Don't overwrite .clangd file in project root

[rc-jpbarbosa]

As a user I'd like the option to maintain my own .clangd configuration file (in the project root) without the CDT-LSP plugin overwriting it.

Most importantly, when used with the cmake4eclipse plugin, the CompilationDatabase is incorrectly set to the path specified in C/C++ Build > Build location > Build directory instead of the actual build path specified in C/C++ Build > Cmake4eclipse > Build output location > Folder. This makes the plugin unusable in our project because the resulting CompilationDatabase path does not exist.

(Note: modifying C/C++ Build > Build location > Build directory to match C/C++ Build > Cmake4eclipse > Build output location > Folder is not possible while the Generate Makefiles automatically option is checked, as it is in our project)

We already have steps in our CMake configuration for copying our compile_commands.json to an appropriate directory where clangd can find it, so we don't need the plugin to specify CompilationDatabase at all. We do this in CMake so that clangd will work in our project regardless of the build folder name or IDE being used.

Additionally, the plugin will modify the formatting and strip out useful comments within the .clangd file, meaning we have to take additional measures to ensure these unwanted changes aren't committed to our repository.

I've read through the discussion in the similar issue #227 and, unless I'm misunderstanding the resolution, forking and modifying the plugin ourselves is not a suitable option for our team.

[ghentschke]

Hi, sorry for the late answer.
you can disable the .clangd creation by implementing this interface as an OSGi component with a servcie ranking > 0. This will override the default implementaion in org.eclipse.cdt.lsp.clangd.internal.config.DefaultClangdCompilationDatabaseSettings. For reference see the default implementation here.

[rc-jpbarbosa]

I was hoping this could be implemented as a feature of the plugin itself, such as with a checkbox in the project settings in Eclipse. Many projects contain a .clangd file in their root directories, checked into their version control, and the LSP plugin overwriting it would be seen as undesirable.

[ghentschke]

Many projects contain a .clangd file in their root directories, checked into their version control, and the LSP plugin overwriting it would be seen as undesirable.

I could add a checkbox to disable the generation. The default would be disabled then

[alexkaratarakis]

A non-great workaround is to mark .clangd as read-only.

[ghentschke]

[jpvbarbosa]

The linked pull request addresses #373, but it does not close this issue -- the request is to not overwrite the .clangd file at all

[ghentschke]

The linked pull request addresses #373, but it does not close this issue -- the request is to not overwrite the .clangd file at all

What do you mean with at all? If the option Set compilation database in .clangd file is disabled, the .clangd file won't be overwritten.

[ghentschke]

we could disable it as default

[jpvbarbosa]

What do you mean with at all? If the option Set compilation database in .clangd file is disabled, the .clangd file won't be overwritten.

Sorry, I misinterpreted the scope of this new setting, I thought maybe there were other reasons the .clangd file was written to. It sounds like this will do exactly what I requested, then.

we could disable it as default

Either way is fine for our use case, will leave that decision to you.

Thank you for working on this.