[Boost-build] Help me decode this error message

Subject: [Boost-build] Help me decode this error message
From: Anthony Foglia (AFoglia_at_[hidden])
Date: 2009-06-11 16:30:30

        Here's an error I'm getting from bjam -a :

--- begin error ---

/usr/share/boost-build/kernel/class.jam:93: in new
*** argument error
* rule object(searched-lib-target)@60.__init__ ( name : project : shared 
? : search * : action )
* called with: (  : object(project-target)@35 : true : /usr/lib : 
object(null-action)@59 :  :  :  :  )
* missing argument name
/usr/share/boost-build/tools/builtin.jam:341:see definition of rule 
'__init__' being called
/usr/share/boost-build/tools/builtin.jam:575: in searched-lib-generator.run
/usr/share/boost-build/tools/unix.jam:113: in 
object(unix-searched-lib-generator)@21.run
/usr/share/boost-build/build/generators.jam:840: in try-one-generator-really
/usr/share/boost-build/build/generators.jam:902: in try-one-generator
/usr/share/boost-build/build/generators.jam:1110: in construct-really
/usr/share/boost-build/build/generators.jam:1186: in generators.construct
/usr/share/boost-build/tools/builtin.jam:481: in object(lib-generator)@5.run
/usr/share/boost-build/build/generators.jam:840: in try-one-generator-really
/usr/share/boost-build/build/generators.jam:902: in try-one-generator
/usr/share/boost-build/build/generators.jam:1110: in construct-really
/usr/share/boost-build/build/generators.jam:1186: in generators.construct
/usr/share/boost-build/build/targets.jam:1408: in construct
/usr/share/boost-build/build/targets.jam:1252: in 
object(typed-target)@40.generate
/usr/share/boost-build/build/targets.jam:765: in generate-really
/usr/share/boost-build/build/targets.jam:738: in 
object(main-target)@52.generate
/usr/share/boost-build/build/targets.jam:895: in 
targets.generate-from-reference
/usr/share/boost-build/build/targets.jam:1170: in generate-dependencies
/usr/share/boost-build/build/targets.jam:1224: in 
object(typed-target)@41.generate
/usr/share/boost-build/build/targets.jam:765: in generate-really
/usr/share/boost-build/build/targets.jam:738: in 
object(main-target)@45.generate
/usr/share/boost-build/build/targets.jam:255: in 
object(project-target)@33.generate
/usr/share/boost-build/build-system.jam:414: in load
/usr/share/boost-build/kernel/modules.jam:261: in import
/usr/share/boost-build/kernel/bootstrap.jam:132: in boost-build
/usr/share/boost-build/boost-build.jam:1: in module scope

---- end error ----

which is almost the platonic ideal of unhelpful.  Here's my Jamroot:

--- begin Jamroot ---
import ./sysdefs ;

exe filesystem-test
    : filesystem_test.cpp
      /sysdefs//boost-filesystem
    ;
---- end Jamroot ----

The error is obviously coming from the included file sysdefs.jam

--- begin sysdefs.jam ---
import project ;
project.initialize $(__name__) ;
project sysdefs ;

# In the work-around for boost libraries compiled with gcc42 on
# bulb and gcc42 on tulip, because boost by default adds compilier
# extension to name.
import path ;

#################################################################
#                  Directory Names + misc
#################################################################

sysdefs-boost-dir = /usr ;

#
# Use lib64 subdirectory for libraries if it exists.
# (Override by setting sysdefs-boost-lib-dir.)
#
if ( ! $(sysdefs-boost-lib-dir) )
{
    if ( [ path.exists $(sysdefs-boost-dir)/lib64 ] )
    {
       sysdefs-boost-lib-dir = $(sysdefs-boost-dir)/lib64 ;
    }
    else
    {
       sysdefs-boost-lib-dir = $(sysdefs-boost-dir)/lib ;
    }
}

#################################################################
#                  Boost libraries
#################################################################

# Deal with the combinatorial complexity of the boost libraries,
# for which we have:
#   1) Debug and release versions
#   2) Single and multi-threaded version
#   3) 64-bit and 32 bit versions
# Also, we avoid adding the boost includes and library directories
# to the search path multiple times.

alias boost-headers : : : :            #FOR: boost headers
       <include>$(sysdefs-boost-dir)/include ;

#deprecated
alias sysdefs-boost-search : : : :  ;
#alias sysdefs-boost-search : : : :
#      <search>$(sysdefs-boost-dir)/lib ;

rule sysdefs-boost-lib-deps ( lib-name-root : properties * )
{
#    echo "lib-name-root: " $(lib-name-root) ;
#    echo "properties: " $(properties) ;
    local name = $(lib-name-root)-$(sysdefs-boost-compiler-extension) ;

    if ( <threading>multi in $(properties)
             || $(lib-name-root) = boost_thread )
    {
       name = $(name)-mt ;
    }

    if ( <variant>debug in $(properties) )
    {
       name = $(name)-d ;
    }

    local result =  "<name>$(name)" ;

    if ( <address-model>32 in $(properties) )
    {
       result += "<search>$(sysdefs-boost-dir-32bit)/lib" ;
    }
    else
    {
      result += "<search>$(sysdefs-boost-dir)/lib" ;
    }

    return $(result) ;
}

rule sysdefs-boost-filesystem-deps ( properties * )
{
#    echo "properties: " $(properties) ;
    return [ sysdefs-boost-lib-deps "boost_filesystem" : $(properties) ] ;
}

# echo [ sysdefs-boost-filesystem-deps ] ;

lib boost-filesystem                   #FOR: directories and files
    : boost-headers sysdefs-boost-search
    : <conditional>@sysdefs-boost-filesystem-deps
    ;

---- end sysdefs.jam ----

        This basic sysdefs was working with in a previous version of our 
repository.  I made some changes a few months which I just realized 
broke the library lookups (e.g. it would always look for and link to 
single threaded, even when compiling with threading=multi).  To fix 
that, I started with this old version, and got this nonsensical error 
message above.  I pruned down the project to this minimal Jamroot and 
sysdefs.jam file and one .cpp file.

        My goal was to slowly replace this logic with that in contrib/boost.jam 
and learn more about boost-build.

-- 
Anthony Foglia
Princeton Consultants
[phone] x233