#331: pkg-config error messages could be better ----------------------------+----------------------------------------------- Reporter: duncan | Owner: Type: defect | Status: new Priority: normal | Milestone: Component: Cabal library | Version: 1.4.0.1 Severity: normal | Resolution: Keywords: | Difficulty: very easy (<1 hour) Ghcversion: 6.8.2 | Platform: ----------------------------+----------------------------------------------- Comment (by duncan): Replying to [comment:1 joe]:
I took a stab at rewording the message, trying to clarify the fact that it's not a hackage package while still keeping the message short. Here's a patch:
Thanks Joe but the change you suggest is making the message more low-level with this talk about `pkg-config --modversion` {{{ - notFound = "The pkg-config package " ++ pkg ++ versionRequirement - ++ " is required but it could not be found." + notFound = "The development package " ++ pkg ++ versionRequirement + ++ " is required but it could not be found using pkg-config --modversion" }}} The users who are confused about this message are confused about whether it's talking about a system package or a Haskell package. They've probably never heard of pkg-config and do not know what it does. I think it's ok to have a slightly longer message, perhaps more along the lines of what we show for missing C libs: {{{ Setup.hs: Missing dependency on a foreign library: * Missing header file: foo.h This problem can usually be solved by installing the system package that provides this library (you may need the "-dev" version). If the library is already installed but in a non-standard location then you can use the flags --extra-include-dirs= and --extra-lib-dirs= to specify where it is. }}} -- Ticket URL: http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/hackage/ticket/331#comment:2 Hackage http://haskell.org/cabal/ Hackage: Cabal and related projects