java/44041: Generate bsd.java.mk from an XML file

[Herve Quiroz]

Hi Greg,

On Thu, 1 May 2003, Greg Lewis wrote:

> On Thu, May 01, 2003 at 09:18:56AM +0200, Ernst de Haan wrote:
> > Hi Herve,
> >
> > > I was in the mood for some XSLT coding so I decided to take care of this
> > > one hour ago. So far, I've finished everything up to step 3 (included)
> > > but I will need to get some sleep sooner or later ;)
> > >
> > > So I was wondering if you still need this XML->bsd.java.mk tool... and if
> > > you (or anybody else) had already done something about it.
> >
> > Haven't done anything about it yet. And I personally think it's a very good
> > idea. This way we only have to maintain a bsd.java.xml file.
> >
> > Greg, what do you think of this?
>
> Well, without having seen Herve's XSLT, I think the best way of explaining
> things is to describe what I would like to see ultimately happen with
> bsd.java.mk.  Maybe some of this is due to not fully understanding the
> file, but here goes.
> [...]
>

Well, I was just working on the dependency stuff in stage 4 of the
bsd.java.mk which is not simple to implement in XSLT. But maybe I should
wait that we fix this before...

You're right bsd.java.mk sometimes behaves a strange way. And your
"multiple JDK dependency" point is right if you take for example the
jakarta-commons-logging port. It compiles and runs with any JDK (1.2+) but
if you've got JDK 1.4, it's better because it also handles the 1.4 logger
API.

<off-topic> the jakarta-commons-logging is bugged (log4j dependency) but I
am fixing it ATM and will send a PR is the next few minutes. </off-topic>

So, the question is: what to do for now ? Let the bsd.java.mk as-is ? Have
an XSLT to generate it from an XML Java VMs list ?

We could have a user/system configuration file to specify which JDKs/JREs
to install and in which order, as it is the case for many applications
(/usr/local/etc/pkgtools.conf, /etc/make.conf...). And to be
"cutting-edge", we could use an XML file to store preferences instead of
the standard Perl or Ruby stuff. XML processing has many dependencies but
so does any Java port so this is not an issue.

What are the opinions of other Java porters ?

Regards,

Herve

<ps>
	<off-topic>
		Ernst, you're fast at commiting port updates.
		Thanks ! :)
	</off-topic>
</ps>