Dependencies between xPacks

[mmomtchev]

Is it possible to have a production dependency between two xPacks? Like for example having a conan xPack that automatically pulls the python xPack? If I simply list the python xPack in package.json xpack.dependences, I get:

@mmomtchev/meson-xpack...
+ @mmomtchev/[email protected]
+ [email protected]
+ [email protected]
+ [email protected]
+ [email protected]
+ [email protected]
+ [email protected]
+ [email protected]
+ [email protected]
+ [email protected]
+ [email protected]
+ [email protected]
+ [email protected]
+ [email protected]
+ [email protected]
+ [email protected]
+ [email protected]
+ [email protected]
+ [email protected]
+ [email protected]
+ [email protected]
+ [email protected]
+ [email protected]
+ [email protected]
+ [email protected]
error: conflicting version 4.0.0 also requested; mitigation not yet implemented

Which makes me think that xpm is suddenly trying to resolve its own dependencies?

[ilg-ul]

Is it possible to have a production dependency between two xPacks?

This is a bit tricky, I still have some question marks on the details, therefore it is not yet fully implemented.

The initial use case for xPacks was for source code libraries. In my understanding, production dependencies (i.e. listed in dependencies) for libraries are other libraries required to compile the library, while development dependencies are tools used during the build process.

Then binary packages were added, and were assimilated as development dependencies.

So doing an xpm install <library> in a project would install the library with all dependencies and add the library to dependencies; an xpm install <binary> would install the binary with all devDependencies and add it to devDependencies.

However this logic might not work as expected, and require further refining.

error: conflicting version 4.0.0 also requested; mitigation not yet implemented

Except possible bugs, this means that one package requested a version and another one a different version. Depending on how the semver expressions were written, this means either an impossibility, or the need to search for a more recent version that satisfies both requests, which is an algorithm that may get very tricky.

---

I am a bit confused by your list of dependencies, that apparently mixes npm and xpm packages. I don't even know how you did this. Personally I would definitely not do it.

[mmomtchev]

Two different make-dir versions are part of xpms own dependencies.

[ilg-ul]

Ok, but why would you try to install xpm (and any other npm packages) as xPack dependencies?

xpm is a npm package and must be installed as a npm dependency, because npm is able to recursively install different sub-dependencies of dependencies, while xpm, aiming to manage source libraries (like C/C++) needs to bring all dependencies to the top level.

[ilg-ul]

an xpm install would install the binary with all devDependencies and add it to devDependencies.

At a second thought this is probably incorrect and should read an xpm install <binary> would install the binary with all dependencies and add it to devDependencies.

[mmomtchev]

I get the error with xpm being part of dependencies and the python-xpack being part of xpack.dependencies:
https://github.com/mmomtchev/conan-xpack/blob/main/package.json
https://github.com/mmomtchev/conan-xpack/actions/runs/9961517813/job/27523195909

[ilg-ul]

Then this is probably a bug.

Could you rerun as xpm install -dd and log an issue to xpm?