1.0.20.23: get rid of IGNORE-ERRORS in SB-INTROSPECT

[sbcl.git] / contrib / asdf / asdf.texinfo

\input texinfo          @c -*- texinfo -*-
@c %**start of header
@setfilename asdf.info
@settitle asdf Manual
@c %**end of header

@c for install-info
@dircategory Software development
@direntry
* asdf: (asdf).           another system definition facility
@end direntry

@copying
This manual describes asdf, a system definition facility for Common
Lisp programs and libraries.
     
asdf Copyright @copyright{} 2001-2004 Daniel Barlow and contributors

This manual Copyright @copyright{} 2001-2004 Daniel Barlow and
contributors

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
``Software''), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
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permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to
the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ``AS IS'', WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE
LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION
OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION
WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

@end copying



@titlepage
@title asdf: another system definition facility
     
@c The following two commands start the copyright page.
@page
@vskip 0pt plus 1filll
@insertcopying
@end titlepage
     
@c Output the table of contents at the beginning.
@contents

@c -------------------

@ifnottex

@node Top, Using asdf to load systems, (dir), (dir)
@top asdf: another system definition facility
     
@insertcopying

@menu
* Using asdf to load systems::  
* Defining systems with defsystem::  
* The object model of asdf::    
* Error handling::              
* Compilation error and warning handling::  
* Getting the latest version::  
* TODO list::                   
* missing bits in implementation::  
* Inspiration::                 
* Concept Index::               
* Function and Class Index::    
* Variable Index::              

@detailmenu
 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---

Defining systems with defsystem

* The defsystem form::          
* A more involved example::     
* The defsystem grammar::       

The object model of asdf

* Operations::                  
* Components::                  

Operations

* Predefined operations of asdf::  
* Creating new operations::     

Components

* Common attributes of components::  
* Pre-defined subclasses of component::  
* Creating new component types::  

properties

* Pre-defined subclasses of component::  
* Creating new component types::  

@end detailmenu
@end menu

@end ifnottex

@c -------------------


@node  Using asdf to load systems, Defining systems with defsystem, Top, Top
@comment  node-name,  next,  previous,  up
@chapter Using asdf to load systems
@cindex system directory designator
@vindex *central-registry*

This chapter describes how to use asdf to compile and load ready-made
Lisp programs and libraries.

@section Downloading asdf

Some Lisp implementations (such as SBCL and OpenMCL) come with asdf
included already, so you don't need to download it separately.
Consult your Lisp system's documentation.  If you need to download
asdf and install it by hand, the canonical source is the cCLan CVS
repository at
@url{http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/cclan/asdf/}.

@section Setting up asdf

The single file @file{asdf.lisp} is all you need to use asdf normally.
Once you load it in a running Lisp, you're ready to use asdf.  For
maximum convenience you might want to have asdf loaded whenever you
start your Lisp implementation, for example by loading it from the
startup script or dumping a custom core -- check your Lisp
implementation's manual for details.

The variable @code{asdf:*central-registry*} is a list of ``system
directory designators''@footnote{When we say ``directory'' here, we
mean ``designator for a pathname with a supplied DIRECTORY
component''.}.  A @dfn{system directory designator} is a form which
will be evaluated whenever a system is to be found, and must evaluate
to a directory to look in.  You might want to set or augment
@code{*central-registry*} in your Lisp init file, for example:

@lisp
(setf asdf:*central-registry*
  (list* '*default-pathname-defaults*
         #p"/home/me/cl/systems/"
         #p"/usr/share/common-lisp/systems/"
         asdf:*central-registry*))
@end lisp

@section Setting up a system to be loaded

To compile and load a system, you need to ensure that a symbolic link to its
system definition is in one of the directories in
@code{*central-registry*}@footnote{It is possible to customize the
system definition file search.  That's considered advanced use, and
covered later: search forward for
@code{*system-definition-search-functions*}.  @xref{Defining systems
with defsystem}.}.

For example, if @code{#p"/home/me/cl/systems/"} (note the trailing
slash) is a member of @code{*central-registry*}, you would set up a
system @var{foo} that is stored in a directory
@file{/home/me/src/foo/} for loading with asdf with the following
commands at the shell (this has to be done only once):

@example
$ cd /home/me/cl/systems/
$ ln -s ~/src/foo/foo.asd .
@end example

@section Loading a system

The system @var{foo} is loaded (and compiled, if necessary) by
evaluating the following form in your Lisp implementation:

@example
(asdf:operate 'asdf:load-op '@var{foo})
@end example

That's all you need to know to use asdf to load systems written by
others.  The rest of this manual deals with writing system
definitions for Lisp software you write yourself.

@node   Defining systems with defsystem, The object model of asdf, Using asdf to load systems, Top
@comment  node-name,  next,  previous,  up
@chapter Defining systems with defsystem

This chapter describes how to use asdf to define systems and develop
software.


@menu
* The defsystem form::          
* A more involved example::     
* The defsystem grammar::       
@end menu

@node  The defsystem form, A more involved example, Defining systems with defsystem, Defining systems with defsystem
@comment  node-name,  next,  previous,  up
@section The defsystem form

Systems can be constructed programmatically by instantiating
components using make-instance.  Most of the time, however, it is much
more practical to use a static @code{defsystem} form.  This section
begins with an example of a system definition, then gives the full
grammar of @code{defsystem}.

Let's look at a simple system.  This is a complete file that would
usually be saved as @file{hello-lisp.asd}:

@lisp
(defpackage hello-lisp-system
  (:use :common-lisp :asdf))

(in-package :hello-lisp-system)

(defsystem "hello-lisp"
    :description "hello-lisp: a sample Lisp system."
    :version "0.2"
    :author "Joe User <joe@@example.com>"
    :licence "Public Domain"
    :components ((:file "packages")
                 (:file "macros" :depends-on ("packages"))
                 (:file "hello" :depends-on ("macros"))))
@end lisp

Some notes about this example:

@itemize

@item
The file starts with @code{defpackage} and @code{in-package} forms to
make and use a package expressly for defining this system in.  This
package is named by taking the system name and suffixing
@code{-system} - note that it is @emph{not} the same package as you
will use for the application code.

This is not absolutely required by asdf, but helps avoid namespace
pollution and so is considered good form. 

@item
The defsystem form defines a system named "hello-lisp" that contains
three source files: @file{packages}, @file{macros} and @file{hello}.

@item
The file @file{macros} depends on @file{packages} (presumably because
the package it's in is defined in @file{packages}), and the file
@file{hello} depends on @file{macros} (and hence, transitively on
@file{packages}).  This means that asdf will compile and load
@file{packages} and @file{macros} before starting the compilation of
file @file{hello}.


@item
The files are located in the same directory as the file with the
system definition.  asdf resolves symbolic links before loading the system
definition file and stores its location in the resulting
system@footnote{It is possible, though almost never necessary, to
override this behaviour.}.  This is a good thing because the user can
move the system sources without having to edit the system definition.

@end itemize

@node  A more involved example, The defsystem grammar, The defsystem form, Defining systems with defsystem
@comment  node-name,  next,  previous,  up
@section A more involved example

Let's illustrate some more involved uses of @code{defsystem} via a
slightly convoluted example:

@lisp
(defsystem "foo"
  :version "1.0"
  :components ((:module "foo" :components ((:file "bar") (:file"baz") 
                                           (:file "quux"))
                :perform (compile-op :after (op c)
                          (do-something c))
                :explain (compile-op :after (op c)
                          (explain-something c)))
               (:file "blah")))
@end lisp

The method-form tokens need explaining: essentially, this part:

@lisp
                :perform (compile-op :after (op c)
                          (do-something c))
                :explain (compile-op :after (op c)
                          (explain-something c))
@end lisp

has the effect of

@lisp
(defmethod perform :after ((op compile-op) (c (eql ...)))
           (do-something c))
(defmethod explain :after ((op compile-op) (c (eql ...)))
           (explain-something c))
@end lisp

where @code{...} is the component in question; note that although this
also supports @code{:before} methods, they may not do what you want
them to -- a @code{:before} method on perform @code{((op compile-op) (c
(eql ...)))}  will run after all the dependencies and sub-components
have been processed, but before the component in question has been
compiled.

@node  The defsystem grammar,  , A more involved example, Defining systems with defsystem
@comment  node-name,  next,  previous,  up
@section The defsystem grammar

@verbatim
system-definition := ( defsystem system-designator {option}* )

option := :components component-list
        | :pathname pathname
        | :default-component-class
        | :perform method-form 
        | :explain method-form
        | :output-files  method-form
        | :operation-done-p method-form
        | :depends-on ( {simple-component-name}* ) 
        | :serial [ t | nil ]
        | :in-order-to ( {dependency}+ )

component-list := ( {component-def}* )
                
component-def  := simple-component-name
                | ( component-type name {option}* )

component-type := :module | :file | :system | other-component-type

dependency := (dependent-op {requirement}+)
requirement := (required-op {required-component}+)
             | (feature feature-name)
dependent-op := operation-name
required-op := operation-name | feature
@end verbatim

@subsection Serial dependencies

If the @code{:serial t} option is specified for a module, asdf will add
dependencies for each each child component, on all the children
textually preceding it.  This is done as if by @code{:depends-on}.

@lisp
:components ((:file "a") (:file "b") (:file "c"))
:serial t
@end lisp

is equivalent to

@lisp
:components ((:file "a") 
             (:file "b" :depends-on ("a"))
             (:file "c" :depends-on ("a" "b")))
@end lisp


@subsection Source location

The @code{:pathname} option is optional in all cases for systems
defined via @code{defsystem}, and in the usual case the user is
recommended not to supply it.

Instead, asdf follows a hairy set of rules that are designed so that
@enumerate
@item @code{find-system} will load a system from disk and have its pathname
default to the right place
@item this pathname information will not be
overwritten with @code{*default-pathname-defaults*} (which could be
somewhere else altogether) if the user loads up the @file{.asd} file
into his editor and interactively re-evaluates that form.
@end enumerate

If a system is being loaded for the first time, its top-level pathname
will be set to:

@itemize
@item The host/device/directory parts of @code{*load-truename*}, if it is bound
@item @code{*default-pathname-defaults*}, otherwise
@end itemize

If a system is being redefined, the top-level pathname will be

@itemize
@item
changed, if explicitly supplied or obtained from
@code{*load-truename*} (so that an updated source location is
reflected in the system definition)
@item
changed if it had previously been set from
@code{*default-pathname-defaults*}
@item
left as before, if it had previously been set from
@code{*load-truename*} and @code{*load-truename*} is currently
unbound (so that a developer can evaluate a @code{defsystem} form from
within an editor without clobbering its source location)
@end itemize



@node The object model of asdf, Error handling, Defining systems with defsystem, Top
@comment  node-name,  next,  previous,  up
@chapter The object model of asdf

asdf is designed in an object-oriented way from the ground up.  Both a
system's structure and the operations that can be performed on systems
follow a protocol.  asdf is extensible to new operations and to new
component types.  This allows the addition of behaviours: for example,
a new component could be added for Java JAR archives, and methods
specialised on @code{compile-op} added for it that would accomplish the
relevant actions.

This chapter deals with @emph{components}, the building blocks of a
system, and @emph{operations}, the actions that can be performed on a
system.



@menu
* Operations::                  
* Components::                  
@end menu

@node  Operations, Components, The object model of asdf, The object model of asdf
@comment  node-name,  next,  previous,  up
@section Operations
@cindex operation

An @dfn{operation} object of the appropriate type is instantiated
whenever the user wants to do something with a system like

@itemize
@item compile all its files
@item load the files into a running lisp environment
@item copy its source files somewhere else
@end itemize

Operations can be invoked directly, or examined to see what their
effects would be without performing them.  @emph{FIXME: document how!}  There
are a bunch of methods specialised on operation and component type
that actually do the grunt work.

The operation object contains whatever state is relevant for this
purpose (perhaps a list of visited nodes, for example) but primarily
is a nice thing to specialise operation methods on and easier than
having them all be EQL methods.

Operations are invoked on systems via @code{operate}.

@deffn {Generic function} operate operation system &rest initargs
@deffnx {Generic function} oos operation system &rest initargs
@code{operate} invokes @var{operation} on @var{system}.  @code{oos}
is a synonym for @code{operate}.

@var{operation} is a symbol that is passed, along with the supplied
@var{initargs}, to @code{make-instance} to create the operation object.
@var{system} is a system designator.

The initargs are passed to the @code{make-instance} call when creating
the operation object.  Note that dependencies may cause the operation
to invoke other operations on the system or its components: the new
operations will be created with the same initargs as the original one.

@end deffn

@menu
* Predefined operations of asdf::  
* Creating new operations::     
@end menu

@node Predefined operations of asdf, Creating new operations, Operations, Operations
@comment  node-name,  next,  previous,  up
@subsection Predefined operations of asdf

All the operations described in this section are in the @code{asdf}
package.  They are invoked via the @code{operate} generic function.

@lisp
(asdf:operate 'asdf:@var{operation-name} '@var{system-name} @{@var{operation-options ...}@})
@end lisp

@deffn Operation compile-op &key proclamations

This operation compiles the specified component.  If proclamations are
supplied, they will be proclaimed.  This is a good place to specify
optimization settings.

When creating a new component type, you should provide methods for
@code{compile-op}.

When @code{compile-op} is invoked, component dependencies often cause
some parts of the system to be loaded as well as compiled.  Invoking
@code{compile-op} does not necessarily load all the parts of the
system, though; use @code{load-op} to load a system.
@end deffn

@deffn Operation load-op &key proclamations

This operation loads a system.

The default methods for @code{load-op} compile files before loading them.
For parity, your own methods on new component types should probably do
so too.
@end deffn

@deffn Operation load-source-op

This operation will load the source for the files in a module even if
the source files have been compiled. Systems sometimes have knotty
dependencies which require that sources are loaded before they can be
compiled.  This is how you do that.

If you are creating a component type, you need to implement this
operation - at least, where meaningful.
@end deffn

@deffn Operation test-system-version &key minimum

Asks the system whether it satisfies a version requirement.

The default method accepts a string, which is expected to contain of a
number of integers separated by #\. characters.  The method is not
recursive.  The component satisfies the version dependency if it has
the same major number as required and each of its sub-versions is
greater than or equal to the sub-version number required.

@lisp
(defun version-satisfies (x y)
  (labels ((bigger (x y)
             (cond ((not y) t)
                   ((not x) nil)
                   ((> (car x) (car y)) t)
                   ((= (car x) (car y))
                    (bigger (cdr x) (cdr y))))))
    (and (= (car x) (car y))
         (or (not (cdr y)) (bigger (cdr x) (cdr y))))))
@end lisp

If that doesn't work for your system, you can override it.  I hope
you have as much fun writing the new method as @verb{|#lisp|} did
reimplementing this one.
@end deffn

@deffn Operation feature-dependent-op

An instance of @code{feature-dependent-op} will ignore any components
which have a @code{features} attribute, unless the feature combination
it designates is satisfied by @code{*features*}.  This operation is
not intended to be instantiated directly, but other operations may
inherit from it.

@end deffn

@node  Creating new operations,  , Predefined operations of asdf, Operations
@comment  node-name,  next,  previous,  up
@subsection Creating new operations

asdf was designed to be extensible in an object-oriented fashion.  To
teach asdf new tricks, a programmer can implement the behaviour he
wants by creating a subclass of @code{operation}.


asdf's pre-defined operations are in no way ``privileged'', but it is
requested that developers never use the @code{asdf} package for
operations they develop themselves.  The rationale for this rule is
that we don't want to establish a ``global asdf operation name
registry'', but also want to avoid name clashes.

An operation must provide methods for the following generic functions
when invoked with an object of type @code{source-file}:  @emph{FIXME describe
this better}

@itemize

@item @code{output-files}
@item @code{perform}
The @code{perform} method must call @code{output-files} to find out
where to put its files, because the user is allowed to override
@item @code{output-files} for local policy @code{explain}
@item @code{operation-done-p}, if you don't like the default one

@end itemize

@node Components,  , Operations, The object model of asdf
@comment  node-name,  next,  previous,  up
@section Components
@cindex component
@cindex system
@cindex system designator
@vindex *system-definition-search-functions*

A @dfn{component} represents a source file or (recursively) a
collection of components.  A @dfn{system} is (roughly speaking) a
top-level component that can be found via @code{find-system}.

A @dfn{system designator} is a string or symbol and behaves just like
any other component name (including with regard to the case conversion
rules for component names).


@defun find-system system-designator &optional (error-p t)

Given a system designator, @code{find-system} finds and returns a
system.  If no system is found, an error of type
@code{missing-component} is thrown, or @code{nil} is returned if
@code{error-p} is false.

To find and update systems, @code{find-system} funcalls each element
in the @code{*system-definition-search-functions*} list, expecting a
pathname to be returned.  The resulting pathname is loaded if either
of the following conditions is true:

@itemize
@item there is no system of that name in memory
@item the file's last-modified time exceeds the last-modified time of the
  system in memory
@end itemize

When system definitions are loaded from @file{.asd} files, a new
scratch package is created for them to load into, so that different
systems do not overwrite each others operations.  The user may also
wish to (and is recommended to) include @code{defpackage} and
@code{in-package} forms in his system definition files, however, so
that they can be loaded manually if need be.

The default value of @code{*system-definition-search-functions*} is a
function that looks in each of the directories given by evaluating
members of @code{*central-registry*} for a file whose name is the
name of the system and whose type is @file{asd}.  The first such file
is returned, whether or not it turns out to actually define the
appropriate system.  Hence, it is strongly advised to define a system
@var{foo} in the corresponding file @var{foo.asd}.
@end defun


@menu
* Common attributes of components::  
* Pre-defined subclasses of component::  
* Creating new component types::  
@end menu

@node  Common attributes of components, Pre-defined subclasses of component, Components, Components
@comment  node-name,  next,  previous,  up
@subsection Common attributes of components

All components, regardless of type, have the following attributes.
All attributes except @code{name} are optional.

@subsubsection Name

A component name is a string or a symbol.  If a symbol, its name is
taken and lowercased.  The name must be a suitable value for the
@code{:name} initarg to @code{make-pathname} in whatever filesystem
the system is to be found.

The lower-casing-symbols behaviour is unconventional, but was selected
after some consideration.  Observations suggest that the type of
systems we want to support either have lowercase as customary case
(Unix, Mac, windows) or silently convert lowercase to uppercase
(lpns), so this makes more sense than attempting to use @code{:case
:common} as argument to @code{make-pathname}, which is reported not to
work on some implementations

@subsubsection Version identifier

This optional attribute is used by the test-system-version
operation. @xref{Predefined operations of asdf}.  For the default method of
test-system-version, the version should be a string of intergers
separated by dots, for example @samp{1.0.11}.

@subsubsection Required features

Traditionally defsystem users have used reader conditionals to include
or exclude specific per-implementation files.  This means that any
single implementation cannot read the entire system, which becomes a
problem if it doesn't wish to compile it, but instead for example to
create an archive file containing all the sources, as it will omit to
process the system-dependent sources for other systems.

Each component in an asdf system may therefore specify features using
the same syntax as #+ does, and it will (somehow) be ignored for
certain operations unless the feature conditional is a member of
@code{*features*}.


@subsubsection Dependencies

This attribute specifies dependencies of the component on its
siblings.  It is optional but often necessary.

There is an excitingly complicated relationship between the initarg
and the method that you use to ask about dependencies

Dependencies are between (operation component) pairs.  In your
initargs for the component, you can say

@lisp
:in-order-to ((compile-op (load-op "a" "b") (compile-op "c"))
              (load-op (load-op "foo")))
@end lisp

This means the following things:
@itemize
@item
before performing compile-op on this component, we must perform
load-op on @var{a} and @var{b}, and compile-op on @var{c},
@item
before performing @code{load-op}, we have to load @var{foo}
@end itemize

The syntax is approximately

@verbatim
(this-op {(other-op required-components)}+)

required-components := component-name
                     | (required-components required-components)

component-name := string
                | (:version string minimum-version-object)
@end verbatim

Side note:

This is on a par with what ACL defsystem does.  mk-defsystem is less
general: it has an implied dependency

@verbatim
  for all x, (load x) depends on (compile x)
@end verbatim

and using a @code{:depends-on} argument to say that @var{b} depends on
@var{a} @emph{actually} means that

@verbatim
  (compile b) depends on (load a) 
@end verbatim

This is insufficient for e.g. the McCLIM system, which requires that
all the files are loaded before any of them can be compiled ]

End side note

In asdf, the dependency information for a given component and
operation can be queried using @code{(component-depends-on operation
component)}, which returns a list

@lisp
((load-op "a") (load-op "b") (compile-op "c") ...)
@end lisp

@code{component-depends-on} can be subclassed for more specific
component/operation types: these need to @code{(call-next-method)} and
append the answer to their dependency, unless they have a good reason
for completely overriding the default dependencies

(If it weren't for CLISP, we'd be using a @code{LIST} method
combination to do this transparently.  But, we need to support CLISP.
If you have the time for some CLISP hacking, I'm sure they'd welcome
your fixes)

@subsubsection pathname

This attribute is optional and if absent will be inferred from the
component's name, type (the subclass of source-file), and the location
of its parent.

The rules for this inference are:

(for source-files)
@itemize
@item the host is taken from the parent
@item pathname type is @code{(source-file-type component system)}
@item the pathname case option is @code{:local}
@item the pathname is merged against the parent
@end itemize

(for modules)
@itemize
@item the host is taken from the parent
@item the name and type are @code{NIL}
@item the directory is @code{(:relative component-name)}
@item the pathname case option is @code{:local}
@item the pathname is merged against the parent
@end itemize

Note that the DEFSYSTEM operator (used to create a ``top-level''
system) does additional processing to set the filesystem location of
the top component in that system.  This is detailed
elsewhere, @xref{Defining systems with defsystem}.

The answer to the frequently asked question "how do I create a system 
definition where all the source files have a .cl extension" is thus

@lisp
(defmethod source-file-type ((c cl-source-file) (s (eql (find-system 'my-sys))))
   "cl")
@end lisp

@subsubsection properties

This attribute is optional.

Packaging systems often require information about files or systems in
addition to that specified by asdf's pre-defined component attributes.
Programs that create vendor packages out of asdf systems therefore
have to create ``placeholder'' information to satisfy these systems.
Sometimes the creator of an asdf system may know the additional
information and wish to provide it directly.

(component-property component property-name) and associated setf
method will allow the programmatic update of this information.
Property names are compared as if by @code{EQL}, so use symbols or
keywords or something.

@menu
* Pre-defined subclasses of component::  
* Creating new component types::  
@end menu

@node Pre-defined subclasses of component, Creating new component types, Common attributes of components, Components
@comment  node-name,  next,  previous,  up
@subsection Pre-defined subclasses of component

@deffn Component source-file

A source file is any file that the system does not know how to
generate from other components of the system. 

Note that this is not necessarily the same thing as ``a file
containing data that is typically fed to a compiler''.  If a file is
generated by some pre-processor stage (e.g. a @file{.h} file from
@file{.h.in} by autoconf) then it is not, by this definition, a source
file.  Conversely, we might have a graphic file that cannot be
automatically regenerated, or a proprietary shared library that we
received as a binary: these do count as source files for our purposes.

Subclasses of source-file exist for various languages.  @emph{FIXME:
describe these.}
@end deffn

@deffn Component module

A module is a collection of sub-components.

A module component has the following extra initargs:

@itemize
@item
@code{:components} the components contained in this module

@item
@code{:default-component-class} All child components which don't
specify their class explicitly are inferred to be of this type.

@item
@code{:if-component-dep-fails} This attribute takes one of the values
@code{:fail}, @code{:try-next}, @code{:ignore}, its default value is
@code{:fail}.  The other values can be used for implementing
conditional compilation based on implementation @code{*features*}, for
the case where it is not necessary for all files in a module to be
compiled.

@item
@code{:serial} When this attribute is set, each subcomponent of this
component is assumed to depend on all subcomponents before it in the
list given to @code{:components}, i.e. all of them are loaded before
a compile or load operation is performed on it.

@end itemize

The default operation knows how to traverse a module, so most
operations will not need to provide methods specialised on modules.

@code{module} may be subclassed to represent components such as
foreign-language linked libraries or archive files.
@end deffn

@deffn Component system

@code{system} is a subclass of @code{module}.

A system is a module with a few extra attributes for documentation
purposes; these are given elsewhere.  @xref{The defsystem grammar}.

Users can create new classes for their systems: the default
@code{defsystem} macro takes a @code{:classs} keyword
argument.
@end deffn

@node  Creating new component types,  , Pre-defined subclasses of component, Components
@comment  node-name,  next,  previous,  up
@subsection Creating new component types

New component types are defined by subclassing one of the existing
component classes and specializing methods on the new component class.

@emph{FIXME: this should perhaps be explained more throughly, not only by
example ...}

As an example, suppose we have some implementation-dependent
functionality that we want to isolate in one subdirectory per Lisp
implementation our system supports.  We create a subclass of
@code{cl-source-file}:

@lisp
(defclass unportable-cl-source-file (cl-source-file)
    ())
@end lisp

A hypothetical function @code{system-dependent-dirname} gives us the
name of the subdirectory.  All that's left is to define how to
calculate the pathname of an @code{unportable-cl-source-file}.

@lisp
(defmethod component-pathname ((component unportable-cl-source-file))
  (let ((pathname (call-next-method))
        (name (string-downcase (system-dependent-dirname))))
    (merge-pathnames
     (make-pathname :directory (list :relative name))
     pathname)))
@end lisp

The new component type is used in a @code{defsystem} form in this way:

@lisp
(defsystem :foo
    :components
    ((:file "packages")
     ...
     (:unportable-cl-source-file "threads"
      :depends-on ("packages" ...))
     ...
    )
@end lisp

@node  Error handling, Compilation error and warning handling, The object model of asdf, Top
@comment  node-name,  next,  previous,  up
@chapter Error handling
@findex SYSTEM-DEFINITION-ERROR
@findex OPERATION-ERROR

It is an error to define a system incorrectly: an implementation may
detect this and signal a generalised instance of
@code{SYSTEM-DEFINITION-ERROR}.

Operations may go wrong (for example when source files contain
errors).  These are signalled using generalised instances of
@code{OPERATION-ERROR}.

@node  Compilation error and warning handling, Getting the latest version, Error handling, Top
@comment  node-name,  next,  previous,  up
@chapter Compilation error and warning handling
@vindex *compile-file-warnings-behaviour*
@vindex *compile-file-errors-behavior*

ASDF checks for warnings and errors when a file is compiled. The
variables @code{*compile-file-warnings-behaviour*} and
@code{*compile-file-errors-behavior*} controls the handling of any
such events. The valid values for these variables are @code{:error},
@code{:warn}, and @code{:ignore}.

@node Getting the latest version, TODO list, Compilation error and warning handling, Top
@comment  node-name,  next,  previous,  up
@chapter Getting the latest version

@enumerate
@item
Decide which version you want.  HEAD is the newest version and
usually OK, whereas RELEASE is for cautious people (e.g. who already
have systems using asdf that they don't want broken), a slightly older
version about which none of the HEAD users have complained.

@item
Check it out from sourceforge cCLan CVS:

@kbd{cvs -d:pserver:anonymous@@cvs.cclan.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/cclan login}

(no password: just press @key{Enter})
 
@kbd{cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@@cvs.cclan.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/cclan co -r RELEASE asdf}

or for the bleeding edge, instead

@kbd{cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@@cvs.cclan.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/cclan co -A asdf}

@end enumerate

If you are tracking the bleeding edge, you may want to subscribe to
the cclan-commits mailing list (see
@url{http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=28536}) to receive commit
messages and diffs whenever changes are made.

For more CVS information, look at
@url{http://sourceforge.net/cvs/?group_id=28536}.




@node  TODO list, missing bits in implementation, Getting the latest version, Top
@comment  node-name,  next,  previous,  up
@chapter TODO list

* Outstanding spec questions, things to add

** packaging systems

*** manual page component?

** style guide for .asd files

You should either use keywords or be careful with the package that you
evaluate defsystem forms in.  Otherwise (defsystem partition ...)
being read in the cl-user package will intern a cl-user:partition
symbol, which will then collide with the partition:partition symbol.

Actually there's a hairier packages problem to think about too.
in-order-to is not a keyword: if you read defsystem forms in a package
that doesn't use ASDF, odd things might happen

** extending defsystem with new options

You might not want to write a whole parser, but just to add options to
the existing syntax.  Reinstate parse-option or something akin

** document all the error classes

** what to do with compile-file failure

Should check the primary return value from compile-file and see if
that gets us any closer to a sensible error handling strategy

** foreign files

lift unix-dso stuff from db-sockets

** Diagnostics

A ``dry run'' of an operation can be made with the following form:

@lisp
(traverse (make-instance '<operation-name>)
          (find-system <system-name>)
          'explain)
@end lisp

This uses unexported symbols.  What would be a nice interface for this
functionality?

@node  missing bits in implementation, Inspiration, TODO list, Top
@comment  node-name,  next,  previous,  up
@chapter missing bits in implementation

** all of the above

** reuse the same scratch package whenever a system is reloaded from disk

** rules for system pathname defaulting are not yet implemented properly

** proclamations probably aren't

** when a system is reloaded with fewer components than it previously
   had, odd things happen

we should do something inventive when processing a defsystem form,
like take the list of kids and setf the slot to nil, then transfer
children from old to new list as they're found

**  traverse may become a normal function

If you're defining methods on traverse,  speak up.


** a lot of load-op methods can be rewritten to use input-files

so should be.


** (stuff that might happen later)

*** david lichteblau's patch for symlink resolution?

*** Propagation of the :force option.  ``I notice that

        (oos 'compile-op :araneida :force t)

also forces compilation of every other system the :araneida system
depends on.  This is rarely useful to me; usually, when I want to force
recompilation of something more than a single source file, I want to
recompile only one system.  So it would be more useful to have
make-sub-operation refuse to propagate @code{:force t} to other systems, and
propagate only something like @code{:force :recursively}.

Ideally what we actually want is some kind of criterion that says to
which systems (and which operations) a @code{:force} switch will
propagate.

The problem is perhaps that `force' is a pretty meaningless concept.
How obvious is it that @code{load :force t} should force
@emph{compilation}?  But we don't really have the right dependency
setup for the user to compile @code{:force t} and expect it to work
(files will not be loaded after compilation, so the compile
environment for subsequent files will be emptier than it needs to be)

What does the user actually want to do when he forces?  Usually, for
me, update for use with a new version of the lisp compiler.  Perhaps
for recovery when he suspects that something has gone wrong.  Or else
when he's changed compilation options or configuration in some way
that's not reflected in the dependency graph.

Other possible interface: have a 'revert' function akin to 'make clean'

@lisp
(asdf:revert 'asdf:compile-op 'araneida) 
@end lisp

would delete any files produced by 'compile-op 'araneida.  Of course, it
wouldn't be able to do much about stuff in the image itself.

How would this work?

traverse

There's a difference between a module's dependencies (peers) and its
components (children).  Perhaps there's a similar difference in
operations?  For example, @code{(load "use") depends-on (load "macros")} is a
peer, whereas @code{(load "use") depends-on (compile "use")} is more of a
`subservient' relationship.

@node  Inspiration, Concept Index, missing bits in implementation, Top
@comment  node-name,  next,  previous,  up
@chapter Inspiration

@section mk-defsystem (defsystem-3.x)

We aim to solve basically the same problems as mk-defsystem does.
However, our architecture for extensibility better exploits CL
language features (and is documented), and we intend to be portable
rather than just widely-ported.  No slight on the mk-defsystem authors
and maintainers is intended here; that implementation has the
unenviable task of supporting pre-ANSI implementations, which is 
no longer necessary.

The surface defsystem syntax of asdf is more-or-less compatible with
mk-defsystem, except that we do not support the @code{source-foo} and
@code{binary-foo} prefixes for separating source and binary files, and 
we advise the removal of all options to specify pathnames.

The mk-defsystem code for topologically sorting a module's dependency
list was very useful.

@section defsystem-4 proposal

Marco and Peter's proposal for defsystem 4 served as the driver for
many of the features in here.  Notable differences are:

@itemize
@item
We don't specify output files or output file extensions as part of the
system.  

If you want to find out what files an operation would create, ask the
operation.

@item
We don't deal with CL packages

If you want to compile in a particular package, use an in-package form
in that file (ilisp / SLIME will like you more if you do this anyway)

@item
There is no proposal here that defsystem does version control.  

A system has a given version which can be used to check dependencies,
but that's all.
@end itemize

The defsystem 4 proposal tends to look more at the external features,
whereas this one centres on a protocol for system introspection.

@section kmp's ``The Description of Large Systems'', MIT AI Memu 801

Available in updated-for-CL form on the web at 
@url{http://world.std.com/~pitman/Papers/Large-Systems.html}

In our implementation we borrow kmp's overall PROCESS-OPTIONS and
concept to deal with creating component trees from defsystem surface
syntax.  [ this is not true right now, though it used to be and
probably will be again soon ]


@c -------------------


@node Concept Index, Function and Class Index, Inspiration, Top
@unnumbered Concept Index
     
@printindex cp

@node Function and Class Index, Variable Index, Concept Index, Top
@unnumbered Function and Class Index
     
@printindex fn

@node Variable Index,  , Function and Class Index, Top
@unnumbered Variable Index
     
@printindex vr




@bye