@kastoestoramadus Thanks for this pull request. I will work with you to try and understand this improvement and get it to the finish line. You will need to run scripts/scalafmt to get pass the format check. Note that this project is cross built for 2.12,1.13,3.x so some new Scala features/formats may not work.

1. I saw that you created a pull request on the Java based repo but I don't think they are adding new features. Are you using this repo or thinking of switching?
2. I would like to hear more about the use case so I am hoping you can write a thorough example etc. for me and for future users. I am not a very experienced user of this library.

@kastoestoramadus I was wondering if you could answer the questions I asked before. I do this part time so I don't have much time to devote to major changes.

1. You originally had a PR to lightbend config. Are you using this library now instead?
2. I understand about rendering which is a big subject in the original library. What exactly is your use case for this change?

Note: In the history of this library - render was designed for debugging - not for a roundtrip. For example this PR was designed for an advanced render but is a huge change - #319

This is a very stable library. I would like to improve it but I have to be very careful to not break binary compatibility. A couple of your changes potentially break compatibility. I have mima setup but need to fix in the build.

To check run: sconfigJVM/mimaReportBinaryIssues

hi,
ad 1) We were using the lightbend lib version heavily for parsing and merging multiple config files. I've tested yours and it works fine in my internal network and is open for development to fix formatting blockers.
ad 2) I've found no formatter for HOCON that can skip resolving the references. As for now I can use this library as it always reorder the entries in alphabetical order.
IMO: it's a shame that no proper formatter exists for HOCON. The only formatter working properly I've found is bounded with Intelij Idea API.
I aim at integration with git hooks.

I'll check this sconfigJVM/mimaReportBinaryIssues, thanks. Old tests from sbt test just pass for now without touching them. All defaults are set to be compatible with the old settings.

Do you share this mima somewhere?

If render was only for debugging then my changes shouldn't be risky to add as a new production feature to it as long, as it get parsed back to the same model ;).
If you prefer more Java code style, let me know.

Closed via #454