Is there a way to pass a list of packages to `using` in a similar way as `Pkg.add()`

General Usage
1

Is there a way to pass a list of packages to using in a similar way as Pkg.add() ?

This works:

package_names = ["DateFormats", "Statistics"] 
using Pkg 
Pkg.add(package_names)

but I can’t do this
using(package_names)
or this
using.(package_names)

1 Like
2

I found somewhere the following code to include in the startup.jl file:

import Pkg
package_names = ["DateFormats", "Statistics"] 
for pkg in package_names
    if Base.find_package(pkg) === nothing
       Pkg.add(pkg)
    end
    @eval using $(Symbol(pkg))
end
2 Likes
3

I wonder if there any disadvantages to allowing using to accept a vector of package names like Pkg.add()

4

Yes, you’d have to change the parser. using is a keyword, not a regular function for which you can just add a new method.

5

Is there a function equivalent for using of is that not possible?

6

No, but you can easily make one:

_using(x::Union{String, Symbol}) = @eval using $(Symbol(x))
2 Likes
7

I might be missing something, but why not just

using DateFormats, Statistics

i.e., by separating the packages by commas?

8

The issue is that it would be nice to be able to pass list of package names to both Pkg.add() and using… separating by commas still requires manual entry. I have scripts that I move between machines so I am always adding and using… The solutions above are great… I would think that this functionality would be good to bad in Base

9

It feels like you should be instantiating a manifest rather than passing around vectors of package names? (doesn’t solve the using point though just to be clear)

1 Like