.dart_tool/pub/workspace_ref.json is not cleaned up

[davidmorgan]

In build_runner I assumed that the presence of workspace_ref.json means the package is in a workspace, but this doesn't work: if you remove resolution: workspace then dart pub get then workspace_ref.json is not deleted.

I will fix build_runner by checking for resolution: workspace in the pubspec.

Maybe it would be good to also make pub get clean up workspace_ref.json? Feel free to close if this doesn't make sense for you, it's just a suggestion :) thanks!

build_runner issue: dart-lang/build#4888 (comment)

[FMorschel]

CC @sigurdm

[sigurdm]

Yeah, that makes sense. Transferring to pub client

[sigurdm]

Would it work if we just always write the workspace_ref.json file, even in non-workspaces?

That should align everything and make the code simpler.

[davidmorgan]

Writing it if there is no workspace would confuse tools that are checking for it and expect it to only be present for workspaces.

I think it would be better to always either write it or delete it.

[sigurdm]

From pub's perspective there always is a workspace. just sometimes it is "trivial".

What tools do we have that treat trivial workspaces differently?

[davidmorgan]

Good point. I also made the mistake that I did not realize a workspace root can contain sources like a package. But as you say, a package is a trivial workspace and a workspace root is a package. My mental model was wrong.

So I agree that writing it always is correct.

But it will break the latest build_runner release. I'll get out a bug fix release in the next day or so, so that should be fine.

Whether it would cause other problems, I don't know :) hopefully it's just me! I guess if you update pub and it goes through the usual test processes then we're good.

Thanks.