Re: Manual page and library file

[Patrice Dumas]

On Thu, Jan 09, 2025 at 09:24:29PM +0000, Gavin Smith wrote:
> > However, that makes me wonder if we shouldn't try to load directly the
> > loadable module if we are not in source.  Indeed, my feeling is that
> > dlopened object name should be $module_name.extension, with extension
> > correctly guessed in the majority of cases by dl_findfile based on
> > $Config{dlext}.
> > 
> > This would only require to change load_libtool_library, such that it can
> > optionally try to load the module even if the .la file was not found,
> > and it would only be triggered if !$Texinfo::ModulePath::texinfo_uninstalled
> > and for $module_name (not for $additional_libraries).
> > 
> > This would make the .la files optional after installation on most
> > platforms, with .la only needed when the dlopened files have specific
> > names, for instance cygwin and MinGW, I guess.
> 
> That makes sense.

Done in
https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/texinfo.git/commit/?id=eedf147a0904e50ce1b7a0195fd097d1f80b5fd6

It was not as straightforward as I had imagined, as .la files serve two
purposes, determining the dlopened file name, but also finding where the
module is.  Therefore, I had to use another way to find where the module
is.  For that I use the information from Texinfo::ModulePath.  I think
that it is actually a kind of "improvement", as it allows to search
preferentially in the XS modules installation directory, which fits best
with the idea that XS modules are to be considered as internal for
texi2any.

I wonder if we should document that possibility.  I am not sure, as we
do not already say anything on the .la files.

-- 
Pat