[Feature request]: multiple config files patching behavior enhancements

[pearsonca]

Label

config

Priority Label

low priority

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

The multi-config PR #336 provides basic capabilities to meld configuration files, enabling hot-swapping configuration elements.

However, that capability is crude, and basically only supports distinct key words OR depth zero shadowing. It's desirable to provide more nuanced patching, e.g. supporting YAML references, variable syntax, and something akin to JSON-patch syntax.

The solution, however, needs to be human write/read-able as well (so the actual JSON patch standard is probably too fiddly).

Is your feature request related to a new application, scenario round, pathogen? Please describe.

No response

Describe the solution you'd like

• need a clear syntax for how config patching will work
• need some example use cases of how people would like it to work
• this might be special characters in the config files, command line options about how to patch (ala @TimothyWillard Support providing multi config files #336 (comment)), ...? possibly also some structural amendments to how we specify configs (to make patching what we care about easier)
• need to identify a technical solution that does most of the work (not clear that's confuse; might be pyndatic, might be we have to do a bit of our own work directly atop yaml)

then: can write a test suite for that patching standard and implement an enhancement of the current approach. that should just then propagate to wherever we're using the patching solution.