[asdf-devel] Alternate default lisp system location

[Robert Goldman]

Zach Beane wrote:
> Marco Antoniotti <marcoxa at cs.nyu.edu> writes:
>
>> On Mar 12, 2014, at 15:32 , Zach Beane <xach at xach.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Robert Goldman <rpgoldman at sift.net> writes:
>>>
>>>> Zach Beane wrote:
>>>>> The complexity of the registry configuration is one reason why I added
>>>>> the ~/quicklisp/local-projects/ mechanism.
>>>> Right, so I don't see why there's such a huge objection to having a
>>>> similar mechanism for ASDF.  Stellian suggests using
>>>> ~/quicklisp/local-projects/.  So why is it wrong for ASDF to have a
>>>> local-projects directory?
>>>>
>>>> All I am suggesting is to have the local projects directory for ASDF be
>>>> visible, instead of invisible.
>>>>
>>>> I stand corrected about using a name that the user might have already
>>>> had (thanks, Pascal!) but I don't yet see a solution that's as easy as a
>>>> default directory location.
>>> I think having a similar mechanism would be good. (And the
>>> loading-from-a-file thing could be nice too.)
>>>
>>> I think the main problem is that giving it a nice name means that the
>>> chance is high of it clashing with a nice name one or more users is
>>> already using.
>>>
>>> A while ago I was thinking it would be nice to have an API like this:
>>>
>>>  register-system-directory directory &key permanently 
>>>
>>>    Registers DIRECTORY as a directory to search for system files. If
>>>    PERMANENTLY is true, make the registration persist across sessions.
>>> But then I got hung up about how to make PERMANENTLY work -- I don't
>>> think there's any way to ask ASDF what directory is suitable for saving
>>> a config file.
>>>
>>> And I am 100% in favor of a nice solution that does not involve
>>> Quicklisp. The simpler, the better.
>> That is what MK:DEFSYSTEM used to (actually still does) have.
>>
>> mk:add-registry-location <pathname>
>>
>> I don’t think you want the ‘permanently’.  Your init file should be able to deal with that.
>
> I'd like to use this interface *instead* of thinking about which config
> file to extend, and extend a cross-platform data file instead.
>
> But I can't figure out how to do it, so it's a bit moot right now.

I think the fact that there are multiple, alternative ways to configure the source-registry, with different means of persistence (set the *CENTRAL-REGISTRY* variable, persistence left as an exercise to the programmer; use the DSL in code, ditto; use the DSL in config files, handled by config files), means that it will not be easy to automagically save a config change from lisp source.  :-(