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authorEelco Dolstra <edolstra@gmail.com>2022-08-22 15:29:10 +0200
committerEelco Dolstra <edolstra@gmail.com>2022-08-22 15:29:10 +0200
commit4c96761c2bb51cb1635b7bbe56784daeeeee1561 (patch)
tree5713add9413b3499cc7f587f93c16029ffb87fed /doc/manual/src/expressions/arguments-variables.md
parent7ed91d6c6ab86199e7c9703f2852f47d36976d6b (diff)
parent7c3ab5751568a0bc63430b33a5169c5e4784a0ff (diff)
Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/master' into parallel-nix-copy
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-# Arguments and Variables
-
-The [Nix expression for GNU Hello](expression-syntax.md) is a
-function; it is missing some arguments that have to be filled in
-somewhere. In the Nix Packages collection this is done in the file
-`pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix`, where all Nix expressions for
-packages are imported and called with the appropriate arguments. Here
-are some fragments of `all-packages.nix`, with annotations of what
-they mean:
-
-```nix
-...
-
-rec { ①
-
- hello = import ../applications/misc/hello/ex-1 ② { ③
- inherit fetchurl stdenv perl;
- };
-
- perl = import ../development/interpreters/perl { ④
- inherit fetchurl stdenv;
- };
-
- fetchurl = import ../build-support/fetchurl {
- inherit stdenv; ...
- };
-
- stdenv = ...;
-
-}
-```
-
-1. This file defines a set of attributes, all of which are concrete
- derivations (i.e., not functions). In fact, we define a *mutually
- recursive* set of attributes. That is, the attributes can refer to
- each other. This is precisely what we want since we want to “plug”
- the various packages into each other.
-
-2. Here we *import* the Nix expression for GNU Hello. The import
- operation just loads and returns the specified Nix expression. In
- fact, we could just have put the contents of the Nix expression
- for GNU Hello in `all-packages.nix` at this point. That would be
- completely equivalent, but it would make `all-packages.nix` rather
- bulky.
-
- Note that we refer to `../applications/misc/hello/ex-1`, not
- `../applications/misc/hello/ex-1/default.nix`. When you try to
- import a directory, Nix automatically appends `/default.nix` to the
- file name.
-
-3. This is where the actual composition takes place. Here we *call* the
- function imported from `../applications/misc/hello/ex-1` with a set
- containing the things that the function expects, namely `fetchurl`,
- `stdenv`, and `perl`. We use inherit again to use the attributes
- defined in the surrounding scope (we could also have written
- `fetchurl = fetchurl;`, etc.).
-
- The result of this function call is an actual derivation that can be
- built by Nix (since when we fill in the arguments of the function,
- what we get is its body, which is the call to `stdenv.mkDerivation`
- in the [Nix expression for GNU Hello](expression-syntax.md)).
-
- > **Note**
- >
- > Nixpkgs has a convenience function `callPackage` that imports and
- > calls a function, filling in any missing arguments by passing the
- > corresponding attribute from the Nixpkgs set, like this:
- >
- > ```nix
- > hello = callPackage ../applications/misc/hello/ex-1 { };
- > ```
- >
- > If necessary, you can set or override arguments:
- >
- > ```nix
- > hello = callPackage ../applications/misc/hello/ex-1 { stdenv = myStdenv; };
- > ```
-
-4. Likewise, we have to instantiate Perl, `fetchurl`, and the standard
- environment.