Re: [boost] [build] Broken doc links

Subject: Re: [boost] [build] Broken doc links
From: Daniel James (dnljms_at_[hidden])
Date: 2018-04-10 08:28:34

On 10 April 2018 at 06:27, Gavin Lambert via Boost
<boost_at_[hidden]> wrote:
> Prompted by the thread "Toolset version for Visual Studio 2017 15.6.3" over
> in the user list, I was looking through some Boost.Build documentation when
> I found some dead links and other weirdness.
>
> Boost.Build's github page links to https://www.boost.org/build/, which
> appears to be fully working.

That's a copy of the website branch from git, which hasn't been
updated for a while. It probably should be?

> On https://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_66_0/more/getting_started/windows.html,
> under "5.2.1 Install Boost.Build" it links to
> https://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_66_0/tools/build/index.html, which appears
> to be a versioned clone of the above.
>
> But at that page, the "Documentation" link points at
> https://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_66_0/tools/build/doc/html/index.html, which
> 404s.

As the getting started guide is part of the boost release, it links to
the documentation from the release (as you might be viewing it
offline). It's actually a relative link, but it gets resolved to a
link with a version number. The build documentation page links to the
location of documentation build standalone, but build is part of the
combined boost documentation. I've added a redirect to the website so
the link works there now, although it won't in an offline copy, so
that will need to fixed (either by changing the build or by fixing the
link).

> Back in "Getting Started", in "5.2.2 Identify Your Toolset" it first links
> directly to https://www.boost.org/build/doc/html/bbv2/reference/tools.html
> (which is now an unversioned link, but does work), and then to
> https://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_66_0/doc/html/bbv2/installation.html (which
> is a versioned link that also works).

I think the 'unversioned link' is meant to be a link to the most up to
date info from the website. The 'versioned link' is a link to the
local copy of the documentation.

[snip]
> (And it also links to https://www.boost.org/boost-build2 for yet another URL
> variation... although that does redirect to https://www.boost.org/build/ at
> least.)

That's the old location. It's nice to update them, but the redirect
means the the link still works.