[Scons-users] pkg-config support

[Russel Winder]

On Sat, 2018-08-04 at 12:38 -0700, Bill Deegan wrote:
> Yes!
> Improving pkg-config support would be most welcome!
> 

Sounds like that's a yes. :-)

The current system based on using backtick and MergeFlags (which then
uses ParseFlags) of ParseConfig fundamentally assumes all code is
either C or C++. I am not sure this will work for Fortran, but for D
this isn't going to work because mixed D and C code projects cannot use
just one set of environment variables (*). Further, ParseFlags and
MergeFlags are used throughout environment handling – it is not
entirely clear to me just yet that they actually do the right thing for
Fortran and D because ParseFlags is so focussed on C and C++ options. 

I am currently thinking that using the ParseConfig route for handling
PkgConfig is possible the wrong way forward. Binding Fortran and D into
the system will end up as a Very Big Task™ and will almost certainly
lead to the real mess of the smart linker stuff. Leaving current stuff
as it is and making a tool seems like the best way forward, even if
later it is decided to merge things in. This militates in favour of
forking Manuel Naranjo's or starting again from scratch with a tool
that works for all languages, not just C, C++, Fortran and D.

I am wondering though, if doing it totally separate is the wrong thing
to do. Perhaps having a "dependency injection" approach is the right
thing to do. Some infrastructure is provided that language tools can
then make use of to provide pkg-config processing capability. This
though mitigates against a standalone tool.

Whilst I am current in a "I can get the final vision" position and
would usually implement something to get started, I am hesitant to as
there are three totally different directions and starting down one
might adversely affect doing the right thing.


(*) Actually this is a belief statement. I assumed the original D tools
used separate environment variables because it was necessary, and
haven't really tested the assumption. 

-- 
Russel.
===========================================
Dr Russel Winder      t: +44 20 7585 2200
41 Buckmaster Road    m: +44 7770 465 077
London SW11 1EN, UK   w: www.russel.org.uk

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