fix #960: add a --force-write-version-files flag for the cli

Author: RonnyPfannschmidt

changelog.d/20240108_134756_cli_version_file_force.md

@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+
+### Added
+
+- fix #960: add a ``--force-write-version-files`` flag for the cli
+
+-->
+<!--
+### Changed
+
+- A bullet item for the Changed category.
+
+-->
+<!--
+### Deprecated
+
+- A bullet item for the Deprecated category.
+
+-->
+<!--
+### Fixed
+
+- A bullet item for the Fixed category.
+
+-->
+<!--
+### Security
+
+- A bullet item for the Security category.
+
+-->

src/setuptools_scm/_cli.py

@@ -31,7 +31,9 @@ def main(args: list[str] | None = None) -> None:
         )
         config = Configuration(inferred_root)
 
-    version = _get_version(config, force_write_version_files=False)
+    version = _get_version(
+        config, force_write_version_files=opts.force_write_version_files
+    )
     if version is None:
         raise SystemExit("ERROR: no version found for", opts)
     if opts.strip_dev:
@@ -67,6 +69,12 @@ def _get_cli_opts(args: list[str] | None) -> argparse.Namespace:
         action="store_true",
         help="remove the dev/local parts of the version before printing the version",
     )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--force-write-version-files",
+        action="store_true",
+        help="trigger to write the content of the version files\n"
+        "its recommended to use normal/editable installation instead)",
+    )
     sub = parser.add_subparsers(title="extra commands", dest="command", metavar="")
     # We avoid `metavar` to prevent printing repetitive information
     desc = "List files managed by the SCM"

testing/test_cli.py

@@ -56,3 +56,31 @@ def test_cli_find_pyproject(
     with warns_cli_root_override:
         out = get_output(["-c", PYPROJECT_TOML, "--root=."])
     assert out.startswith("0.1.dev1+")
+
+
+def test_cli_force_version_files(
+    wd: WorkDir, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch, debug_mode: DebugMode
+) -> None:
+    debug_mode.disable()
+    wd.commit_testfile()
+    wd.write(
+        PYPROJECT_TOML,
+        """
+[project]
+name = "test"
+[tool.setuptools_scm]
+version_file = "ver.py"
+""",
+    )
+    monkeypatch.chdir(wd.cwd)
+
+    version_file = wd.cwd.joinpath("ver.py")
+    assert not version_file.exists()
+
+    get_output([])
+    assert not version_file.exists()
+
+    output = get_output(["--force-write-version-files"])
+    assert version_file.exists()
+
+    assert output[:5] in version_file.read_text("utf-8")