Ports and their dependencies (run deps and also versioning questions)

[Ryan Schmidt]

On Jun 6, 2008, at 06:06, Joshua Root wrote:

> Tabitha McNerney wrote:
>
>> But, then my script ran into this specific problem:
>>
>> $ port info --depends_lib speex @1.0.5
>>
>> -->
>>
>> depends_lib: lib:libogg:libogg
>>
>> Hmmm ... the repeat of the library dependency libogg looks to be  
>> incorrect.
>> Also, the first instance of the libogg dependency is preceded by  
>> "lib:" but
>> shouldn't that be "port:" instead?
>
> This is not an error, but a different type of dependency. A "port:foo"
> dependency means "install the port named 'foo'", whereas "lib:foo:bar"
> means "check if the library 'foo' is present, and if not, install the
> port named 'bar'". You can also use 'bin' or 'path' instead of  
> 'lib' to
> make the port installation conditional on the absence of  
> executables and
> arbitrary files, respectively.
>
> This is only mentioned in passing in the guide:
> <http://guide.macports.org/#reference.dependencies.types>. It's
> documented a little better in the portfile(7) manual.
>
> Most of the time dependencies should be of the port: variety, but
> sometimes it is better/easier to use software that Apple ships with OS
> X, a common example being X11. You'll see lib:libX11.6:XFree86 in a  
> lot
> of portfiles.

In the case of the speex port, the dependency should be changed to  
"port:libogg". This port probably dates from a time before MacPorts  
had "port:"-style dependencies. I changed the dependency for speex in  
r37416.