Exactly how do variants work?

[Ian Wadham]

On 05/05/2012, at 11:52 AM, Ryan Schmidt wrote:
> On May 4, 2012, at 20:45, Ian Wadham wrote:
>> What port commands should I use to add a variant to an installed port?
>> Do I need to uninstall and re-install the whole port?
> 
> Yes, unfortunately that's how variants in MacPorts work. There's no distinction between variants that completely change how a port builds and those that just install extra files.
> 
> 
>> Also, to what extent are variant names local or global?
> 
> Variant selections are only global if you put them in the file /opt/local/etc/macports/variants.conf. Usually you don't do that; usually you just specify them on the command line, as in:
> 
> sudo port install qt4-mac +mysql +quartz +examples +docs +demos
> 
> Then those variants only apply to that port.

Thanks very much, Ryan.  Cheers, Ian W.