[MacPorts] #17972: RFE: Add a PortGroup with a different universal build mechanism

[MacPorts]

#17972: RFE: Add a PortGroup with a different universal build mechanism
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 Reporter:  mcalhoun@…             |       Owner:  mcalhoun@…           
     Type:  enhancement            |      Status:  assigned             
 Priority:  Normal                 |   Milestone:  MacPorts Future      
Component:  base                   |     Version:  1.7.0                
 Keywords:                         |        Port:                       
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Comment(by mcalhoun@…):

 Replying to [comment:2 blb@…]:
 > Shouldn't this really be either used to improve {{{proc merge}}} or be
 another proc, instead of being a portgroup?  Though being a port group
 does mean it can be added/updated without new MacPorts releases.
 As you say, the only reason was how quickly it could be refined, tested,
 and put into use.

 Ports like cairo, openssl, and fftw-3 spend a fair amount of code trying
 to support universal builds.[[BR]]
 Their support is a little fragile due to the need to merge header
 files.[[BR]]
 So I see a strong need for a better merge capability.

 So far, I have only used merge_universal-1.0.tcl to build universal
 versions of gmp, libffi, and mpfr.[[BR]]
 No doubt further features are needed to be of general use.[[BR]]
 Using a PortGroup would allow faster refinement.

 As a side note, mpfr built using both universal mechanisms (-arch ...
 -arch ... and merging), but they produced different binaries[[BR]]
 due to a variable HAVE_LDOUBLE_IEEE_EXT_LITTLE.

 Perhaps it is bad policy to use a PortGroup this way, but it seemed better
 than waiting for the next version release.

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Ticket URL: <http://trac.macports.org/ticket/17972#comment:3>
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