Tweak github action used to detect changed paths on push/pull request

Author: maxstack

.github/workflows/main.yml

@@ -30,21 +30,55 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     # Map a step output to a job output, this allows other jobs to be gated on the filter results
     outputs:
-        extra_on_push: ${{ steps.filter_some.outputs.extra_on_push }}
-        extra_on_pull_request: ${{ steps.filter_some.outputs.extra_on_pull_request }}
-        stackhpc: ${{ toJson(fromJson(steps.filter_some.outputs.stackhpc) || fromJson(steps.filter_every.outputs.stackhpc)) }}
-        trivvyscan: ${{ steps.filter_some.outputs.trivvyscan }}
+        extra_on_push: ${{ steps.filter_on_some.outputs.extra_on_push }}
+        extra_on_pull_request: ${{ steps.filter_on_some.outputs.extra_on_pull_request }}
+        # The 'stackhpc' output will be 'true' if either of the two stackhpc filters below matched
+        stackhpc: ${{ toJson(fromJson(steps.filter_on_every.outputs.stackhpc) || fromJson(steps.filter_on_some.outputs.stackhpc)) }}
+        trivvyscan: ${{ steps.filter_on_some.outputs.trivvyscan }}
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
+        # NOTE: We're detecting the changed files within a job so that we can gate execution of other jobs.
+        #       We use dorny/paths-filter which doesn't work like the conventional 'paths' and 'paths_exclude',
+        #       we can't do the following: 
+        # paths:
+        #   - '**'
+        #   - '!dev/**'
+        #   - 'dev/setup-env.sh'
+        #
+        #      Which would include all files whilst removing all "dev/" files except "dev/setup-env.sh".
+        #      We have to use two filters:
+        #        * first filter includes all changed files and removes "dev/" files
+        #        * second filter explicitly adds 'dev/setup-env.sh'
+        #      We use the logical OR of the filters outputs to gate jobs.
+
+      - name: Paths matching on every filter rule
+        # For safety use the commit of dorny/paths-filter@v3
+        uses: dorny/paths-filter@de90cc6fb38fc0963ad72b210f1f284cd68cea36
+        id: filter_on_every
+        with:
+          # Filter changed files, 'every' means the file is matched only if it matches all filter rules.
+          # NOTE: currently seeing: Warning: Unexpected input(s) 'predicate-quantifier', valid inputs are..
+          #       this can be ignored, filtering works as expected.
+          predicate-quantifier: 'every'
+          list-files: 'json'
+          filters: |
+            stackhpc:
+              - '**'
+              - '!dev/**'
+              - '!**/*.md'
+              - '!.gitignore'
+              - '!.github/workflows/**'
+
       - name: Paths matching on any filter rule
         # For safety use the commit of dorny/paths-filter@v3
         uses: dorny/paths-filter@de90cc6fb38fc0963ad72b210f1f284cd68cea36
-        id: filter_some
+        id: filter_on_some
         with:
           # Filter changed files, 'some' means the file is matched if any one of the filter rules match.
-          # Processing is different from 'paths' and 'paths_exclude', see note below.
+          # NOTE: currently seeing: Warning: Unexpected input(s) 'predicate-quantifier', valid inputs are..
+          #       this can be ignored, filtering works as expected.
           predicate-quantifier: 'some'
           list-files: 'json'
           filters: |
@@ -67,41 +101,15 @@ jobs:
             trivvyscan:
               - 'environments/.stackhpc/tofu/cluster_image.auto.tfvars.json'
 
-      - name: Paths matching on every filter rule
-        # For safety use the commit of dorny/paths-filter@v3
-        uses: dorny/paths-filter@de90cc6fb38fc0963ad72b210f1f284cd68cea36
-        id: filter_every
-        with:
-          # Filter changed files, 'every' means the file is matched only if matches all filter rules.
-          # Processing is different from 'paths' and 'paths_exclude', see note below.
-          predicate-quantifier: 'every'
-          list-files: 'json'
-          filters: |
-            stackhpc:
-              - '**'
-              - '!dev/**'
-              - '!**/*.md'
-              - '!.gitignore'
-              - '!.github/workflows/**'
-
       - name: Paths matched output
-        # NOTE: This is a debug step, it prints the paths that matched the filters
+        # NOTE: This is a debug step, it shows what files were matched by the filters.
         #       It's useful because dorny/paths-filter doesn't work like the conventional 'paths' and 'paths_exclude'
-        #       We can't do the following: 
-        # paths:
-        #   - '**'
-        #   - '!dev/**'
-        #   - 'dev/setup-env.sh'
-        #
-        #      Which would include all files whilst removing all "dev/" files except "dev/setup-env.sh".
-        #      Instead the 'some' stackhpc filter ensures we include "dev/setup-env.sh" - if changed,
-        #      the 'every' stackhpc filter ensures we don't include any other "dev/**" files.
         run: >
-          echo '{ "extra_on_push_files": ${{ steps.filter_some.outputs.extra_on_push_files }} }' | jq -r '.';
-          echo '{ "extra_on_pull_request_files": ${{ steps.filter_some.outputs.extra_on_pull_request_files }} }' | jq -r '.';
-          echo '{ "stackhpc_some_files": ${{ steps.filter_some.outputs.stackhpc_files }} }' | jq -r '.';
-          echo '{ "stackhpc_every_files": ${{ steps.filter_every.outputs.stackhpc_files }} }' | jq -r '.';
-          echo '{ "trivvyscan_files": ${{ steps.filter_some.outputs.trivvyscan_files }} }' | jq -r '.'
+          echo '{ "extra_on_push_files": ${{ steps.filter_on_some.outputs.extra_on_push_files }} }' | jq -r '.';
+          echo '{ "extra_on_pull_request_files": ${{ steps.filter_on_some.outputs.extra_on_pull_request_files }} }' | jq -r '.';
+          echo '{ "stackhpc_every_files": ${{ steps.filter_on_every.outputs.stackhpc_files }} }' | jq -r '.';
+          echo '{ "stackhpc_some_files": ${{ steps.filter_on_some.outputs.stackhpc_files }} }' | jq -r '.';
+          echo '{ "trivvyscan_files": ${{ steps.filter_on_some.outputs.trivvyscan_files }} }' | jq -r '.'
 
   extra:
     name: Test extra build