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Subject: Re: [Boost-users] A plea for simpler tools
From: John Maddock (boost.regex_at_[hidden])
Date: 2012-02-14 04:05:55


> a) create a directory structure outside of the boost tree which looks
> like:
>
> mylib
> build
> include
> src
> doc
> html
> docbook(maybe)
> boostbook(maybe)
> quickbook(maybe)
> test
> results
> ...
>
> b) a set of simple tools which
> 1) can build the library in the src directory
> 2) can translate quick/boost/doc book to html and place it in that
> directory
> 3) run each test in the test directory and add a record to the
> test/results/... log file which I will either just lookat or post process
> locally to my personal taste.
>
> c) what I don't need
> 1) tracking dependencies - I want to do this for on library I might be
> experimenting with. I can do this by hand.
> 2) I don't need to have my boost tree updated - in fact I want to know
> that I haven't changed it by just running a simple tool
>
> d) current tools:
> 1) presume that a library is part of the boost directory structure. So
> the documents show up somewhere in the boost tree. Note when I build the
> documents on my local boost release image I get pointers to the boost
> sandbox or on sourceforge.net or whatever. So for boostbook->html would
> like to be able to say boostbook2html -in <boostbookdir> -out
> <htmldirectory> or something simple like this.
> 2) the only way I've found to use the current tools is to create
> directories in my local boost release tree with my "experimental" library
> and run bjam. There are two problems with this
> i) I have to make a jamfile which might be more complicated that first
> meets the eye
> ii) I mucks up my boost release tree.
> iii) it I get something wrong, it fails deep within some bjam script
> which is extremely difficult to figure out.
> iv) For an example to iii) above, I had tweaked userconfig.v2 to
> include the name of my xsltproc program which was found through the path.
> Later I elimnated the directory of the xsltproc from my path. Later I
> found I couldn't build my library or run any tests. Turned out that bjam
> stopped when it failed to find the xsltproc program - even though it
> wasn't being used. I'm not critisizing bjam. I think it's impossible to
> make a program as ambituous as this totally perfect. But I question the
> need for such an elaborate tool for doing what seems to me should be
> something simple.
>
> Of course, I can do this myself - and likely will end up doing so. But:
>
> a) I've got other stuff to do
> b) I can't believe I'm the only one who needs this
> c) I think that boost tools are "too automatic" for my purposes. I
> understand the motivation for building all of boost. But for what I want
> to do it adds a huge layer of "conceptual overhead" that I have to wade
> through.
>
> Before I invest effort in this perhaps there's a way of using existing
> tools that I'm not aware that get's me closer to what I want and need.

For sure - take a look at the "example" project in the sandbox - it should
do more or less all that you want - you just need BOOST_ROOT set in your
environment to point to an existing Boost tree so that bjam commands will
"work".

HTH, John.


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