[Openmcl-devel] Debian packaging for CCL

[R. Matthew Emerson]

On Jul 21, 2012, at 4:39 AM, Faheem Mitha wrote:

> 
> 
> On Tue, 17 Jul 2012, R. Matthew Emerson wrote:
> 
>> In addition to the heap image file, we also need the interface
>> databases, which make the #_ and #$ and #& reader macros work.
>> These reader macros are used in the CCL sources, so these
>> databases have to be present for CCL to compile itself. Users
>> don't normally rebuild the interfaces, but it's not terribly
>> difficult to do: http://trac.clozure.com/ccl/wiki/BuildFFIGEN
>> explains how.
> 
> I was able to follow the instructions in the link above. However, I think this misses a step. The above just says how to build and install ffigen. The link below seems to say how to actually rebuild the interface databases.
> 
> http://ccl.clozure.com/manual/chapter12.7.html#The-Interface-Translator
> 
> However, it seems you need the interface databases to build the interface databases. I.e. one cannot just build from scratch from source. So this seems like a pointless exercise from the Debian packaging point of view. I mean, why bother to build the databases if one needs them to build? Is this correct, or am I missing something?

You are correct.  Trying to build the interface databases from source doesn't help you avoid any bootstrapping issues.

(When we port CCL to a new system, we cross-compile interface databases for the new target in an ad-hoc way.)