R devel - Aug 1997 - R-alpha: Can we "require" 1) GNU make, 2) Perl -- for help "compiling"?

Another request for comments

	(the last one on file extensions had not too many 'voters' ...)

Both questions have to do with improving the 'man' file format,
conventions, .. AND building the  'help', 'latex' and
'html' files from the
man sources. 

Before you read on.. 
Kurt Hornik has suggested that in any case, the compiled
'help', 'html' (and 'tex' and 'R' Example) files
could be provided
(through CRAN) for those people who would lack in the following..

1) I am trying to `replace' the current scheme of
	make install-help
	make install-latex
	make install-html
	make test-Examples	which just calls  shell script in RHOME/etc

   by a scheme that uses proper dependencies and only
   rebuilds things when and where they have changed.

   Currently, I believe that this would be much easier / nicer  if I could
   require  GNU make  (which all Linuxers have anyway) for doing these.
   I could then use things such as  $(shell: ...)   $(wildcard: ...), etc.

 Is this ok with all of you?


2) Even more extreme: Can we require  __Perl__ to be available for most
   (for all who want to build  help/html/tex files themselves)?

   If yes, we could think of enhancing the "compilation" of man files
   quite a bit, using perl instead of the
	sed .. | m4 | sed ..
   pipe which we currently need.

What do you think?

-- Martin
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
r-devel mailing list -- Read http://www.ci.tuwien.ac.at/~hornik/R/R-FAQ.html
Send "info", "help", or "[un]subscribe"
(in the "body", not the subject !)  To:
r-devel-request@stat.math.ethz.ch
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

>>>>> "Martin" == Martin Maechler
<maechler@stat.math.ethz.ch> writes:

    Martin>    Currently, I believe that this would be much easier /
    Martin>    nicer if I could require GNU make (which all Linuxers
    Martin>    have anyway) for doing these.  I could then use things
    Martin>    such as $(shell: ...)  $(wildcard: ...), etc.

    Martin>  Is this ok with all of you?


    Martin> 2) Even more extreme: Can we require __Perl__ to be
    Martin>    available for most (for all who want to build
    Martin>    help/html/tex files themselves)?

    Martin> What do you think?

Fine for Unix platforms.  Both are easy to build (easier than R, sort
of), and can be installed in a personal account.

I'm worried about the Mac and W95 platforms.  Ross and Robert?

best,

-- 
-tony (Anthony Rossini)	           Statistics Dept., U South Carolina
rossini@stat.sc.edu	           Columbia, SC 29208
http://www.stat.sc.edu/~rossini/   803-777-3578(O) 803-777-4048 (fax)  
        "'Bother,' said Pooh, as Cthulu rose up and ate him."
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
r-devel mailing list -- Read http://www.ci.tuwien.ac.at/~hornik/R/R-FAQ.html
Send "info", "help", or "[un]subscribe"
(in the "body", not the subject !)  To:
r-devel-request@stat.math.ethz.ch
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

On Mon, 25 Aug 1997, Martin Maechler wrote:
> 1) I am trying to `replace' the current scheme of
> 	make install-help
> 	make install-latex
> 	make install-html
> 	make test-Examples	which just calls  shell script in RHOME/etc
> 
>    by a scheme that uses proper dependencies and only
>    rebuilds things when and where they have changed.
Yes, yes !!
 
>    Currently, I believe that this would be much easier / nicer  if I could
>    require  GNU make  (which all Linuxers have anyway) for doing these.
>    I could then use things such as  $(shell: ...)   $(wildcard: ...), etc.
> 
>  Is this ok with all of you?
We tend to have GNU tools available on machines here, even under
SunOS/Solaris.  I don't know common this is.
> 
> 2) Even more extreme: Can we require  __Perl__ to be available for most
>    (for all who want to build  help/html/tex files themselves)?

I actually think requiring Perl is less extreme than requiring GNU make.
Perl is useful for so many things (eg CGI scripts) that almost everyone
has it.  There must be quite a lot of people who rely on the make that
comes with their system, though.


Thomas Lumley
------------------------------------------------------+------
Biostatistics		: "Never attribute to malice what  :
Uni of Washington	:  can be adequately explained by  :
Box 357232		:  incompetence" - Hanlon's Razor  :
Seattle WA 98195-7232	:				   :
------------------------------------------------------------

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
r-devel mailing list -- Read http://www.ci.tuwien.ac.at/~hornik/R/R-FAQ.html
Send "info", "help", or "[un]subscribe"
(in the "body", not the subject !)  To:
r-devel-request@stat.math.ethz.ch
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

As for windows (I'm no expert though);
  perl is nicer than anything else and it's available on the mac as well.
  make is a bit of a moot point; all c compilers have a make but it is
  different and the whole notion of distributing patches etc doesn't
  seem to have caught on much in the windows environment so I don't think
  we should worry about it too much.
  
  
robert  
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
r-devel mailing list -- Read http://www.ci.tuwien.ac.at/~hornik/R/R-FAQ.html
Send "info", "help", or "[un]subscribe"
(in the "body", not the subject !)  To:
r-devel-request@stat.math.ethz.ch
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-