Baffled by output from `port dependents'

[Ryan Schmidt]

On Mar 3, 2007, at 12:04, Mark Dickinson wrote:

> When I type:
>
> $> port dependents bzip2
>
> I get the following:
>
> ImageMagick depends on bzip2
> ImageMagick depends on bzip2
> ImageMagick depends on bzip2
> ImageMagick depends on bzip2
> ImageMagick depends on bzip2
> ImageMagick depends on bzip2
> ImageMagick depends on bzip2
> ImageMagick depends on bzip2
> ImageMagick depends on bzip2
>
> Why all the repetitions?  I only have one active copy of ImageMagick
> installed, and all inactive versions have been uninstalled:
>
> $> port installed | grep ImageMagick
>  ImageMagick @6.3.2-9_0+darwin_8 (active)
>
> I can only assume that all these lines refer to previously installed,
> and since uninstalled, versions of ImageMagick.  How does my system
> know about these previously uninstalled versions?  I can't find any
> trace of the previously installed versions on my system.  Is there
> some file somewhere that still keeps track of all the previous
> versions?  Is there any way to update this file?

Interesting. I don't know what's going on. All I can say is that I  
too have had many versions of ImageMagick installed, and only one is  
now installed, and port dependents bzip2 only shows one line of  
output for me:

$ port dependents bzip2
ImageMagick depends on bzip2

$ port installed ImageMagick
The following ports are currently installed:
   ImageMagick @6.3.2-9_0+darwin_8 (active)

Do you have the latest version of MacPorts? Try "sudo port  
selfupdate" to see if it updates your MacPorts.