Bart Smaalders wrote:
> Ed McKnight wrote:
>> I've been reminded that one valid user action is to delete this file, 
>> hence it may be better for the file to be created in 'postinstall' 
>> rather than delivered such that deletion might create a corrupt 
>> package kind of state. The presence or absence of the file is 
>> essentially an environmental control where a subsystem takes a cue 
>> from presence or absence.
>>
>> Upgrade: interesting point. If the user has deleted the file it 
>> shouldn't be recreated by next pkg operation.
>>
>> Note that the subsystems that read this flag file are not mine to 
>> revise. An alternate design would read a value from the file, but 
>> that's not what we have.
>
> If your users are free to delete files at will, then things aren't

Well, subject to documentation. It's not like they're deleting the 
implementation of a product or picking files at random to blow away. If 
the user deletes the specified, documented file the product behaves one 
way; if the file is present (the default) the product behaves a 
different way. The file, if present, is empty. Contents and permissions 
are irrelevant. It's roughly equivalent to setting a global, persistent 
environment variable and modifying behavior based on its value.

Do you have any comments/suggestions about the preferred way to do this 
under IPS? Deliver an empty file or create it after the product bits are 
laid down or...?

thx,  --emk

> likely to work no matter what the design.
>
> If your software needs to determine whether or not various components
> are installed, the "deliver an empty file" trick works fine...
>
> What does it mean if the user deletes the file but not the software?
>
> - Bart
>
>
> Bart Smaalders            Solaris Kernel Performance
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]        http://blogs.sun.com/barts
> "You will contribute more with mercurial than with thunderbird."
_______________________________________________
pkg-discuss mailing list
[email protected]
http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/pkg-discuss

Reply via email to