.asd files are Lisp code, but this Lisp code must be loaded in the correct context. Just like a random Lisp file won't even load if its packages haven't been defined, or the readtable is wrong, etc., a random .asd file won't run if it's not loaded in the correct context.
This is NOT new: ASDF 1 (and ASDF 2 after it) even used to create a new package around the loading of each and every .asd file -- and delete it afterwards! And there wasn't even an exported function that users could call to achieve the same effect, until 2.011.3 (Dec 2010). Now if you use swank-asdf, I made sure that it calls load-asd when you use C-c C-k on a .asd file. I also implemented other goodies, so that compiling a file would be done with perform compile-op, but the slime maintainers disabled them by default. Sigh. —♯ƒ • François-René ÐVB Rideau •Reflection&Cybernethics• http://fare.tunes.org I’d like to confess, Papa, at that moment I discovered that I really like killing. — Ernesto "Che" Guevara On Thu, Sep 22, 2016 at 5:19 PM, Eric Timmons <etimm...@mit.edu> wrote: > On Thu, Sep 22, 2016 at 4:44 PM, Robert P. Goldman <rpgold...@sift.net> wrote: >> Actually now LOAD-ASD controls syntax, sets the readtable, controls the >> pretty-printer, sets up a cache, and a handler. And who knows what it will >> do tomorrow? > > Oooph, didn't realize that was in there as well. At least those > effects aren't advertised in the manual (I think)? > >> For the record, I'm not a fan. I would prefer that asd files were normal >> lisp. But they aren't, so I don't think we should lie about it, and I don't >> want to field alleged bug reports that arise because someone thought they >> were, when they are not. > > Honestly, I'd go the other way and say I wish ASD files were not > LOAD'able. It'd make it easier to analyze a system without the > possibility of incurring side effects due to whatever code the > developer decided to put in there (this has made my life annoying a > couple of times). But that's probably not worth thinking about until > ASDF 4 rolls around. > >> We could make this a continuable error as a concession to people who know >> that they want to evaluate these forms outside LOAD-ASD, but that's as far >> as I'm prepared to go. > > That's probably a good compromise. > > -Eric >
