[Bioperl-l] Regarding Bio::Root::Build

[bix at sendu.me.uk]

> On Jul 19, 2009, at 8:29 PM, bix at sendu.me.uk wrote:
>> I'm not sure I follow. How does reverting back to Module::Build help
>> core installers choose what they want to install?
>
> Prior to Module::Build the Makefile.PL we just looked for the
> dependencies and reported back if they were missing; installation of
> those modules was left up to the user.  I don't necessarily think it's
> our *responsibility* to make the job easier for the user to choose and
> install modules other than BioPerl.  We just need to indicate what
> they may need to run certain modules (the warnings about missing
> recommended dependencies).

OK, and given what the others have said, perhaps we shouldn't take this on
as our responsibility. So, just say that everything currently
'recommended' is 'required'? Is that what we really want to do?

(The opposite, to say that nothing is required, would be really very
broken behavior for CPAN and other packing systems)


>> I'm aware of no such functionality outside of B::R::Build.
>> Elaborate? (re: recommend/require queue)
>
> Determining what is recommended/required (and checking for them) is
> handled within Bio::Root::Build, is that correct?  We could make those
> decisions prior to creating the instance, or take care of this
> internally (rearrange 'recommends'/'requires' based on what the user
> wants).  When in CPAN/CPANPLUS shell push the installation of those to
> allow the currently running shell to do the installation; don't spawn
> an additional shell. That's all.

IIRC what B:R:Build is supposed to do is exactly that: not spawn a new
shell but simply to make CPAN think that the user's desired recommended
modules are actually required prerequisite modules. Then CPAN handles
those in the normal way.

If this isn't happening, then something is broken. CPAN should only be
loaded when B:R:Build detects that CPAN isn't currently running.


> The three critical issues (as I've pointed out before) are:
>
> 1) Getting CPANPLUS installation working, which may be just META.yml,
> or it may be shell-related.  I would like it for CPAN Testers, if for
> nothing else.  That's at least 2 bug reports, maybe more.
> 2) Bio::Root::Build converted towards a Module::Build-compliant API,
> or we'll need to convert run/db/network to Module::Build.  1 bug report.
> 3) Avoid potential infinite looping. This may be Gbrowse-related via
> the net install script, but if Build.PL is being called in some way
> that potentially causes recursion we need to be aware of it. This one
> appears rarely, but I did manage to replicate it using an old
> Module::Build (I can't recall if I used the net install script or
> not). 1 bug report.

OK, I propose to look into these. Almost certainly I'll be doing "convert
run/db/network to Module::Build". I'll try to resolve the bugs you've
mentioned.

It might be a week or so before I get started since I'm currently on
holiday away from a usable computer.