A proposal for Debian policy for Ada

["Dmitry A. Kazakov" <mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de>]

In the past we are used to link external libraries using package Linker and
Default_Switches ("ada") set to, e.g. "-lgdk_pixbuf-2.0". The problem with
this approach is that Linker package is not automatically inherited. There
exist different workarounds all more or less unpleasant.

Meanwhile there is IMO a cleaner and simpler way. Just create a gpr file
for the library(es) in use. For example:

project Gdk_Pixbuf is
   for Externally_Built use "true";
   for Source_Files use ();
   for Library_Dir use "/usr/lib"; -- Where it resides
   for Library_Name use "gdk_pixbuf-2.0"; -- Its name (no ".so" ending)
   for Library_Kind use "dynamic"; -- Shared in this case
end Gdk_Pixbuf;

Then with it in your project:

with "gdk_pixbuf.gpr";
project My_Library is
   ... -- No linker package needed
end My_Library;

That is. gnatmake and gprbuild will add necessary linker options to all
projects referencing My_Library.

What about adding this as a requirement to the Debian policy?

-- 
Regards,
Dmitry A. Kazakov
http://www.dmitry-kazakov.de