[feature] Add repository rule for translation of "properties" file into a .bzl
Context: https://github.com/bazelbuild/bazel/issues/18617; example: https://github.com/knik0/faad2/pull/162
Just asking if it is appropriate. If so, I'll prepare a PR.
Reasoning: normally to translate "properties" into skylark variables we have to
- add repository rule into e.g. workspace.bzl
- load and use that rule in WORKSPACE
- load resulting .bzl in target BUILD file
Step (1) could be removed if such a rule is a part of bazel-skylib. As a stretch goal, we could add more input formats alongside nearly-native JSON.
I'm not sure if this would be best done as a repository rule or a module extension. (@Wyverald, are repository rules going away?)
Repo rules are not going away. This seems appropriate as a repo rule -- pass a JSON file in, spit a .bzl file out.
Thanks! In this case, a PR is welcome