nixpkgs/doc/hooks/waf.section.md
Alyssa Ross 67641d0589 wafHook: don't add cross compilation flags
These flags are not part of waf, they're custom flags that are not
widely implemented.  More packages are broken because of these flags
being added than actually recognise them.

Of the packages in Nixpkgs that directly depend on wafHook that we can
attempt to cross compile (i.e. all their dependencies cross compile),
5 already successfully cross compile and recognise these flags, 2
already successfully cross compile because they have been opted out of
these flags, 3 don't cross compile successfully for reasons unrelated
to these flags, and for the remaining 7, the only thing stopping them
cross compiling successfully is that they are being passed these flags
that they don't recognise.

All of the five successfully cross-compiling packages that do
recognise these flags are samba projects: ldb, talloc, tdb, tevent,
and samba4.  So this isn't a general waf convention, just a samba one.
It therefore doesn't make sense to set these flags by default.  They
should just be included in the expressions for each samba project,
like all the other quirks common to samba build systems.

This change fixes cross compilation of the following packages:

  blockhash ganv ndn-cxx mda_lv2 pflask raul saldl
2024-05-15 16:47:16 +02:00

54 lines
2 KiB
Markdown

# wafHook {#waf-hook}
[Waf](https://waf.io) is a Python-based software building system.
In Nixpkgs, `wafHook` overrides the default configure, build, and install phases.
## Variables controlling wafHook {#waf-hook-variables-controlling}
### `wafHook` Exclusive Variables {#waf-hook-exclusive-variables}
The variables below are exclusive of `wafHook`.
#### `wafPath` {#waf-path}
Location of the `waf` tool. It defaults to `./waf`, to honor software projects that include it directly inside their source trees.
If `wafPath` doesn't exist, then `wafHook` will copy the `waf` provided from Nixpkgs to it.
#### `wafFlags` {#waf-flags}
Controls the flags passed to waf tool during build and install phases. For settings specific to build or install phases, use `wafBuildFlags` or `wafInstallFlags` respectively.
#### `dontUseWafConfigure` {#dont-use-waf-configure}
When set to true, don't use the predefined `wafConfigurePhase`.
#### `dontUseWafBuild` {#dont-use-waf-build}
When set to true, don't use the predefined `wafBuildPhase`.
#### `dontUseWafInstall` {#dont-use-waf-install}
When set to true, don't use the predefined `wafInstallPhase`.
### Similar variables {#waf-hook-similar-variables}
The following variables are similar to their `stdenv.mkDerivation` counterparts.
| `wafHook` Variable | `stdenv.mkDerivation` Counterpart |
|-----------------------|-----------------------------------|
| `wafConfigureFlags` | `configureFlags` |
| `wafConfigureTargets` | `configureTargets` |
| `wafBuildFlags` | `buildFlags` |
| `wafBuildTargets` | `buildTargets` |
| `wafInstallFlags` | `installFlags` |
| `wafInstallTargets` | `installTargets` |
### Honored variables {#waf-hook-honored-variables}
The following variables commonly used by `stdenv.mkDerivation` are honored by `wafHook`.
- `prefixKey`
- `enableParallelBuilding`
- `enableParallelInstalling`