Re: [Boost-build] Suppressing auto-detected address-model from paths

Subject: Re: [Boost-build] Suppressing auto-detected address-model from paths
From: Robert Ramey (ramey_at_[hidden])
Date: 2015-04-03 16:11:05

Vladimir

Auto detection creates a lot of problems for me when I used boost build. 
Often it seems that boost build does what I need - which  would be OK but it
doesn't tell me that.  So sometimes it's doing something other than what I
think it is.

Take address model - for my platform it might be 64.  I have a old PC I use
for testing - the correct model on that platform is 32.  Now if I run the
exact same test script on both machines I get different results and don't
know why - unless I trace into Jam code which is not what I want to do.
There are other example link=shared/static etc.

This problem is compounded by the usage of user-config and project-config
files which may contain settings which I don't know about and which vary
according to the compiler being used.

There may be some switch which displays all these "autoselections" in the
log which would be useful.  I know I've spent a lot of time chasing down
these kinds of problems and haven't found a magic switch - but maybe I just
never looked in the right place.

A few ideas which might be helpful.

a) Display all the "feature switches" (I don't know the jam jargon but I
mean things like linik= address-model= ...) at the top of the log.  A switch
(-q) could be provide for those who don't need this information.

b) or a switch (-nq) which outputs all the above.

c) when I specify something that doesn't make sense - it seems that b2 just
fixes it up and "makes it right".  But now I'm back where I was not knowing
that I was doing something wrong and likely getting something that is
different than what I thought I was asking for.  I would prefer that the
program just stop immediately with and error message telling me what I did
wrong.  Of course others might now like that - so it could be conditions on
-fixup or -nofixup.

To me, these changes would go a long way toward making b2 easier to use. 
Also I think it might make your life easier.  If everything someone asks a
question about why it b2 doesn't produce what they expect - that is doesn't
work, you tweaked the jam files so that it implement the above, that would
be the last time you'd have to deal with that question.  Thus the time spent
dealing with "support" would exponentially taper off toward zero.

Robert Ramey

--
View this message in context: http://boost.2283326.n4.nabble.com/Suppressing-auto-detected-address-model-from-paths-tp4674095p4674098.html
Sent from the Boost - Build mailing list archive at Nabble.com.