[mcclim-devel] CLX backend or OpenGL backend with ClozureCL on OS X (also posted on c.l.l)

[Robert Goldman]

On 12/27/10 Dec 27 -8:59 AM, James Ashley wrote:
> On Mon, Dec 27, 2010 at 5:44 AM,  <rm at tuxteam.de> wrote:
>> On Mon, Dec 27, 2010 at 11:36:24AM +0100, Frank G?nninger wrote:
>>> Hi all:
>>> Using Quicklisp I loaded the required packages:
>>>
>>
>> Why do you perform such a selective load? So far I had better luck just
>> doing a:
>>
>>  (ql:quickload "mcclim")
>>
>>
>>> ;;; OK, so far. Now let's define CLX as the backend...
>>>
>>> ? (setq clim:*default-server-path* '(:clx))
>>>
>>> (:CLX)
>>
>> Without (ql:quickload "clim-clx") this won't work. CLX by itself only
>> provides the API to communicate with a X server, the X backend is
>> defined inclim-cxl.
> 
> So is this a bug in the ASD (not specifying some required package), a
> limitation of ASDF (can't specify that package x depends on variable
> y), or just a matter of understanding the tools (load the package you
> want, don't mess around with the dependencies)?
> 
> Where's the best place to document this so it doesn't bite someone
> else in the future?
> 
> (cliki seems like the most obvious to me, but what do I know?)

It's rarely done, but it is possible to pass initargs to ASDF load
system.  So, with a recent asdf (which doesn't require use of OOS), you
could do something like

(asdf:load-system :mcclim :backend :clx)

...if the mcclim maintainers would like to support that, probably using
an :around method on asdf:operate.  One could even support either
defaulting or forcing the user to specify a backend.  The latter might
help this periodic confusion of novices.

Best,
r