make index

[Matthew Seaman]

Michael P. Soulier wrote:
> After running CVSup, I've seen people build their "index" via
> 
> cd /usr/ports
> make index
> # wait a frickin' long time
> 
> What is the index, and does it really require rebuilding after each CVSup?

The index is a list of all of the ports, what each port depends on, who
the maintainer is and various other data.  It's used by the 'make search'
command (see ports(7)) an a few other make targets you can invoke from
/usr/ports, plus it's used quite extensively by portupgrade(8).  Other
port maintenance software does not need an index file -- generally they
work out the dependency relations between different packages on the fly.

You don't need to keep running 'make index' all the time.  Firstly, you
can download a freshly build index by 'make fetchindex' -- which is
sufficient for most uses. If you use the new portsnap(1) facility
instead of cvsup(1), you'll get a freshly built index file included
automatically.  Or (blowing my own trumpet here...) you can install
sysutils/p5-FreeBSD-Portindex which gives you a method of incrementally
updating your index file based on what was modified during the previous
cvsup session (or however you choose to upgrade your ports).

	Cheers,

	Matthew

-- 
Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil.                       Flat 3
                                                      7 Priory Courtyard
PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey         Ramsgate
                                                      Kent, CT11 9PW, UK

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 250 bytes
Desc: OpenPGP digital signature
Url : http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-questions/attachments/20060124/ceae4e30/signature.bin