Request: Allow app to specify root metadata property

[ericberdahl]

As currently implemented, the plugin adds all properties to the root metadata object. So, for example, if the files foo.json and bar.yml were parsed, the metalsmith.metadata() would then have foo and bar properties containing the parsed metadata from the respective files.

It would be useful to provide an option for the app to specify a root property in which those parsed properties were added. For example, if the app specified that all parsed files be added to the '_data' property, the plugin would ensure that the _data property existed in the metadata object (possibly adding it if absent), and then add foo and bar properties to metalsmith.metadata()._data.

[phildotdev]

Hello @ericberdahl, apologies for the delayed reply. This is an interesting idea. Out of curiosity what is the use case for this?

This seems like something which could be fairly easily implemented, I'll add it to my list.

[ericberdahl]

The use case is namespace management of the metadata. Because the set of files in a given directory is not necessarily known to the code author (i.e. data files could be added or removed over time), and because the filenames in that directory will become property names in the object to which the metadata is added, as a code author, I want to protect against those filenames colliding with other metadata I need to create.
One easy way to solve that problem is to allow the program to specify the name of the property in the Metalsmith metadata object that will hold the properties of the metadata being added through files. Other solutions that are as easy to understand and implement may also exist.

[phildotdev]

Thanks for the detailed info @ericberdahl, this seems like a very good idea. Being fully transparent, I am sadly very time limited at the moment due to private work and I am not actively using Metalsmith so I don't know when I can get round to this. Apologies.