java_binary rules labeled as manual disables the Debug icon

[rogerhu]

Description of the bug:

Suppose I have this Java rule:

java_binary(
    name = "shaded_jar",
    main_class = "com.squareup.MyApp",
    tags = ["manual"],
    runtime_deps = ["//myapp/src/main/java:lib"],
)

Because it is added with a manual tag, the IDE information (e.g.intellij-info.txt) will not be generated for this rule (confirmed by looking inside the bazel-out directory). There is a specific tag that excludes it here, which prevents the kind from derived. We can see this phenomenon in the UI:

As a result, the Debug icon gets disabled. Without the metadata intellij-info.txt created, the Bazel kind cannot be determined. As a result, the run configuration is viewed as not debuggable here.

A few options I can see:

1. Do nothing. Remove the manual tag and run resync and you can workaround this issue.
2. Stop performing Debug icon check (e.g. disable returning false here)
3. Run a query on the command bazel query --output=label_kind //myapp:shaded_jar to figure out if it can derive things regardless of the manual tag. Changes to the ProjectTargetFinder method is likely to invoke the Bazel command should this information not be retrieved from intellij-info.txt.
4. When syncing scan all targets and do not exclude those tagged with manual here

#1 is the manual way to workaround the issue, #2 is the simplest, #3 is the most additive, and #4 may create other side effects.

What's the simplest, easiest way to reproduce this bug? Please provide a minimal example if possible.

1. Add manual tag to the example: https://github.com/bazelbuild/bazel/blob/master/examples/java-native/src/main/java/com/example/myproject/BUILD#L7

2. Sync the repo.

3. Add a Run Configuration with this target. Watch the debug icon get disabled!

Which Intellij IDE are you using? Please provide the specific version.

IntellIJ 2022.1 - but usiing upstream Bazel IntelliJ to repro

What programming languages and tools are you using? Please provide specific versions.

No response

What Bazel plugin version are you using?

No response

Have you found anything relevant by searching the web?

No response

Any other information, logs, or outputs that you want to share?

Confirmed that kind is null when manual tag is set:

Other references:

• https://blog.bazel.build/2019/09/29/intellij-bazel-sync.html
• https://github.com/bazelbuild/intellij/blob/master/DEV_IDE_SETUP.md

[rogerhu]

Posting #4547 as a proposal for option #3... please provide any feedback about this change?

[mai93]

Another workaround is to explicitly specify the manual targets in the project view (.bazelproject file) under the targets section.

[rogerhu]

@mai93 can you take a look at #4547 and provide feedback about whether this is acceptable?

[sfc-gh-abalik]

Thanks for adding this @rogerhu. I tried allow_manual_targets_sync: true in my project and noticed that manual java_test targets are still not getting synced. I don't see intellij-info.txt files being generated for them.

My .bazelproject looks like:

targets:
  //MyApp/...

Do you expect allow_manual_targets_sync: true to work in this case? I'm guessing some work might be needed on the aspect and/or how it's invoked to ensure it picks up manual targets.

[rogerhu]

Thanks for adding this @rogerhu. I tried allow_manual_targets_sync: true in my project and noticed that manual java_test targets are still not getting synced. I don't see intellij-info.txt files being generated for them.

My .bazelproject looks like:

targets:
  //MyApp/...

Do you expect allow_manual_targets_sync: true to work in this case? I'm guessing some work might be needed on the aspect and/or how it's invoked to ensure it picks up manual targets.

It's supposed to stop applying the manual to exclude targets. There may be a bug somewhere we should check.

[rogerhu]

Can you try to remove the target and use derive_targets_from_directories: true instead and see if it shows up?

[sfc-gh-abalik]

Can you try to remove the target and use derive_targets_from_directories: true instead and see if it shows up?

Yes it picks up the manual targets if I switch to derive_targets_from_directories: true. I think I see why:

In my original project, the aspect invocation looks like:

bazel build --tool_tag=ijwb:IDEA:community --aspects=@@intellij_aspect//:intellij_info_bundled.bzl%intellij_info_aspect  -- //MyApp/...

So any test target marked as manual would be excluded there. When I switch to derive_targets_from_directories it builds every target found by the bazel query that you modified, which includes the manual ones.

[rogerhu]

Can you try to remove the target and use derive_targets_from_directories: true instead and see if it shows up?

Yes it picks up the manual targets if I switch to derive_targets_from_directories: true. I think I see why:

In my original project, the aspect invocation looks like:

bazel build --tool_tag=ijwb:IDEA:community --aspects=@@intellij_aspect//:intellij_info_bundled.bzl%intellij_info_aspect  -- //MyApp/...

So any test target marked as manual would be excluded there. When I switch to derive_targets_from_directories it builds every target found by the bazel query that you modified, which includes the manual ones.

Yep, I just reviewed this issue. The aspect approach relies on bazel build to generate the IDE intellij-info.txt. The problem is that manual tags are excluded for bazel build invocations (https://bazel.build/run/build). I really think the aspect needs to first query available targets (e.g. bazel query "//src/main/java/com/example/example:all") after it receives the manual targets for the IDE integration to work correctly.

[rogerhu]

Proof of concept here: 178be12

I think I'll need to hide this behind the extra option as well.

[rogerhu]

I've dropped #5458 as a proposal to make this work for your issue!

[mrohan-ca]

@sfc-gh-abalik It looks like this issue has been fixed and can be closed.