[CAGE] duplicate variables in configuration

[fperrad]

Some variables are duplicated (with the same value) in configuration :

• bin_dir & bindir
• include_dir & includedir
• lib_dir & libdir

The version with underscore is preferred.

[doughera]

Why is the version with the underscore preferred? The versions with the underscore have been marked 'deprecated' in config/init/install.pm for years. The versions without the underscore match the Configure.pl command-line options for --bindir, --libdir, and --includedir. It seems to me that the versions without the underscore are the ones that should be preferred.

[fperrad]

Ok, for without underscore (I don't know this deprecation)

So the following variables must be rename :

• doc_dir
• icu_dir

and perhaps :

• blib_dir
• build_dir

[jkeenan]

Replying to fperrad:

Some specifics ...

$ grep -n "dir'" lib/Parrot/Config/Generated.pm 
127:             'bin_dir' => '/usr/local/bin',
128:             'bindir' => '/usr/local/bin',
130:             'blib_dir' => 'blib/lib',
131:             'build_dir' => '/homedir/work/parrot',
156:             'datadir' => '/usr/local/share',
158:             'doc_dir' => '/usr/local/share/doc',
249:             'i_sysdir' => 'define',
259:             'i_sysndir' => undef,
288:             'icu_dir' => '/usr',
291:             'include_dir' => '/usr/local/include',
292:             'includedir' => '/usr/local/include',
293:             'infodir' => '/usr/local/info',
318:             'lib_dir' => '/usr/local/lib',
319:             'libdir' => '/usr/local/lib',
320:             'libexecdir' => '/usr/local/libexec',
334:             'localstatedir' => '/usr/local/var',
341:             'mandir' => '/usr/local/man',
352:             'oldincludedir' => '/usr/include',
381:             'sbindir' => '/usr/local/sbin',
384:             'sharedstatedir' => '/usr/local/com',
387:             'srcdir' => '/usr/local/src',
390:             'sysconfdir' => '/usr/local/etc',
396:             'versiondir' => '/parrot/1.0.0-devel',

[jkeenan]

I have created the dir_simplify branch in SVN to work on this ticket.

I propose to work in several small steps. I will first remove the three config attributes cited by fperrad which are obviously duplicates and which have long borne the comment # deprecated in config/init/install.pm.

Unless Coke or somebody tells me otherwise, I am going to assume that these are immediately removable (assuming nothing breaks) without being added to DEPRECATED.pod on the grounds that they are not part of Parrot's interface to language developers.

Once I've done that merge and assuming there are no complaints, I'll remove other "dirs with underscores" such as doc_dir one step at a time. The most likely candidates to be left unchanged would be blib_dir and (for Darwin) ports_include_dir and fink_include_dir.

Files which will need to be reviewed by others include:
-- docs/pdds/draft/pdd30_install.pod (around lines 189, 202)
-- tools/dev/mk_language_shell.pl (around lines 493, 494)

[jkeenan]

Diff between trunk and dir_simplify branch, eliminating 3 deprecated attributes in init::install

[jkeenan]

See patch just attached for elimination of bin_dir, lib_dir, include_dir. make and make test passed. tools/dev/mk_language_shell.pl appears to be okay, but I don't have an installed parrot which is a prerequisite for that.

Comments?

[jkeenan]

Replying to jkeenan:

See patch just attached for elimination of bin_dir, lib_dir, include_dir. make and make test passed. tools/dev/mk_language_shell.pl appears to be okay, but I don't have an installed parrot which is a prerequisite for that.

No adverse comments, so bin_dir, lib_dir and include_dir bit the dust in r37861. dir_simplify branch has been merged and deleted.

I'll keep the ticket open until I/we reach a final decision on the other _dir instances.

Thank you very much.
kid51

[doughera]

I haven't looked at the list carefully, but here's what my overall thought was:

If there is a variable that can be controlled by a Configure.pl command-line option, it probably makes sense to have the variable name match the command-line option.

[jkeenan]

Replying to doughera:

I haven't looked at the list carefully, but here's what my overall thought was: If there is a variable that can be controlled by a Configure.pl command-line option, it probably makes sense to have the variable name match the command-line option.

Looks like we're already set there. In lib/Parrot/Configure/Options/Conf/Shared.pm, there are no options spelled _dir.

[jkeenan]

Replying to jkeenan:

No adverse comments, so bin_dir, lib_dir and include_dir bit the dust in r37861. dir_simplify branch has been merged and deleted.

Caught two usages I missed earlier in config/gen/makefiles/parrot_pc.in. (I suspect ack didn't recognize that as a source code file.)

Fixed in r37863.

[jkeenan]

On second thought, since fperrad's original post was aimed at duplicate configuration attributes, and since we've eliminated them, I'm going to close this ticket.

We can take care of _dir odds and ends as time goes by.

Thank you very much.
kid51