correctly honor cmdline --hint:conf:on/off ; correctly show Conf hints in order

compiler/cmdlinehelper.nim

@@ -27,7 +27,9 @@ proc initDefinesProg*(self: NimProg, conf: ConfigRef, name: string) =
   defineSymbol conf.symbols, name
 
 proc processCmdLineAndProjectPath*(self: NimProg, conf: ConfigRef) =
+  conf.isCmdLine = true
   self.processCmdLine(passCmd1, "", conf)
+  conf.isCmdLine = false
   if self.supportsStdinFile and conf.projectName == "-":
     handleStdinInput(conf)
   elif conf.projectName != "":

compiler/commands.nim

@@ -204,11 +204,17 @@ proc processSpecificNote*(arg: string, state: TSpecialWord, pass: TCmdLinePass,
     incl(conf.notes, n)
     incl(conf.mainPackageNotes, n)
     incl(conf.enableNotes, n)
+    if conf.isCmdLine:
+      incl(conf.cmdLineNotes, n)
+      excl(conf.cmdLineDisabledNotes, n)
   of "off":
     excl(conf.notes, n)
     excl(conf.mainPackageNotes, n)
     incl(conf.disableNotes, n)
     excl(conf.foreignPackageNotes, n)
+    if conf.isCmdLine:
+      incl(conf.cmdLineDisabledNotes, n)
+      excl(conf.cmdLineNotes, n)
   else: localError(conf, info, errOnOrOffExpectedButXFound % arg)
 
 proc processCompile(conf: ConfigRef; filename: string) =

compiler/msgs.nim

@@ -418,7 +418,10 @@ proc rawMessage*(conf: ConfigRef; msg: TMsgKind, args: openArray[string]) =
     inc(conf.warnCounter)
   of hintMin..hintMax:
     sev = Severity.Hint
-    if not conf.hasHint(msg): return
+    if msg in conf.cmdLineDisabledNotes: return # eg: `--hints:conf:off` passed on cmdline
+    # handle `--hints:off` (regardless of cmdline/cfg file)
+    # handle `--hints:conf:on` on cmdline
+    if not conf.hasHint(msg) and not (optHints in conf.options and msg in conf.cmdLineNotes)): return
     title = HintTitle
     color = HintColor
     if msg != hintUserRaw: kind = HintsToStr[ord(msg) - ord(hintMin)]

compiler/nimconf.nim

@@ -251,6 +251,7 @@ proc loadConfigs*(cfg: RelativeFile; cache: IdentCache; conf: ConfigRef) =
   template runNimScriptIfExists(path: AbsoluteFile) =
     let p = path # eval once
     if fileExists(p):
+      configFiles.add(p)
       runNimScript(cache, p, freshDefines = false, conf)
 
   if optSkipSystemConfigFile notin conf.globalOptions:

compiler/options.nim

@@ -231,6 +231,8 @@ type
     foreignPackageNotes*: TNoteKinds
     notes*: TNoteKinds
     mainPackageNotes*: TNoteKinds
+    cmdLineNotes*: TNoteKinds
+    cmdLineDisabledNotes*: TNoteKinds
     mainPackageId*: int
     errorCounter*: int
     hintCounter*: int
@@ -286,6 +288,7 @@ type
     structuredErrorHook*: proc (config: ConfigRef; info: TLineInfo; msg: string;
                                 severity: Severity) {.closure, gcsafe.}
     cppCustomNamespace*: string
+    isCmdLine*: bool # whether we are currently processing cmdline args, not cfg files
 
 proc hasHint*(conf: ConfigRef, note: TNoteKind): bool =
   optHints in conf.options and note in conf.notes
@@ -391,6 +394,7 @@ proc newConfigRef*(): ConfigRef =
     arguments: "",
     suggestMaxResults: 10_000,
     maxLoopIterationsVM: 10_000_000,
+    isCmdLine: false,
   )
   setTargetFromSystem(result.target)
   # enable colors by default on terminals

compiler/scriptconfig.nim

@@ -199,7 +199,6 @@ proc setupVM*(module: PSym; cache: IdentCache; scriptName: string;
 
 proc runNimScript*(cache: IdentCache; scriptName: AbsoluteFile;
                    freshDefines=true; conf: ConfigRef) =
-  rawMessage(conf, hintConf, scriptName.string)
   let oldSymbolFiles = conf.symbolFiles
   conf.symbolFiles = disabledSf
 
@@ -224,7 +223,7 @@ proc runNimScript*(cache: IdentCache; scriptName: AbsoluteFile;
   incl(m.flags, sfMainModule)
   graph.vm = setupVM(m, cache, scriptName.string, graph)
 
-  graph.compileSystemModule() # TODO: see why this unsets hintConf in conf.notes
+  graph.compileSystemModule()
   discard graph.processModule(m, llStreamOpen(scriptName, fmRead))
 
   # watch out, "newruntime" can be set within NimScript itself and then we need