[MacPorts] #62606: Strange "ports diag" complaint wrt ghc-8.10.4

[MacPorts]

#62606: Strange "ports diag" complaint wrt ghc-8.10.4
------------------------------+--------------------
  Reporter:  GussyFinkNottle  |      Owner:  (none)
      Type:  defect           |     Status:  new
  Priority:  Normal           |  Milestone:
 Component:  ports            |    Version:  2.6.4
Resolution:                   |   Keywords:
      Port:  ghc              |
------------------------------+--------------------

Comment (by GussyFinkNottle):

 I now believe you about the single-bit error.

 The command you suggested currently returns "0". Macports still refuses to
 deactivate (a fortiori uninstall) ghc.
 Last night I made some very ill-advised changes to registry.db via SQL,
 and suspect I may now have to reinstall macports from scratch.
 However it seems to work fine, except where ghc is concerned. I can still
 list my requested and installed ports, upgrade outdated ports, etc.

 Before my ill-advised changes, I used sqlite3's .dump command to make a
 text file "tmp2", in which grep Week.p_hi returns:

 {{{
 INSERT INTO files
 VALUES(1257,'/opt/local/lib/ghc-8.10.4/time-1.9.3/Data/Time/Calendar/Week.p_hi','/opt/local/lib/ghc-8.10.4/time-1*9.3/Data/Time/Calendar/Week.p_hi',1,0);
 }}}

 After my ill-advised changes, I used produced a text file "tmp3", which
 differs from tmp2 as follows:

 {{{
 > INSERT INTO files
 VALUES(1257,'/opt/local/lib/ghc-8.10.4/time-1.9.3/Data/Time/Calendar/Week.p_hi','/opt/local/lib/ghc-8.10.4/time-1.9.3/Data/Time/Calendar/Week.p_hi',1,0);
 }}}

 grep Week.p_hi tmp2 tmp3 returns:

 {{{
 tmp2:INSERT INTO files
 VALUES(1257,'/opt/local/lib/ghc-8.10.4/time-1.9.3/Data/Time/Calendar/Week.p_hi','/opt/local/lib/ghc-8.10.4/time-1*9.3/Data/Time/Calendar/Week.p_hi',1,0);
 tmp3:INSERT INTO files
 VALUES(1257,'/opt/local/lib/ghc-8.10.4/time-1.9.3/Data/Time/Calendar/Week.p_hi','/opt/local/lib/ghc-8.10.4/time-1*9.3/Data/Time/Calendar/Week.p_hi',1,0);
 tmp3:INSERT INTO files
 VALUES(1257,'/opt/local/lib/ghc-8.10.4/time-1.9.3/Data/Time/Calendar/Week.p_hi','/opt/local/lib/ghc-8.10.4/time-1.9.3/Data/Time/Calendar/Week.p_hi',1,0);
 }}}
 (I was trying to insert the correct row into the files table. Needless to
 say, I've little experience with SQL.)

 When things didn't work out, I ran: sudo  sqlite3
 /opt/local/var/macports/registry/registry.db "PRAGMA integrity_check"
 This produced (as hinted at from your remark about "custom collation"):

 {{{
 Error: no such collation sequence: VERSION
 }}}

 Now I wonder:
 1. reinstate a previous state of registry.db from a time-machine backup,
 cross my fingers, and try to upgrade what then seems to be outdated.
 2. follow the instructions to reinstall macports from scratch. Worryingly,
 the first step seems to be to uninstall all ports. The odds are that ghc
 will be hard to uninstall.
 3. simply forget about macports ghc. Everything else seems to work, and I
 don't actually need it.

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://trac.macports.org/ticket/62606#comment:5>
MacPorts <https://www.macports.org/>
Ports system for macOS