Jan 3, 2023

Compiling Erlang with docs using ABS in Archlinux

f1sty

archlinuxabserlangdocs

319 Words

2023-01-03 00:17 +0200

UPDATE: after I posted this article, erlang package was fixed to go with docs by default.

Since I’ve started using vim with elixir-ls language server, I’ve noticed that Archlinux erlang package is built without docs, so I couldn’t use my LSP-completer in full power. That prompted me to investigate the Arch Build System, a ports-like system for building and packaging software from source code.

Here’s how I managed to compile Erlang with docs using ABS.

Install asp tool

$ sudo pacman -S asp

asp is a bash script that aids in the management of ABS package sources.

Setup

$ mkdir ~/src/abs
$ cd ~/src/abs
$ asp export erlang
$ cd erlang

asp export will get latest version of the package from repo into directory with the same name.

Make changes in PKGBUILD file

diff --unified
--- /path/to/old/PKGBUILD      2023-01-03 18:04:48.769418824 +0200
+++ PKGBUILD    2023-01-03 17:58:57.291392260 +0200
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 license=(Apache)
 makedepends=(fop git glu java-environment libxslt lksctp-tools mesa perl unixodbc wxwidgets-gtk3)
 options=(staticlibs)
+groups=(modified)
 source=(epmd.conf
         epmd.service
         epmd.socket
@@ -44,6 +45,7 @@
     --prefix=/usr \
     --with-odbc
   make
+  make docs DOC_TARGETS=chunks
 }

 package_erlang() {
@@ -57,6 +59,7 @@

   export PATH="$srcdir/bin:$PATH"
   make -C otp DESTDIR="$pkgdir" install
+  make -C otp DESTDIR="$pkgdir" DOC_TARGETS=chunks install-docs

   # move files that belong to the erlang-unixodbc package
   mkdir -p unixodbc

By making those changes, we add the generated package to the ‘modified’ group (you’ll see later why) while also instructing makepkg to build and install Erlang documentation.

Next, run:

$ makepkg -si

-si flags ensure that makepkg retrieves needed dependencies and auto-installs the package after compilation.

Add this line into /etc/pacman.conf

IgnoreGroup = modified

That’s why I’ve added the package to the ‘modified’ group:

If new versions are available in the official repositories during a system update, pacman prints a note that it is skipping this update because it is in the IgnoreGroup section. At this point, the modified package should be rebuilt from ABS to avoid partial upgrades.

See Also