Re: gnulib-tool: new options --add-import, --remove-import

[Eric Blake]

On 09/03/2010 04:32 AM, Bruno Haible wrote:
> Hi,
>
> gnulib-tool is being used in two contexts:
>    A) Directly by a user, who wants to type the minimum of arguments.
>    B) By an autogen.sh or bootstrap script, where it is important to
>       keep a clear separation between files that are "input" (stored in VCS)
>       and files that are "output" (not in VCS).
>
> Currently, "gnulib-tool --import" is trying to satisfy both use cases,
> but does not satisfy either of them fully:
>    - User A has no way to undo an --import of a module without modifying
>      gnulib-cache.m4 by hand.

M4 is currently in camp A, and yes, I've had to manually edit 
gnulib-cache.m4 to remove modules by hand in the past.

>    - User B has to remove gnulib-cache.m4 before running gnulib-tool.

Most gnulib bootstrap users are in camp B; they currently do not 
version-control gnulib-cache.m4 in the first place, so _every_ run of 
gnulib-tool is with a fresh set of imports into the temporary ._bootmp 
directory; which effectively removes all previously unspecified modules, 
but seems rather messy.

> I would propose to
>    - Rename the current --import option to --add-import,
>    - Introduce a new --import option, that is like the previous --import
>      option except that it ignores the contents of gnulib-cache.m4,
>    - Add a --remove-import option that can be used to remove a module
>      from the list of modules (before dependency computation).
>
> 'bootstrap' would not have to change, because it already invokes
> 'gnulib-tool --import'.
>
> Opinions? Objections?

Sounds good to me.  It would certainly help both camps of users.

--
Eric Blake   address@hidden    +1-801-349-2682
Libvirt virtualization library http://libvirt.org