[boost] "I want everything" should build "out of the box" (on Windows)

Subject: [boost] "I want everything" should build "out of the box" (on Windows)
From: KTC (ktc_at_[hidden])
Date: 2009-07-28 01:51:36

Users on Microsoft Windows should be able to build boost with 
everything, both in terms of all supported variants and all boost 
libraries, with a single command to bjam assuming they have all the 
optional supporting libraries available.

An user download boost, and want to build all the libraries that require 
building go read the Getting Started Guide 
<.../getting_started/windows.html#invoke-bjam> and see the after getting 
bjam they use the command
   bjam --build-dir=build-directory toolset=toolset-name 
--build-type=complete stage

So they enter that into the command prompt and see lots of warnings and 
notes about missing optional components. The warnings and notes itself 
is fine and informative. Actually, it's incomplete as it stand as it 
doesn't tell the user about Boost.IOStreams optional component 
requirement of bzip2 & zlib headers. Okay, the user go and install all 
the optional components the warnings and notes tell them. After 
installing Python, ICU (building it first), Expat (building it first), 
and MPI (say MS-MPI), they try again. This time with the command becoming
   bjam --toolset=... --build-dir=... --build-type=complete -sHAVE_ICU=1 
-sICU_PATH="..." -sEXPAT_INCLUDE="..." -sEXPAT_LIBPATH="..." 
-sBZIP2_SOURCE="..." -sZLIB_SOURCE="..." stage

Nope, MPI requires modification of user-config.jam or building it on its 
own with --with-mpi. Why? No other optional components build that way. 
So they look to see how they do that, and does it.

Second attempt and ... nope. New to 1.39 is the errors
   error: link=shared together with runtime-link=static is not allowed
   error: such property combination is either impossible
   error: or too dangerious to be of any use
due to the changes made as a result of 
<http://lists.boost.org/Archives/boost/2009/04/150675.php>. (Recently 
noted on 
<http://groups.google.com/group/boost-list/browse_thread/thread/2a7bd07468b5ffe6>.) 
While catching those errors is good, maybe it should be fixed as well 
such that it doesn't come up in the first place if someone do a 
--build-type=complete with ICU. So now the users have to build 
Boost.Regex separately from the rest of the library (after finding how 
to pass the link= & runtime-link= options). By the way, at this point I 
would like to point out how it's strange that -sHAVE_ICU=1 mean to build 
with ICU, but so is -sHAVE_ICU=0 .... :S

And ... nope, even separately Boost.Regex still wouldn't build without 
errors. No one told them they need to rename icuin.lib, icuind.lib, 
icuind.pdb & icudt.lib from ICU to icui18n.lib, icui18nd.lib, 
icui18nd.pdb & icudata.lib respectively.

With Boost.Regex built, we turn to the rest of the library with 
--without-regex. After waiting a while, we discover ... nope, Most of 
the library is built but not Boost.Graph. Sorry, this time no one told 
them they need to change Boost.Graph's Jamfile.v2 file with 
"<find-shared-library>expat" to "<find-shared-library>libexpatwMT" and 
adding "<define>XML_STATIC".

Boost is great, it's free, it's flexible and I understand it's developed 
for free by volunteers, but its "installation" for someone that want 
every libraries could be improved. :-)

Regards,

KTC

-- 
Only two things are infinite,
  the Universe and Stupidity.
And I'm not quite sure about the former.
         - Albert Einstein