run-ios command ignores the verbose option

[liamjones]

Environment

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System:
    OS: macOS 10.15.7
    CPU: (8) x64 Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7820HQ CPU @ 2.90GHz
    Memory: 1.47 GB / 16.00 GB
    Shell: 5.8 - /usr/local/bin/zsh
  Binaries:
    Node: 10.24.0 - /var/folders/h6/g6rldscd6h389g9w42_7k_jm0swv2d/T/yarn--1617537855315-0.38815081056993295/node
    Yarn: 1.22.10 - /var/folders/h6/g6rldscd6h389g9w42_7k_jm0swv2d/T/yarn--1617537855315-0.38815081056993295/yarn
    npm: 6.14.11 - ~/.nvm/versions/node/v10.24.0/bin/npm
    Watchman: 4.9.0 - /usr/local/bin/watchman
  Managers:
    CocoaPods: 1.10.0 - /Users/liam.jones/.rbenv/shims/pod
  SDKs:
    iOS SDK:
      Platforms: iOS 14.4, DriverKit 20.2, macOS 11.1, tvOS 14.3, watchOS 7.2
    Android SDK:
      API Levels: 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29
      Build Tools: 27.0.3, 28.0.3, 29.0.2, 29.0.3, 30.0.3, 31.0.0
      System Images: android-21 | Google APIs Intel x86 Atom, android-25 | Google APIs Intel x86 Atom, android-25 | Google Play Intel x86 Atom, android-26 | Google Play Intel x86 Atom, android-27 | Google Play Intel x86 Atom, android-29 | Google APIs Intel x86 Atom, android-29 | Google Play Intel x86 Atom, android-30 | Google Play Intel x86 Atom
      Android NDK: Not Found
  IDEs:
    Android Studio: 4.1.3 4.1.3
    Xcode: 12.4/12D4e - /usr/bin/xcodebuild
  Languages:
    Java: 1.8.0_282 - /usr/bin/javac
    Python: 3.9.2 - /usr/local/opt/python/libexec/bin/python
  npmPackages:
    @react-native-community/cli: Not Found
    react: 16.13.1 => 16.13.1
    react-native: 0.63.4 => 0.63.4
    react-native-macos: Not Found
  npmGlobalPackages:
    *react-native*: Not Found

Description

run-ios detects the presence of xcpretty and uses it if installed. The command-line help for the run-ios command states:

--verbose Do not use xcpretty even if installed

However, when run with the verbose option, xcpretty is still used.

I've dug into this a little, it looks like the verbose option is checked for in buildProject(), here: https://github.com/react-native-community/cli/blob/v4.14.0/packages/platform-ios/src/commands/runIOS/index.ts#L307

However, if I debug the command as it's running, verbose is undefined.

The issue seems to be coming from Command.prototype.opts() inside commander. Here it copies the values from properties on this (the Command) into result[key]: https://github.com/tj/commander.js/blob/v2.20.3/index.js#L779. This works for other options like packager (set via --no-packager). I can see packager, etc exist on this for the working properties but for some reason this.verbose doesn't.

I've not been able to work out why this happens yet (nor if it's a problem in the cli or commander).

I've also created a fresh RN 0.64.0 project to check the behaviour is the same (and it is).

Reproducible Demo

1. Install xcpretty
2. Create RN project
3. Run run-ios and note xcpretty formatted output
4. Run run-ios --verbose and note xcpretty formatted output is still present

[liamjones]

Okay, I now understand what's going on. Essentially, with commander ^2.19.0 you cannot have the same option name on a subcommand as the parent. In this instance, both react-native and react-native run-ios have the option --verbose. react-native will essentially consume the verbose option so it's not visible to run-ios. This behaviour is changeable in v7 via the options added in this PR tj/commander.js#1427.

Potential options I can see;

1. Upgrade commander - I'm assuming going from v2 to v7 is going to be a lot of work.
2. Change the run-ios --verbose option to a different name so it no longer collides with react-native's --verbose option (also check there are no other option collisions on other commands)

I'm going to have a look at doing the second option as a starting point.

[liamjones]

I see the project already has a workaround for this in the init command: https://github.com/react-native-community/cli/blob/master/packages/cli/src/commands/init/init.ts#L208.

Would another workaround in run-ios be preferable to option 2 above?

[grabbou]

I would imagine we can pass commander.verbose

cli/packages/cli/src/index.ts

Lines 28 to 30 in 641b21f

	if (commander.verbose) {
	logger.error(err.message);
	} else {

to here

cli/packages/cli/src/index.ts

Line 138 in 641b21f

const passedOptions = this.opts();

{...passedOptions, verbose: commander.verbose()}

We have tried upgrading to a newer version, but that was quite a challenge. I would say for now, the easiest workaround is to pass it this way, or provide a utility function isVerboseMode() that would check process.argv itself, like the init workaround you have linked.

Either way, I'd be happy to accept this as a PR!

[RedMickey]

Hi, I faced a similar issue on React Native version 0.68.0-rc.2.

[liamjones]

Oh, I forgot to come back to this one. I'll see about doing a PR

[github-actions]

There hasn't been any activity on this issue in the past 3 months, so it has been marked as stale and it will be closed automatically if no further activity occurs in the next 7 days.

[liamjones]

Still waiting on PR #1571 to be approved and merged to fix this.