In most circumstances all the dirs are relative to $prefix however for
#306: can't figure out how to use data-files ----------------------------+----------------------------------------------- Reporter: claus | Owner: Type: defect | Status: closed Priority: normal | Milestone: Component: Cabal library | Version: HEAD Severity: normal | Resolution: duplicate Keywords: | Difficulty: normal Ghcversion: 6.9 | Platform: ----------------------------+----------------------------------------------- Comment (by duncan): Replying to [comment:5 claus]: the specific case of data files of packages containing a library and only on Windows, the default is not relative to the prefix.
It being an exception to the rule is exactly why I find it counter-
intuitive and easy to forget/get wrong.
I can't remember exactly why it's this way but I think it's to do with
relocatable packages and being able to find the data files for libs. Libraries with data files cannot be relocatable since we cannot then find the files at runtime.
When you remember the reason, could you please add it to the users
guide, where `--prefix` is explained? See #466 about this issue of the datadir not being relative to the prefix by default for Windows library packages. We should eliminate this exception by handling relocatable packages differently, explicitly and generally better (see #469). -- Ticket URL: http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/hackage/ticket/306#comment:7 Hackage http://haskell.org/cabal/ Hackage: Cabal and related projects