diff options
author | Mikey Ariel <mariel@redhat.com> | 2014-08-27T16·41+0200 |
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committer | Mikey Ariel <mariel@redhat.com> | 2014-08-27T16·41+0200 |
commit | 8901acc97664aa8ebf687ee904428aa57a5192be (patch) | |
tree | f7bfefccbc2a08cc49eb37b424758a6158b29b58 /doc/manual/expressions/generic-builder.xml | |
parent | 3f0a4bf0e7254edddaa864d23893d98da23c2977 (diff) |
Restructuring the Nix manual
Diffstat (limited to 'doc/manual/expressions/generic-builder.xml')
-rw-r--r-- | doc/manual/expressions/generic-builder.xml | 98 |
1 files changed, 98 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/doc/manual/expressions/generic-builder.xml b/doc/manual/expressions/generic-builder.xml new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..f8567a042d47 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/manual/expressions/generic-builder.xml @@ -0,0 +1,98 @@ +<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook" + xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" + xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" + version="5.0" + xml:id='sec-generic-builder'> + +<title>Generic Builder Syntax</title> + +<para>Recall from <xref linkend='ex-hello-builder' /> that the builder +looked something like this: + +<programlisting> +PATH=$perl/bin:$PATH +tar xvfz $src +cd hello-* +./configure --prefix=$out +make +make install</programlisting> + +The builders for almost all Unix packages look like this — set up some +environment variables, unpack the sources, configure, build, and +install. For this reason the standard environment provides some Bash +functions that automate the build process. A builder using the +generic build facilities in shown in <xref linkend='ex-hello-builder2' +/>.</para> + +<example xml:id='ex-hello-builder2'><title>Build script using the generic +build functions</title> +<programlisting> +buildInputs="$perl" <co xml:id='ex-hello-builder2-co-1' /> + +source $stdenv/setup <co xml:id='ex-hello-builder2-co-2' /> + +genericBuild <co xml:id='ex-hello-builder2-co-3' /></programlisting> +</example> + +<calloutlist> + + <callout arearefs='ex-hello-builder2-co-1'> + + <para>The <envar>buildInputs</envar> variable tells + <filename>setup</filename> to use the indicated packages as + <quote>inputs</quote>. This means that if a package provides a + <filename>bin</filename> subdirectory, it's added to + <envar>PATH</envar>; if it has a <filename>include</filename> + subdirectory, it's added to GCC's header search path; and so + on.<footnote><para>How does it work? <filename>setup</filename> + tries to source the file + <filename><replaceable>pkg</replaceable>/nix-support/setup-hook</filename> + of all dependencies. These “setup hooks” can then set up whatever + environment variables they want; for instance, the setup hook for + Perl sets the <envar>PERL5LIB</envar> environment variable to + contain the <filename>lib/site_perl</filename> directories of all + inputs.</para></footnote> + </para> + + </callout> + + <callout arearefs='ex-hello-builder2-co-2'> + + <para>The function <function>genericBuild</function> is defined in + the file <literal>$stdenv/setup</literal>.</para> + + </callout> + + <callout arearefs='ex-hello-builder2-co-3'> + + <para>The final step calls the shell function + <function>genericBuild</function>, which performs the steps that + were done explicitly in <xref linkend='ex-hello-builder' />. The + generic builder is smart enough to figure out whether to unpack + the sources using <command>gzip</command>, + <command>bzip2</command>, etc. It can be customised in many ways; + see <xref linkend='sec-standard-environment' />.</para> + + </callout> + +</calloutlist> + +<para>Discerning readers will note that the +<envar>buildInputs</envar> could just as well have been set in the Nix +expression, like this: + +<programlisting> + buildInputs = [ perl ];</programlisting> + +The <varname>perl</varname> attribute can then be removed, and the +builder becomes even shorter: + +<programlisting> +source $stdenv/setup +genericBuild</programlisting> + +In fact, <varname>mkDerivation</varname> provides a default builder +that looks exactly like that, so it is actually possible to omit the +builder for Hello entirely.</para> + +</section> \ No newline at end of file |