[Xapian-discuss] Tcl binding - issues with configure

[Michael Schlenker]

Am 17.04.2008 um 16:23 schrieb James Aylett:

> On Thu, Apr 17, 2008 at 04:14:58PM +0200, Michael Schlenker wrote:
>
> [TCL packaging locations]
>> There is no gold standard and your at the whim of
>> your local system policy whats right and whats a wrong install
>> location. (e.g. Debian has a policy for this and puts stuff under / 
>> usr/
>> share/tcltk IIRC).
>
> Systems that have policies will often have a packaging system, so
> providing we can provide a configure switch to change the install
> location, they shouldn't pose a problem. The issue is more for what
> the default should be in other cases.

Okay, asked the Tcl core maintainer for the package system for advice:

[18:13]	dgp	The changes mentioned on the Wiki page are to a  
"configure" script that's part of Xapian, yes?
[18:13]	schlenk	yes, part of the Xapian Tcl bindings configure
[18:13]	dgp	and there's no connection to any of the TEA stuff, right?
[18:14]	schlenk	no, they use swig and standard autogoo, no tclconfig  
anywhere
[18:14]	dgp	ok, in this context then, what is the value of TCL_LIB  
supposed to be?  And how does it get used?
[18:16]	dgp	I see the value used as part of the definition of  
tcllibdir...
[18:16]	schlenk	it gets used to find a install location for the  
pkgIndex.tcl file, would have to sourcedive for the details
[18:16]	dgp	...which appears to mean "place to install the Tcl package  
portion of Xapian"
[18:17]	schlenk	yes
[18:17]	dgp	any other use?
[18:17]	schlenk	no
[18:17]	dgp	ok, so I just need to divorce my mind from other  
associations I have with the "TCL_LIB" name
[18:18]	dgp	So I can see those two parts as combining into one whole...
[18:18]	dgp	...where the goal is entirely, "where do I install the Tcl  
package part of Xapian?"
[18:19]	schlenk	yes, they are looking for a good default location
[18:19]	dgp	Is the xapian package arch-specific?  (I suppose it must be)
[18:20]	schlenk	yes, C++ stuff, but stubs enabled
[18:20]	dgp	Is installation on Windows ever a consideration?
[18:21]	schlenk	maybe, but not prime concern
[18:21]	schlenk	its mostly unix/linux
[18:21]	dgp	the issue is that the $::tcl_pkgPath variable is not  
defined in Tcl on Windows.
[18:23]	schlenk	i doubt many users will try this on windows and those  
that do can fix install themselves after they got libtool and autogoo  
working
[18:24]	dgp	got a tclsh on Debian handy?
[18:25]	schlenk	no, but debian has a policy where to put such stuff
[18:25]	dgp	looking for the value of $::tcl_pkgPath there
[18:27]	dgp	ok, found a system here
[18:28]	dgp	/usr/lib /usr/share
[18:29]	dgp	so, my advice for the "default" answer...
[18:30]	dgp	TCL_PKG_DIR=`echo 'lindex $tcl_pkgPath 0'|$TCLSH`
[18:30]	dgp	tcllibdir = @TCL_PKG_DIR@/xapian at VERSION@
[18:30]	dgp	that will install as /usr/lib/xapian1.0.6 in the usual case
[18:31]	schlenk	okay, shall i forward the chat log to that mailing  
list, put the advice on the wiki?
[18:31]	dgp	but should also adapt to most variant Tcl installs too
[18:31]	dgp	yes please

Michael