replace cower search and json parsing code with jq

[rmarquis]

Pacaur uses some internal crappy, ugly but working (and suprisingly robust) json parser code - mostly because I didn't want to use jshon and associated deps and that it has some shortcoming.

However, jq in [community] is a nice alternative with very little footprint. It is also becoming a somewhat standard in the AUR ecosystem (used by asp, aurutils, ...).
Also, nowadays cower is used mainly for its powerful search feature, which could probably be replicated using jq. Consider replacing the current code with some jq calls.

• replace in-house json parsing code
• replicate cower search feature (maybe as an external program)

[ismaelgv]

Moving this new feature from 5.0 milestone to 4.8?

[rmarquis]

That 4.8 milestone is quite theoretical - don't know if that will be done at all.
This said, this change is quite easy. It's only 4 lines of code to replace. It would add a new dep so I don't want to add it to the current 4.7.x branch, which is bugfix and minor improvements only.

[rmarquis]

Since jq provides regex support, we might think about using it to replicate the powerful search function of cower and get rid of cower as AUR dependency.

[ismaelgv]

I think that is a nice idea, you kill two birds with one stone. I suppose some extra work on this issue too.

[rmarquis]

Yes. I don't have the time to work on this right now, but if jq is to be used in the future then it makes sense to make the full use of it.

[AladW]

Well, I'll be curious on how you guys implement it. I couldn't jq my way out of a paper bag but a nice person sent me patches. 😄

[rmarquis]

I'm actually doing a 180 degree turn here, and dropping this idea. See #708.