstein]

@FGasper asked:

In what circumstances does . refer to “the path of the including file” (as the documentation also says)?

The context of this quotation is "paths in the search path":

Paths in the search path are subject to various substitutions.

So far as I can tell, none of jq, jaq, and gojq support this; if that is indeed the case, it will probably be quite difficult to get any of them to change.

[FGasper]

OK, I see what you’re saying: the search paths follow different rules from the include statement.

IIUC, then, a leading (or sole) . in the search path indicates the including file’s directory.

That being the case, it would seem I should be able to put . into my search path (e.g., -L .) and thus have the desired functionality. But that doesn’t work; I still get the module not found error.

Is there indeed a way to add “the including file’s directory” to jq’s search path, without hard-coding a specific directory? If not, then in what context does jq actually look at the including file’s path?