dependency style bin: not working

[markd at macports.org]

mark abney <maabney2 at yahoo.com> on Thursday, May 17, 2007 at 8:33 AM -0800
wrote:
>It's not a case sensitivity issue. The file that's in my PATH is 'tex' 
>and the filename as specified in the dependency is also 'tex', but port 
>simply refuses to find it. Where does it search? Or, if it does actually 
>find it, ignores it and still tries to install teTeX. Any ideas where in
>all the tcl code these decisions are made? I haven't tried the
>path: form of dependency yet; I'll need to do more experimentation. 
>Thanks for the suggestion.
>
I can't answer that.  I changed the subject line in hopes that someone
else will chime in.
>
>Running portindex seemed to do the trick. Before running it changes to 
>the dependencies or adding a new variant seemed to be ignored, but
>portindex
>changed that. Thanks for the tip on creating a local tree. This will make
>it safer to experiment. It's too bad there isn't any documentation about 
>this stuff (e.g. not even a man page for or a mention on other man pages 
>about portindex), I don't know if I'll end up having the time and patience
>for extensive trial and error.

There is in the legacy docs that are archived here. 
http://web.archive.org/web/20060427120406/darwinports.opendarwin.org/docs/

See "Using a Local Portfile Repository"

Mark