[Boost-build] Wacky handling of MinGW

From: David Abrahams (dave_at_[hidden])
Date: 2006-12-10 23:55:56

Tonight I decided to test against a MinGW compiler.  I added

     using gcc : mingw : /tools/MinGW/bin/g++.exe ;

to my user-config.jam

Then I tried 

     bjam --toolset=gcc-mingw

and all heck broke loose.  It actually issued commands that looked
like:

     "c:\tools\MinGW\bin\g++.exe" "g++" ...

Eventually, with no assistance from documentation, I figured out that
I couldn't call my toolset gcc-mingw.  So I renamed it:

     using gcc : 3.4.2 : /tools/MinGW/bin/g++.exe ;

Now 

    bjam gcc-3.4.2

works as expected except that I see gcc-mingw-3.4.2 in target paths.
What would I do if I also had a cygwin gcc-3.4.2 installed?  I don't
know.

Since I do see gcc-mingw-3.4.2 in my target paths, I thought I'd try

      bjam gcc-mingw

which again breaks in a strange way.

What all of this does and how to use it needs to be explained and
documented by someone who understands it.

-- 
Dave Abrahams
Boost Consulting
www.boost-consulting.com