Re: wish

[Ken Wakita <wakita@is.titech.ac.jp>]

In message (<861yuvd160.fsf@itz.dsl.speakeasy.net>)
from Ian Zimmerman <itz@speakeasy.org>,
talking about "Re: wish",
on 26 Dec 2000 00:41:59 -0800

> Ken> 2. compilers and other tools recognize "-i <subdir>" options that
> Ken> specifies the include subdirectories relative to the standard
> Ken> library path (e.g., "ocamlc -i labltk" instead of "ocamlc -I
> Ken> /usr/local/lib/ocaml-3.00/labltk").
> 
> This is already possible with Stolpmann's findlib.

Right.  Actually I sometimes use findlib and I feel comfortable with
it.  But I am reluctant to use it in a project that I intend to
distribute to others simply because findlib is not part of the
standard distribution.  My proposal is simple and easy to use.  For
instance, building a multithreaded GTk-based GUI application can be
done by:

	ocamlopt -o <executable> -i lablgtk -i threads <source>

which is more pleasant than

	ocamlopt -o <executable> \
		-I /usr/local/lib/ocaml-3.00/lablgtk \
		-I /usr/local/lib/ocaml-3.00/threads <source>

I was very glad that ocaml-3.00 reuses linking information stored in
libraries (.cma and .cmxa).  This feature removed most of the long and
ugly --ccopt and --cclib options from my Makefiles's.  I guess my
proposal is along this spirit and steps little bit further.

The same (and probably more intelligent stuff) can be done by using
findlib.  But I suppose it is easier to convince INRIA people to
include my simple proposal in the standard distribution than findlib.

Ken Wakita