Creating a package

All packages start out as directory in your repo!

A package is a collection of metadata grouped together in a directory, and defined by an entry in your sfdx-project.json ( Project Manifest).

// A sample sfdx-project.json with a packag
{
  "packageDirectories": [
    {
      "path": "src-env-specific-pre",
      "package": "env-specific-pre",
      "versionNumber": "4.7.0.NEXT",
    },
     ...
   ]
}

Each package in the context of sfp need to have the following attributes as the absolute minimum

Attribute	Required
path	yes	Path the the directory that contains the contents of the package
package	yes	The name of the package
versionNumber	yes	The version number of the package
versionDescription	no	Description for a particular version of the package

sfp will not consider any entries in your sfdx-project.json for its operations if it is missing 'package' or 'versionNumber' attribute, By default, sfp treats all entries in sfdx-project.json as Source Packages. If you need to create an unlocked or an org depednent unlocked package, you need to proceed to create the packages using the follwing steps detailed below

Creating an Unlocked Package

Creating an Unlocked Package with SF CLI

To create an unlocked package using the Salesforce CLI, follow the steps below:

1. Identify the Package Directory: Ensure that your sfdx-project.json contains an entry for the package you wish to turn into an unlocked package. The entry must include path, package, and versionNumber.

2. Create a Package: If the package does not already exist, create it with the command:

   sf package:create --name <package_name> --packagetype Unlocked  --nonamespace -o <alias_for_org>

   Replace <package_name> with the name of your unlocked package, with the package directory specified in your sfdx-project.json, and <alias_for_org> with the alias for your Salesforce org.

3. Ensure that an entry for your package is created in your packageAliases section. Please commit the updated sfdx-project.json to your version control, before proceeding with sfp commands

Creating an Org Dependent Unlocked Package

Creating an Org Dependent Unlocked Package with SF CLI

To create an unlocked package using the Salesforce CLI, follow the steps below:

1. Identify the Package Directory: Ensure that your sfdx-project.json contains an entry for the package you wish to turn into an unlocked package. The entry must include path, package, and versionNumber.

2. Create a Package: If the package does not already exist, create it with the command:

   sf package:create --name <package_name> --packagetype Unlocked  --org-dependent      --nonamespace -o <alias_for_org>

   Replace <package_name> with the name of your unlocked package, with the package directory specified in your sfdx-project.json, and <alias_for_org> with the alias for your Salesforce org.

3. Ensure that an entry for your package is created in your packageAliases section. Please commit the updated sfdx-project.json to your version control, before proceeding with sfp commands

Creating a data package

• Identify the Package Directory: Ensure that your sfdx-project.json contains an entry for the package you wish to turn into an unlocked package. The entry must include path, package, and versionNumber.

• Ensure your package directory is populated with an export-json and the required CSV files. Read on here to learn more about data packages

• Add an additional attribute of "type":"data"

      {
      "path": "path--to--package",
      "package": "name--of-the-package", 
      "versionNumber": "X.Y.Z.[NEXT/BUILDNUMBER]",
      "type": "data", // required for data packages
      }

Creating a diff package

• Identify the Package Directory: Ensure that your sfdx-project.json contains an entry for the package you wish to turn into an unlocked package. The entry must include path, package, and versionNumber.

• Ensure your package directory is populated with an export-json and the required CSV files. Read on here to learn more about diff packages

• Add an additional attribute of "type":"diff"

      {
      "path": "path--to--package",
      "package": "name--of-the-package", 
      "versionNumber": "X.Y.Z.[NEXT/BUILDNUMBER]",
      "type": "diff", // required for data packages
      }

• Ensure a new record is created in SfpowerscriptsArtifact2__c object in your devhub, with the details such as the name of the package, the initial version number, the baseline commit id