> (snip)
> > I've downloaded the latest, but I'm having a hard time
> getting my head
> > around the overall structure. It feels to me a bit like a tangled
> > ball of string, whose free end I cannot find. (This a comment on my
> > understanding, not your code/design!)
>
> :)
Allow me to try to give a top-down overview of the structure, which
should help you find the end(s) of the string.
A Haskell library (or application?) comes with a Haskell program in the
form of a file named Setup.hs. This program does the following:
- it accepts certain standard command-line options (build all, build
default etc.)
- It knows how to build, and install, the library using sensible
defaults. It does this by either
- Invoking the LIP build/install system in Distribution.Build
and Distribution.Install, or
- Invoking a custom build system (standard configure; make;
make install stuff).
- Once installed, Setup.hs registers the package using the
Distribution.Package interface.
There are still quite a few questions to answer here, some of which
Graham brought up. One is how do we tweak the installation locations
for the libraries, and other build/install-time options? Normally this
is done by passing arguments to configure: should we have more options
to Setup.hs for these things?
Looking at the proposal, Perhaps Setup.lhs should have a configure step
too. Something like this:
$ ./Setup.lhs configure prefix=/usr/local HC=/usr/bin/ghc
$ ./Setup.lhs build
$ ./Setup.lhs install
$ ./Setup.lhs uninstall
(registation is done as part of install). Note the uninstall step,
which also unregisters the package.
Does it matter which compiler is used to run Setup.lhs? I claim yes
(see previous discussions).
Cheers,
Simon
