PETSC_ARCH variable --> PETSC_CONF

[Barry Smith]

   Boyana,

     We are going to stop using make before we ever start using GNU  
make features :-)

    Barry

On Nov 30, 2009, at 4:23 PM, Boyana Norris wrote:

>
> On Nov 30, 2009, at 3:59 PM, Barry Smith wrote:
>
>>
>> On Nov 30, 2009, at 3:51 PM, Boyana Norris wrote:
>>
>>> Why not recognize both? It's fairly trivial to check for  
>>> PETSC_CONF if PETSC_ARCH is undefined and internally define  
>>> PETSC_ARCH using PETSC_CONF.
>>
>> This is a make variable. I am not sure that it is trivial to check  
>> if a variable is set and use something else otherwise in a tidy way  
>> in make. Plus I had the idea of having two variables that mean the  
>> same thing.
>
> There are a couple of different ways, e.g., one is
>
> ifndef PETSC_ARCH
> ifdef PETSC_CONF
>  PETSC_ARCH=$(PETSC_CONF)
> else
>  $(error "Make sure the PETSC_CONF environment variable is defined  
> before running make.")
> endif
> endif
>
> This is for GNU make, which is pretty widely available, and may have  
> to be adjusted for ancient systems.
>
> Boyana
>
>>
>> Barry
>>
>>
>>>
>>> Boyana
>>>
>>> --
>>> Boyana Norris, Computer Scientist, Argonne National Laboratory
>>> norris at mcs.anl.gov, +1.630.252.7908, http://www.mcs.anl.gov/~norris/
>>>
>>> On Nov 30, 2009, at 3:43 PM, Matthew Knepley wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 3:38 PM, Barry Smith <bsmith at mcs.anl.gov>  
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> I guess the argument is that on occasion in the future a certain  
>>>> number of people will misinterpret the meaning of PETSC_ARCH  
>>>> frustrating them and us; the number misinterpreting PETSC_CONF  
>>>> will be much smaller or zero saving people's time and energy.
>>>>
>>>> This will be far outweighed by the number of people complaining  
>>>> about such a change. I agree with them.
>>>>
>>>> Matt
>>>>
>>>> Barry
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Nov 30, 2009, at 3:25 PM, Matthew Knepley wrote:
>>>>
>>>> I see the point, but this is one of the oldest parts of PETSc,  
>>>> and I am hesitant to change one
>>>> arbitrary name to another without a more convincing reason.
>>>>
>>>> Matt
>>>>
>>>> On Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 2:17 PM, Barry Smith <bsmith at mcs.anl.gov>  
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Lisandro has pointed out to me several times that the variable  
>>>> name PETSC_ARCH can be confusing; some people may think it is  
>>>> related to the architecture of the machine and don't understand  
>>>> that it is an arbitrary name that the user can make up. He  
>>>> suggested changing it to PETSC_CONF to be clearer.
>>>>
>>>> Should we change it? Use something else?
>>>>
>>>>  Barry
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -- 
>>>> What most experimenters take for granted before they begin their  
>>>> experiments is infinitely more interesting than any results to  
>>>> which their experiments lead.
>>>> -- Norbert Wiener
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -- 
>>>> What most experimenters take for granted before they begin their  
>>>> experiments is infinitely more interesting than any results to  
>>>> which their experiments lead.
>>>> -- Norbert Wiener
>>>
>>
>