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# AWS CloudFormation Template Flip
## About
AWS CloudFormation Template Flip is a tool that converts [AWS CloudFormation](https://aws.amazon.com/cloudformation/) templates between [JSON](http://json.org/) and [YAML](http://yaml.org) formats, making use of the YAML format's short function syntax where possible.
The term "Flip" is inspired by the well-known Unix command-line tool [flip](https://ccrma.stanford.edu/~craig/utility/flip/) which converts text files between Unix, Mac, and MS-DOS formats.
## Installation
AWS CloudFormation Template Flip can be installed using [pip](https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/):
```bash
pip install cfn-flip
```
## Usage
AWS CloudFormation Template Flip is both a command line tool and a python library.
Note that the command line tool is spelled `cfn-flip` with a hyphen, while the python package is `cfn_flip` with an underscore.
### Command line tool
```
Usage: cfn-flip [OPTIONS] [INPUT] [OUTPUT]
AWS CloudFormation Template Flip is a tool that converts AWS
CloudFormation templates between JSON and YAML formats, making use of the
YAML format's short function syntax where possible."
Options:
-i, --input [json|yaml] Specify the input format. Overrides -j and -y
flags.
-o, --output [json|yaml] Specify the output format. Overrides -j, -y, and
-n flags.
-j, --json Convert to JSON. Assume the input is YAML.
-y, --yaml Convert to YAML. Assume the input is JSON.
-c, --clean Performs some opinionated cleanup on your
template.
-l, --long Use long-form syntax for functions when converting
to YAML.
-n, --no-flip Perform other operations but do not flip the
output format.
--version Show the version and exit.
--help Show this message and exit.
```
cfn-flip will detect the format of the input template and convert JSON to YAML and YAML to JSON, respectively.
Examples:
* Reading from `stdin` and outputting to `stdout`:
```bash
cat examples/test.json | cfn-flip
```
* Reading from a file and outputting to `stdout`:
```bash
cfn-flip examples/test.yaml
```
* Reading from a file and outputting to another file:
```bash
cfn-flip examples/test.json output.yaml
```
* Reading from a file and cleaning up the output
```bash
cfn-flip -c examples/test.json
```
### Python package
To use AWS CloudFormation Template Flip from your own python projects, import one of the functions `flip`, `to_yaml`, or `to_json` as needed.
```python
from cfn_flip import flip, to_yaml, to_json
"""
All functions expect a string containing serialised data
and return a string containing serialised data
or raise an exception if there is a problem parsing the input
"""
# flip takes a best guess at the serialisation format
# and returns the opposite, converting json into yaml and vice versa
some_yaml_or_json = flip(some_json_or_yaml)
# to_json expects serialised yaml as input, and returns serialised json
some_json = to_json(some_yaml)
# to_yaml expects serialised json as input, and returns serialised yaml
some_yaml = to_yaml(some_json)
# The clean_up flag performs some opinionated, CloudFormation-specific sanitation of the input
# For example, converting uses of Fn::Join to Fn::Sub
# flip, to_yaml, and to_json all support the clean_up flag
clean_yaml = to_yaml(some_json, clean_up=True)
```
### Configuration paramters
You can configure some parameters like:
`max_col_width`: Maximum columns before breakline. Default value is 200
To change the configuration you can use:
**Environment Variable**
Linux/Unix:
`export CFN_MAX_COL_WIDTH=120`
Windows: `SET CFN_MAX_COL_WIDTH=120`
**Python**
```python
from cfn_tools._config import config
from cfn_flip import flip, to_yaml, to_json
"""
All functions expect a string containing serialised data
and return a string containing serialised data
or raise an exception if there is a problem parsing the input
"""
# Change the default number of columns to break line to 120
config['max_col_width'] = "120"
# flip takes a best guess at the serialisation format
# and returns the opposite, converting json into yaml and vice versa
some_yaml_or_json = flip(some_json_or_yaml)
# to_json expects serialised yaml as input, and returns serialised json
some_json = to_json(some_yaml)
# to_yaml expects serialised json as input, and returns serialised yaml
some_yaml = to_yaml(some_json)
# The clean_up flag performs some opinionated, CloudFormation-specific sanitation of the input
# For example, converting uses of Fn::Join to Fn::Sub
# flip, to_yaml, and to_json all support the clean_up flag
clean_yaml = to_yaml(some_json, clean_up=True)
```