Forum OpenACS Q&A: Install docs

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1: Install docs
Posted by Richard Hamilton on 08/03/04 04:41 PM
I am just about to do some testing using Aolserver 4.0.7, Postgres 7.4.3 and OpenACS 5.1.1 and so am working through the install docs again.

I found the reference to Bison which instructs as follows:

++++++++++++++++++++++++
Install Bison. Only do this if bison --version is smaller than 1.875 and you install PostgreSQL 7.4.

[root root]# cd /usr/local/src
[root src]# wget http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bison/bison-1.875.tar.gz
[root src]# tar xfz bison-1.875.tar.gz
[root src]# cd bison-1.875
[root src]# ./configure
[root src]# make install

++++++++++++++++++++++++

A couple of questions.

1) "only do this if bison --version is smaller than 1.875 and you install PostgreSQL 7.4" - the command line instructions then go on to "tar xfz bison-1.875.tar.gz". So should this be 'smaller than or equal to', and why is it important?

2) Is Bison actually required? Does Postgres link to the libraries or something? I have followed this doc before and NOT installed Bison and suffered no problems. If it is an optional extra for those wanting to write parsers perhaps we should say so.

Regards
Richard

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2: Re: Install docs (response to 1)
Posted by Torben Brosten on 08/03/04 08:13 PM
1) So should this be 'smaller than or equal to', and why is it important?

smaller than. see: http://www.postgresql.org/docs/7.4/interactive/install-requirements.html

2) Is Bison actually required? Does Postgres link to the libraries or something?

There are shared libraries in the system. Based on the above link, it looks like bision is included in a tar file release.

Postgres 7.4 *requires* bison 1.875 or higher. Postgresql will error if you try to build it, and the minimum version of bison is not available.

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3: Re: Install docs (response to 1)
Posted by Richard Hamilton on 08/03/04 09:49 PM
Torben,

Thank you but still confused. The link you sent me said:

"Flex and Bison are needed to build a CVS checkout or if you changed the actual scanner and parser definition files. If you need them, be sure to get Flex 2.5.4 or later and Bison 1.875 or later."

My question was about the use of 'smaller than'. I read this as any version from Bison 1.875 onwards (i.e. later or greater than) is acceptable.

Regards
Richard

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4: Re: Install docs (response to 1)
Posted by Torben Brosten on 08/03/04 10:20 PM
Sorry for the confusion, Richard.

Since pg requires bison 1.875 or greater, bison should be installed if the current installed version of bison is _less_than_ 1.875

As I understand the two part question number 1 above, the answer to the first part is:

No, it should not be 'smaller than or equal to'

Regarding the second part, I'm not sure why it's required. You can probably find out by googling at postgresql. Since bison parses text, it might have to do with how psql works or something.

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5: Re: Install docs (response to 1)
Posted by Richard Hamilton on 08/04/04 01:05 AM
Now I see. Sorry for being thick. In my case Bison was not installed by default so there was no Bison version number.

Thanks for explaining.

R.

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6: Re: Install docs (response to 1)
Posted by Torben Brosten on 08/04/04 02:38 AM
No problem, Richard. I'm in a confused state most of the time.

That's part of learning openacs (for me)!

cheers,

Torben

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7: Re: Install docs (response to 1)
Posted by russ m on 08/04/04 06:30 AM
bison (and flex) are only needed when building from a CVS checkout of the PG sources. The release tarballs already include the files that are generated by flex and bison. The error message that configure displays should probably make clear that it can be ignored if you're building from a tarball - I'd actually update the OACS documentation to note that the configure error is harmless.

http://developer.postgresql.org/cvsweb.cgi/pgsql-server/README.CVS?rev=1.3

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8: Re: Install docs (response to 1)
Posted by Jade Rubick on 08/04/04 11:14 PM
So Bison is not actually required? Should we remove it from our list of required software?
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9: Re: Install docs (response to 8)
Posted by russ m on 08/05/04 01:58 AM
No, bison is not required. (or is that "yes, bison is not required"? damn english language...). Yes, it should be removed from the list of required software.
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10: Re: Install docs (response to 1)
Posted by Jade Rubick on 08/05/04 02:09 AM
Removed from the docs.
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11: Re: Install docs (response to 10)
Posted by Richard Hamilton on 08/05/04 11:28 AM
Oh, good. I must say I was puzzled when my installation without Bison worked so well!