Add a helper function to prepare the inputs

src/aiida_shell/launch.py

@@ -22,18 +22,17 @@
 LOGGER = logging.getLogger('aiida_shell')
 
 
-def launch_shell_job(  # noqa: PLR0913
+def prepare_shell_job_inputs(
     command: str | AbstractCode,
     arguments: list[str] | str | None = None,
     nodes: t.Mapping[str, str | pathlib.Path | Data] | None = None,
     filenames: dict[str, str] | None = None,
     outputs: list[str] | None = None,
     parser: ParserFunctionType | str | None = None,
     metadata: dict[str, t.Any] | None = None,
-    submit: bool = False,
     resolve_command: bool = True,
-) -> tuple[dict[str, Data], ProcessNode]:
-    """Launch a :class:`aiida_shell.ShellJob` job for the given command.
+) -> dict[str, t.Any]:
+    """Prepare inputs for the ShellJob based on the provided parameters.
 
     :param command: The shell command to run. Should be the relative command name, e.g., ``date``. An ``AbstractCode``
         instance will be automatically created for this command if it doesn't already exist. Alternatively, a pre-
@@ -48,17 +47,13 @@ def launch_shell_job(  # noqa: PLR0913
         a complete entry point, i.e. a string of the form ``{entry_point_group}:{entry_point_name}`` pointing to such a
         callable.
     :param metadata: Optional dictionary of metadata inputs to be passed to the ``ShellJob``.
-    :param submit: Boolean, if ``True`` will submit the job to the daemon instead of running in current interpreter.
     :param resolve_command: Whether to resolve the command to the absolute path of the executable. If set to ``True``,
         the ``which`` command is executed on the target computer to attempt and determine the absolute path. Otherwise,
         the command is set as the ``filepath_executable`` attribute of the created ``AbstractCode`` instance.
     :raises TypeError: If the value specified for ``metadata.options.computer`` is not a ``Computer``.
     :raises ValueError: If ``resolve_command=True`` and the absolute path of the command on the computer could not be
         determined.
-    :returns: The tuple of results dictionary and ``ProcessNode``, or just the ``ProcessNode`` if ``submit=True``. The
-        results dictionary intentionally doesn't include the ``retrieved`` and ``remote_folder`` outputs as they are
-        generated for each ``CalcJob`` and typically are not of interest to a user running ``launch_shell_job``. In
-        order to not confuse them, these nodes are omitted, but they can always be accessed through the node.
+    :returns: A dictionary containing prepared inputs for the ShellJob.
     """
     metadata = metadata or {}
     computer = metadata.get('options', {}).pop('computer', None)
@@ -94,6 +89,60 @@ def launch_shell_job(  # noqa: PLR0913
         'metadata': metadata or {},
     }
 
+    return inputs
+
+
+def launch_shell_job(  # noqa: PLR0913
+    command: str | AbstractCode,
+    arguments: list[str] | str | None = None,
+    nodes: t.Mapping[str, str | pathlib.Path | Data] | None = None,
+    filenames: dict[str, str] | None = None,
+    outputs: list[str] | None = None,
+    parser: ParserFunctionType | str | None = None,
+    metadata: dict[str, t.Any] | None = None,
+    submit: bool = False,
+    resolve_command: bool = True,
+) -> tuple[dict[str, Data], ProcessNode]:
+    """Launch a :class:`aiida_shell.ShellJob` job for the given command.
+
+    :param command: The shell command to run. Should be the relative command name, e.g., ``date``. An ``AbstractCode``
+        instance will be automatically created for this command if it doesn't already exist. Alternatively, a pre-
+        configured ``AbstractCode`` instance can be passed directly.
+    :param arguments: Optional list of command line arguments optionally containing placeholders for input nodes. The
+        arguments can also be specified as a single string. In this case, it will be split into separate parameters
+        using ``shlex.split``.
+    :param nodes: A dictionary of ``Data`` nodes whose content is to replace placeholders in the ``arguments`` list.
+    :param filenames: Optional dictionary of explicit filenames to use for the ``nodes`` to be written to ``dirpath``.
+    :param outputs: Optional list of relative filenames that should be captured as outputs.
+    :param parser: Optional callable that can implement custom parsing logic of produced output files. Alternatively,
+        a complete entry point, i.e. a string of the form ``{entry_point_group}:{entry_point_name}`` pointing to such a
+        callable.
+    :param metadata: Optional dictionary of metadata inputs to be passed to the ``ShellJob``.
+    :param submit: Boolean, if ``True`` will submit the job to the daemon instead of running in current interpreter.
+    :param resolve_command: Whether to resolve the command to the absolute path of the executable. If set to ``True``,
+        the ``which`` command is executed on the target computer to attempt and determine the absolute path. Otherwise,
+        the command is set as the ``filepath_executable`` attribute of the created ``AbstractCode`` instance.
+    :raises TypeError: If the value specified for ``metadata.options.computer`` is not a ``Computer``.
+    :raises ValueError: If ``resolve_command=True`` and the absolute path of the command on the computer could not be
+        determined.
+    :returns: The tuple of results dictionary and ``ProcessNode``, or just the ``ProcessNode`` if ``submit=True``. The
+        results dictionary intentionally doesn't include the ``retrieved`` and ``remote_folder`` outputs as they are
+        generated for each ``CalcJob`` and typically are not of interest to a user running ``launch_shell_job``. In
+        order to not confuse them, these nodes are omitted, but they can always be accessed through the node.
+    """
+
+    # Prepare inputs for the ShellJob
+    inputs = prepare_shell_job_inputs(
+        command=command,
+        arguments=arguments,
+        nodes=nodes,
+        filenames=filenames,
+        outputs=outputs,
+        parser=parser,
+        metadata=metadata,
+        resolve_command=resolve_command,
+    )
+
     if submit:
         current_process = Process.current()
         if current_process is not None and isinstance(current_process, WorkChain):