Adding news lines when defining collection - kubernetes

Question

I am trying to define a collection (dict), and I would like to add a new line on each definition (for readability), Eg:
{{ $deployment := dict
"Release" .Release
"Chart" .Chart
"Values" .Values }}
But when I do this, helm respond a parse error :
Error: parse error in "XXX": template: XXX:2: unclosed action
Error: UPGRADE FAILED: parse error in "XXX": template: XXX:2: unclosed action
Is there a way in HELM to do this?

Answer 1

I achieved this by defining the dict first and then setting one key per line.
{{- $myDict := dict "" "" -}}
{{- $_ := set $myDict "myKey1" "myValue1" -}}
{{- $_ := set $myDict "myKey2" "myValue2" -}}
{{- $_ := set $myDict "myKey3" "myValue3" -}}
{{- $_ := set $myDict "myKey4" "myValue4" -}}
Bonus Tip: Since dict get function is available seemingly in only helm3 and later, you can use this hack to get a value from a dict to a string.
{{/* Hack needed until helm 3 which has 'get' for 'dict' */}}
{{- $myValue3Var := pluck "myKey3" $myDict | first -}}

Answer 2

TLDR;
It's impossible to declare dict in multiline way, like with Perl fat comma operator.
Please check the reference of "Sprig: Template functions for Go templates."
Instead you could use this sort of hacky way to achieve similar result:
Keep each key value pair in separate line, in Global Values file for readability:
# values.yaml
--
global:
someMap:
coffee: robusta
origin: Angola
crema: yes
Define helper template in _helpers.tpl:
{{- define "mychart.labels.standard"}}
{{- $global := default (dict) .Values.global.someMap -}}
Release: {{ .Release.Name | quote }}
Chart: {{ .Chart.Name }}
Values:
{{- $global := default (dict) .Values.global.someMap -}}
{{- range $key, $value := $global }}
{{ $key }}: {{ $value }}
{{- end }}
{{- end -}}
Include it in another template:
helm_data:
{{- $global := default (dict) .Values.global -}}
{{- range $key, $value := $global }}
{{ $key }}: {{ $value }}
{{- end }}
{{ include "mychart.labels.standard" . | nindent 0 -}}
Render it to verify the result (helm template --name dict-chart .)
---
# Source: mychart/templates/data_type.yaml
helm_data:
someMap: map[crema:true origin:Angola coffee:robusta]
Release: "dict-chart"
Chart: mychart
Values:
coffee: robusta
crema: true
origin: Angol

Answer 3

It seems it's impossible to do so. The Helm templating system is basically the Go templating system. As stated in the Go templating docs:
Except for raw strings, actions may not span newlines, although comments can.

Answer 4

For people coming across this question, this functionality works in recent versions of HELM. For me, OPs example works as-is (Helm v3.8.2).
(I came across this question myself due to a mismatched ) in my template.)