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Diffstat (limited to 'doc/manual/src/expressions')
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/manual/src/expressions/advanced-attributes.md | 257 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/manual/src/expressions/arguments-variables.md | 80 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/manual/src/expressions/build-script.md | 70 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/manual/src/expressions/builtin-constants.md | 20 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/manual/src/expressions/builtins-prefix.md | 16 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/manual/src/expressions/builtins-suffix.md | 1 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/manual/src/expressions/derivations.md | 161 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/manual/src/expressions/expression-language.md | 12 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/manual/src/expressions/expression-syntax.md | 93 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/manual/src/expressions/generic-builder.md | 66 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/manual/src/expressions/language-constructs.md | 354 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/manual/src/expressions/language-operators.md | 28 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/manual/src/expressions/language-values.md | 251 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/manual/src/expressions/simple-building-testing.md | 61 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/manual/src/expressions/simple-expression.md | 23 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/manual/src/expressions/writing-nix-expressions.md | 12 |
16 files changed, 0 insertions, 1505 deletions
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/expressions/advanced-attributes.md b/doc/manual/src/expressions/advanced-attributes.md deleted file mode 100644 index 2e7e80ed0..000000000 --- a/doc/manual/src/expressions/advanced-attributes.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,257 +0,0 @@ -# Advanced Attributes - -Derivations can declare some infrequently used optional attributes. - - - [`allowedReferences`]{#adv-attr-allowedReferences}\ - The optional attribute `allowedReferences` specifies a list of legal - references (dependencies) of the output of the builder. For example, - - ```nix - allowedReferences = []; - ``` - - enforces that the output of a derivation cannot have any runtime - dependencies on its inputs. To allow an output to have a runtime - dependency on itself, use `"out"` as a list item. This is used in - NixOS to check that generated files such as initial ramdisks for - booting Linux don’t have accidental dependencies on other paths in - the Nix store. - - - [`allowedRequisites`]{#adv-attr-allowedRequisites}\ - This attribute is similar to `allowedReferences`, but it specifies - the legal requisites of the whole closure, so all the dependencies - recursively. For example, - - ```nix - allowedRequisites = [ foobar ]; - ``` - - enforces that the output of a derivation cannot have any other - runtime dependency than `foobar`, and in addition it enforces that - `foobar` itself doesn't introduce any other dependency itself. - - - [`disallowedReferences`]{#adv-attr-disallowedReferences}\ - The optional attribute `disallowedReferences` specifies a list of - illegal references (dependencies) of the output of the builder. For - example, - - ```nix - disallowedReferences = [ foo ]; - ``` - - enforces that the output of a derivation cannot have a direct - runtime dependencies on the derivation `foo`. - - - [`disallowedRequisites`]{#adv-attr-disallowedRequisites}\ - This attribute is similar to `disallowedReferences`, but it - specifies illegal requisites for the whole closure, so all the - dependencies recursively. For example, - - ```nix - disallowedRequisites = [ foobar ]; - ``` - - enforces that the output of a derivation cannot have any runtime - dependency on `foobar` or any other derivation depending recursively - on `foobar`. - - - [`exportReferencesGraph`]{#adv-attr-exportReferencesGraph}\ - This attribute allows builders access to the references graph of - their inputs. The attribute is a list of inputs in the Nix store - whose references graph the builder needs to know. The value of - this attribute should be a list of pairs `[ name1 path1 name2 - path2 ... ]`. The references graph of each *pathN* will be stored - in a text file *nameN* in the temporary build directory. The text - files have the format used by `nix-store --register-validity` - (with the deriver fields left empty). For example, when the - following derivation is built: - - ```nix - derivation { - ... - exportReferencesGraph = [ "libfoo-graph" libfoo ]; - }; - ``` - - the references graph of `libfoo` is placed in the file - `libfoo-graph` in the temporary build directory. - - `exportReferencesGraph` is useful for builders that want to do - something with the closure of a store path. Examples include the - builders in NixOS that generate the initial ramdisk for booting - Linux (a `cpio` archive containing the closure of the boot script) - and the ISO-9660 image for the installation CD (which is populated - with a Nix store containing the closure of a bootable NixOS - configuration). - - - [`impureEnvVars`]{#adv-attr-impureEnvVars}\ - This attribute allows you to specify a list of environment variables - that should be passed from the environment of the calling user to - the builder. Usually, the environment is cleared completely when the - builder is executed, but with this attribute you can allow specific - environment variables to be passed unmodified. For example, - `fetchurl` in Nixpkgs has the line - - ```nix - impureEnvVars = [ "http_proxy" "https_proxy" ... ]; - ``` - - to make it use the proxy server configuration specified by the user - in the environment variables `http_proxy` and friends. - - This attribute is only allowed in *fixed-output derivations* (see - below), where impurities such as these are okay since (the hash - of) the output is known in advance. It is ignored for all other - derivations. - - > **Warning** - > - > `impureEnvVars` implementation takes environment variables from - > the current builder process. When a daemon is building its - > environmental variables are used. Without the daemon, the - > environmental variables come from the environment of the - > `nix-build`. - - - [`outputHash`]{#adv-attr-outputHash}; [`outputHashAlgo`]{#adv-attr-outputHashAlgo}; [`outputHashMode`]{#adv-attr-outputHashMode}\ - These attributes declare that the derivation is a so-called - *fixed-output derivation*, which means that a cryptographic hash of - the output is already known in advance. When the build of a - fixed-output derivation finishes, Nix computes the cryptographic - hash of the output and compares it to the hash declared with these - attributes. If there is a mismatch, the build fails. - - The rationale for fixed-output derivations is derivations such as - those produced by the `fetchurl` function. This function downloads a - file from a given URL. To ensure that the downloaded file has not - been modified, the caller must also specify a cryptographic hash of - the file. For example, - - ```nix - fetchurl { - url = "http://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/hello/hello-2.1.1.tar.gz"; - sha256 = "1md7jsfd8pa45z73bz1kszpp01yw6x5ljkjk2hx7wl800any6465"; - } - ``` - - It sometimes happens that the URL of the file changes, e.g., because - servers are reorganised or no longer available. We then must update - the call to `fetchurl`, e.g., - - ```nix - fetchurl { - url = "ftp://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/gnu/hello/hello-2.1.1.tar.gz"; - sha256 = "1md7jsfd8pa45z73bz1kszpp01yw6x5ljkjk2hx7wl800any6465"; - } - ``` - - If a `fetchurl` derivation was treated like a normal derivation, the - output paths of the derivation and *all derivations depending on it* - would change. For instance, if we were to change the URL of the - Glibc source distribution in Nixpkgs (a package on which almost all - other packages depend) massive rebuilds would be needed. This is - unfortunate for a change which we know cannot have a real effect as - it propagates upwards through the dependency graph. - - For fixed-output derivations, on the other hand, the name of the - output path only depends on the `outputHash*` and `name` attributes, - while all other attributes are ignored for the purpose of computing - the output path. (The `name` attribute is included because it is - part of the path.) - - As an example, here is the (simplified) Nix expression for - `fetchurl`: - - ```nix - { stdenv, curl }: # The curl program is used for downloading. - - { url, sha256 }: - - stdenv.mkDerivation { - name = baseNameOf (toString url); - builder = ./builder.sh; - buildInputs = [ curl ]; - - # This is a fixed-output derivation; the output must be a regular - # file with SHA256 hash sha256. - outputHashMode = "flat"; - outputHashAlgo = "sha256"; - outputHash = sha256; - - inherit url; - } - ``` - - The `outputHashAlgo` attribute specifies the hash algorithm used to - compute the hash. It can currently be `"sha1"`, `"sha256"` or - `"sha512"`. - - The `outputHashMode` attribute determines how the hash is computed. - It must be one of the following two values: - - - `"flat"`\ - The output must be a non-executable regular file. If it isn’t, - the build fails. The hash is simply computed over the contents - of that file (so it’s equal to what Unix commands like - `sha256sum` or `sha1sum` produce). - - This is the default. - - - `"recursive"`\ - The hash is computed over the NAR archive dump of the output - (i.e., the result of [`nix-store - --dump`](../command-ref/nix-store.md#operation---dump)). In - this case, the output can be anything, including a directory - tree. - - The `outputHash` attribute, finally, must be a string containing - the hash in either hexadecimal or base-32 notation. (See the - [`nix-hash` command](../command-ref/nix-hash.md) for information - about converting to and from base-32 notation.) - - - [`__contentAddressed`]{#adv-attr-__contentAddressed} - If this **experimental** attribute is set to true, then the derivation - outputs will be stored in a content-addressed location rather than the - traditional input-addressed one. - This only has an effect if the `ca-derivation` experimental feature is enabled. - - Setting this attribute also requires setting `outputHashMode` and `outputHashAlgo` like for *fixed-output derivations* (see above). - - - [`passAsFile`]{#adv-attr-passAsFile}\ - A list of names of attributes that should be passed via files rather - than environment variables. For example, if you have - - ```nix - passAsFile = ["big"]; - big = "a very long string"; - ``` - - then when the builder runs, the environment variable `bigPath` - will contain the absolute path to a temporary file containing `a - very long string`. That is, for any attribute *x* listed in - `passAsFile`, Nix will pass an environment variable `xPath` - holding the path of the file containing the value of attribute - *x*. This is useful when you need to pass large strings to a - builder, since most operating systems impose a limit on the size - of the environment (typically, a few hundred kilobyte). - - - [`preferLocalBuild`]{#adv-attr-preferLocalBuild}\ - If this attribute is set to `true` and [distributed building is - enabled](../advanced-topics/distributed-builds.md), then, if - possible, the derivation will be built locally instead of forwarded - to a remote machine. This is appropriate for trivial builders - where the cost of doing a download or remote build would exceed - the cost of building locally. - - - [`allowSubstitutes`]{#adv-attr-allowSubstitutes}\ - If this attribute is set to `false`, then Nix will always build this - derivation; it will not try to substitute its outputs. This is - useful for very trivial derivations (such as `writeText` in Nixpkgs) - that are cheaper to build than to substitute from a binary cache. - - > **Note** - > - > You need to have a builder configured which satisfies the - > derivation’s `system` attribute, since the derivation cannot be - > substituted. Thus it is usually a good idea to align `system` with - > `builtins.currentSystem` when setting `allowSubstitutes` to - > `false`. For most trivial derivations this should be the case. diff --git a/doc/manual/src/expressions/arguments-variables.md b/doc/manual/src/expressions/arguments-variables.md deleted file mode 100644 index 12198c879..000000000 --- a/doc/manual/src/expressions/arguments-variables.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,80 +0,0 @@ -# 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. diff --git a/doc/manual/src/expressions/build-script.md b/doc/manual/src/expressions/build-script.md deleted file mode 100644 index b1eacae88..000000000 --- a/doc/manual/src/expressions/build-script.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,70 +0,0 @@ -# Build Script - -Here is the builder referenced from Hello's Nix expression (stored in -`pkgs/applications/misc/hello/ex-1/builder.sh`): - -```bash -source $stdenv/setup ① - -PATH=$perl/bin:$PATH ② - -tar xvfz $src ③ -cd hello-* -./configure --prefix=$out ④ -make ⑤ -make install -``` - -The builder can actually be made a lot shorter by using the *generic -builder* functions provided by `stdenv`, but here we write out the build -steps to elucidate what a builder does. It performs the following steps: - -1. When Nix runs a builder, it initially completely clears the - environment (except for the attributes declared in the derivation). - This is done to prevent undeclared inputs from being used in the - build process. If for example the `PATH` contained `/usr/bin`, then - you might accidentally use `/usr/bin/gcc`. - - So the first step is to set up the environment. This is done by - calling the `setup` script of the standard environment. The - environment variable `stdenv` points to the location of the - standard environment being used. (It wasn't specified explicitly - as an attribute in Hello's Nix expression, but `mkDerivation` adds - it automatically.) - -2. Since Hello needs Perl, we have to make sure that Perl is in the - `PATH`. The `perl` environment variable points to the location of - the Perl package (since it was passed in as an attribute to the - derivation), so `$perl/bin` is the directory containing the Perl - interpreter. - -3. Now we have to unpack the sources. The `src` attribute was bound to - the result of fetching the Hello source tarball from the network, so - the `src` environment variable points to the location in the Nix - store to which the tarball was downloaded. After unpacking, we `cd` - to the resulting source directory. - - The whole build is performed in a temporary directory created in - `/tmp`, by the way. This directory is removed after the builder - finishes, so there is no need to clean up the sources afterwards. - Also, the temporary directory is always newly created, so you don't - have to worry about files from previous builds interfering with the - current build. - -4. GNU Hello is a typical Autoconf-based package, so we first have to - run its `configure` script. In Nix every package is stored in a - separate location in the Nix store, for instance - `/nix/store/9a54ba97fb71b65fda531012d0443ce2-hello-2.1.1`. Nix - computes this path by cryptographically hashing all attributes of - the derivation. The path is passed to the builder through the `out` - environment variable. So here we give `configure` the parameter - `--prefix=$out` to cause Hello to be installed in the expected - location. - -5. Finally we build Hello (`make`) and install it into the location - specified by `out` (`make install`). - -If you are wondering about the absence of error checking on the result -of various commands called in the builder: this is because the shell -script is evaluated with Bash's `-e` option, which causes the script to -be aborted if any command fails without an error check. diff --git a/doc/manual/src/expressions/builtin-constants.md b/doc/manual/src/expressions/builtin-constants.md deleted file mode 100644 index 78d066a82..000000000 --- a/doc/manual/src/expressions/builtin-constants.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,20 +0,0 @@ -# Built-in Constants - -Here are the constants built into the Nix expression evaluator: - - - `builtins`\ - The set `builtins` contains all the built-in functions and values. - You can use `builtins` to test for the availability of features in - the Nix installation, e.g., - - ```nix - if builtins ? getEnv then builtins.getEnv "PATH" else "" - ``` - - This allows a Nix expression to fall back gracefully on older Nix - installations that don’t have the desired built-in function. - - - [`builtins.currentSystem`]{#builtins-currentSystem}\ - The built-in value `currentSystem` evaluates to the Nix platform - identifier for the Nix installation on which the expression is being - evaluated, such as `"i686-linux"` or `"x86_64-darwin"`. diff --git a/doc/manual/src/expressions/builtins-prefix.md b/doc/manual/src/expressions/builtins-prefix.md deleted file mode 100644 index c631a8453..000000000 --- a/doc/manual/src/expressions/builtins-prefix.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,16 +0,0 @@ -# Built-in Functions - -This section lists the functions built into the Nix expression -evaluator. (The built-in function `derivation` is discussed above.) -Some built-ins, such as `derivation`, are always in scope of every Nix -expression; you can just access them right away. But to prevent -polluting the namespace too much, most built-ins are not in -scope. Instead, you can access them through the `builtins` built-in -value, which is a set that contains all built-in functions and values. -For instance, `derivation` is also available as `builtins.derivation`. - -<dl> - <dt><code>derivation <var>attrs</var></code>; - <code>builtins.derivation <var>attrs</var></code></dt> - <dd><p><var>derivation</var> is described in - <a href="derivations.md">its own section</a>.</p></dd> diff --git a/doc/manual/src/expressions/builtins-suffix.md b/doc/manual/src/expressions/builtins-suffix.md deleted file mode 100644 index a74db2857..000000000 --- a/doc/manual/src/expressions/builtins-suffix.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1 +0,0 @@ -</dl> diff --git a/doc/manual/src/expressions/derivations.md b/doc/manual/src/expressions/derivations.md deleted file mode 100644 index 3391ec0d8..000000000 --- a/doc/manual/src/expressions/derivations.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,161 +0,0 @@ -# Derivations - -The most important built-in function is `derivation`, which is used to -describe a single derivation (a build action). It takes as input a set, -the attributes of which specify the inputs of the build. - - - There must be an attribute named [`system`]{#attr-system} whose value must be a - string specifying a Nix system type, such as `"i686-linux"` or - `"x86_64-darwin"`. (To figure out your system type, run `nix -vv - --version`.) The build can only be performed on a machine and - operating system matching the system type. (Nix can automatically - [forward builds for other - platforms](../advanced-topics/distributed-builds.md) by forwarding - them to other machines.) - - - There must be an attribute named `name` whose value must be a - string. This is used as a symbolic name for the package by - `nix-env`, and it is appended to the output paths of the derivation. - - - There must be an attribute named `builder` that identifies the - program that is executed to perform the build. It can be either a - derivation or a source (a local file reference, e.g., - `./builder.sh`). - - - Every attribute is passed as an environment variable to the builder. - Attribute values are translated to environment variables as follows: - - - Strings and numbers are just passed verbatim. - - - A *path* (e.g., `../foo/sources.tar`) causes the referenced file - to be copied to the store; its location in the store is put in - the environment variable. The idea is that all sources should - reside in the Nix store, since all inputs to a derivation should - reside in the Nix store. - - - A *derivation* causes that derivation to be built prior to the - present derivation; its default output path is put in the - environment variable. - - - Lists of the previous types are also allowed. They are simply - concatenated, separated by spaces. - - - `true` is passed as the string `1`, `false` and `null` are - passed as an empty string. - - - The optional attribute `args` specifies command-line arguments to be - passed to the builder. It should be a list. - - - The optional attribute `outputs` specifies a list of symbolic - outputs of the derivation. By default, a derivation produces a - single output path, denoted as `out`. However, derivations can - produce multiple output paths. This is useful because it allows - outputs to be downloaded or garbage-collected separately. For - instance, imagine a library package that provides a dynamic library, - header files, and documentation. A program that links against the - library doesn’t need the header files and documentation at runtime, - and it doesn’t need the documentation at build time. Thus, the - library package could specify: - - ```nix - outputs = [ "lib" "headers" "doc" ]; - ``` - - This will cause Nix to pass environment variables `lib`, `headers` - and `doc` to the builder containing the intended store paths of each - output. The builder would typically do something like - - ```bash - ./configure \ - --libdir=$lib/lib \ - --includedir=$headers/include \ - --docdir=$doc/share/doc - ``` - - for an Autoconf-style package. You can refer to each output of a - derivation by selecting it as an attribute, e.g. - - ```nix - buildInputs = [ pkg.lib pkg.headers ]; - ``` - - The first element of `outputs` determines the *default output*. - Thus, you could also write - - ```nix - buildInputs = [ pkg pkg.headers ]; - ``` - - since `pkg` is equivalent to `pkg.lib`. - -The function `mkDerivation` in the Nixpkgs standard environment is a -wrapper around `derivation` that adds a default value for `system` and -always uses Bash as the builder, to which the supplied builder is passed -as a command-line argument. See the Nixpkgs manual for details. - -The builder is executed as follows: - - - A temporary directory is created under the directory specified by - `TMPDIR` (default `/tmp`) where the build will take place. The - current directory is changed to this directory. - - - The environment is cleared and set to the derivation attributes, as - specified above. - - - In addition, the following variables are set: - - - `NIX_BUILD_TOP` contains the path of the temporary directory for - this build. - - - Also, `TMPDIR`, `TEMPDIR`, `TMP`, `TEMP` are set to point to the - temporary directory. This is to prevent the builder from - accidentally writing temporary files anywhere else. Doing so - might cause interference by other processes. - - - `PATH` is set to `/path-not-set` to prevent shells from - initialising it to their built-in default value. - - - `HOME` is set to `/homeless-shelter` to prevent programs from - using `/etc/passwd` or the like to find the user's home - directory, which could cause impurity. Usually, when `HOME` is - set, it is used as the location of the home directory, even if - it points to a non-existent path. - - - `NIX_STORE` is set to the path of the top-level Nix store - directory (typically, `/nix/store`). - - - For each output declared in `outputs`, the corresponding - environment variable is set to point to the intended path in the - Nix store for that output. Each output path is a concatenation - of the cryptographic hash of all build inputs, the `name` - attribute and the output name. (The output name is omitted if - it’s `out`.) - - - If an output path already exists, it is removed. Also, locks are - acquired to prevent multiple Nix instances from performing the same - build at the same time. - - - A log of the combined standard output and error is written to - `/nix/var/log/nix`. - - - The builder is executed with the arguments specified by the - attribute `args`. If it exits with exit code 0, it is considered to - have succeeded. - - - The temporary directory is removed (unless the `-K` option was - specified). - - - If the build was successful, Nix scans each output path for - references to input paths by looking for the hash parts of the input - paths. Since these are potential runtime dependencies, Nix registers - them as dependencies of the output paths. - - - After the build, Nix sets the last-modified timestamp on all files - in the build result to 1 (00:00:01 1/1/1970 UTC), sets the group to - the default group, and sets the mode of the file to 0444 or 0555 - (i.e., read-only, with execute permission enabled if the file was - originally executable). Note that possible `setuid` and `setgid` - bits are cleared. Setuid and setgid programs are not currently - supported by Nix. This is because the Nix archives used in - deployment have no concept of ownership information, and because it - makes the build result dependent on the user performing the build. diff --git a/doc/manual/src/expressions/expression-language.md b/doc/manual/src/expressions/expression-language.md deleted file mode 100644 index 267fcb983..000000000 --- a/doc/manual/src/expressions/expression-language.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,12 +0,0 @@ -# Nix Expression Language - -The Nix expression language is a pure, lazy, functional language. Purity -means that operations in the language don't have side-effects (for -instance, there is no variable assignment). Laziness means that -arguments to functions are evaluated only when they are needed. -Functional means that functions are “normal” values that can be passed -around and manipulated in interesting ways. The language is not a -full-featured, general purpose language. Its main job is to describe -packages, compositions of packages, and the variability within packages. - -This section presents the various features of the language. diff --git a/doc/manual/src/expressions/expression-syntax.md b/doc/manual/src/expressions/expression-syntax.md deleted file mode 100644 index 6b93e692c..000000000 --- a/doc/manual/src/expressions/expression-syntax.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,93 +0,0 @@ -# Expression Syntax - -Here is a Nix expression for GNU Hello: - -```nix -{ stdenv, fetchurl, perl }: ① - -stdenv.mkDerivation { ② - name = "hello-2.1.1"; ③ - builder = ./builder.sh; ④ - src = fetchurl { ⑤ - url = "ftp://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/gnu/hello/hello-2.1.1.tar.gz"; - sha256 = "1md7jsfd8pa45z73bz1kszpp01yw6x5ljkjk2hx7wl800any6465"; - }; - inherit perl; ⑥ -} -``` - -This file is actually already in the Nix Packages collection in -`pkgs/applications/misc/hello/ex-1/default.nix`. It is customary to -place each package in a separate directory and call the single Nix -expression in that directory `default.nix`. The file has the following -elements (referenced from the figure by number): - -1. This states that the expression is a *function* that expects to be - called with three arguments: `stdenv`, `fetchurl`, and `perl`. They - are needed to build Hello, but we don't know how to build them here; - that's why they are function arguments. `stdenv` is a package that - is used by almost all Nix Packages; it provides a - “standard” environment consisting of the things you would expect - in a basic Unix environment: a C/C++ compiler (GCC, to be precise), - the Bash shell, fundamental Unix tools such as `cp`, `grep`, `tar`, - etc. `fetchurl` is a function that downloads files. `perl` is the - Perl interpreter. - - Nix functions generally have the form `{ x, y, ..., z }: e` where - `x`, `y`, etc. are the names of the expected arguments, and where - *e* is the body of the function. So here, the entire remainder of - the file is the body of the function; when given the required - arguments, the body should describe how to build an instance of - the Hello package. - -2. So we have to build a package. Building something from other stuff - is called a *derivation* in Nix (as opposed to sources, which are - built by humans instead of computers). We perform a derivation by - calling `stdenv.mkDerivation`. `mkDerivation` is a function - provided by `stdenv` that builds a package from a set of - *attributes*. A set is just a list of key/value pairs where each - key is a string and each value is an arbitrary Nix - expression. They take the general form `{ name1 = expr1; ... - nameN = exprN; }`. - -3. The attribute `name` specifies the symbolic name and version of - the package. Nix doesn't really care about these things, but they - are used by for instance `nix-env -q` to show a “human-readable” - name for packages. This attribute is required by `mkDerivation`. - -4. The attribute `builder` specifies the builder. This attribute can - sometimes be omitted, in which case `mkDerivation` will fill in a - default builder (which does a `configure; make; make install`, in - essence). Hello is sufficiently simple that the default builder - would suffice, but in this case, we will show an actual builder - for educational purposes. The value `./builder.sh` refers to the - shell script shown in the [next section](build-script.md), - discussed below. - -5. The builder has to know what the sources of the package are. Here, - the attribute `src` is bound to the result of a call to the - `fetchurl` function. Given a URL and a SHA-256 hash of the expected - contents of the file at that URL, this function builds a derivation - that downloads the file and checks its hash. So the sources are a - dependency that like all other dependencies is built before Hello - itself is built. - - Instead of `src` any other name could have been used, and in fact - there can be any number of sources (bound to different attributes). - However, `src` is customary, and it's also expected by the default - builder (which we don't use in this example). - -6. Since the derivation requires Perl, we have to pass the value of the - `perl` function argument to the builder. All attributes in the set - are actually passed as environment variables to the builder, so - declaring an attribute - - ```nix - perl = perl; - ``` - - will do the trick: it binds an attribute `perl` to the function - argument which also happens to be called `perl`. However, it looks a - bit silly, so there is a shorter syntax. The `inherit` keyword - causes the specified attributes to be bound to whatever variables - with the same name happen to be in scope. diff --git a/doc/manual/src/expressions/generic-builder.md b/doc/manual/src/expressions/generic-builder.md deleted file mode 100644 index cf26b5f82..000000000 --- a/doc/manual/src/expressions/generic-builder.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,66 +0,0 @@ -# Generic Builder Syntax - -Recall that the [build script for GNU Hello](build-script.md) looked -something like this: - -```bash -PATH=$perl/bin:$PATH -tar xvfz $src -cd hello-* -./configure --prefix=$out -make -make install -``` - -The builders for almost all Unix packages look like this — set up some -environment variables, unpack the sources, configure, build, and -install. For this reason the standard environment provides some Bash -functions that automate the build process. Here is what a builder using -the generic build facilities looks like: - -```bash -buildInputs="$perl" ① - -source $stdenv/setup ② - -genericBuild ③ -``` - -Here is what each line means: - -1. The `buildInputs` variable tells `setup` to use the indicated - packages as “inputs”. This means that if a package provides a `bin` - subdirectory, it's added to `PATH`; if it has a `include` - subdirectory, it's added to GCC's header search path; and so on. - (This is implemented in a modular way: `setup` tries to source the - file `pkg/nix-support/setup-hook` of all dependencies. These “setup - hooks” can then set up whatever environment variables they want; for - instance, the setup hook for Perl sets the `PERL5LIB` environment - variable to contain the `lib/site_perl` directories of all inputs.) - -2. The function `genericBuild` is defined in the file `$stdenv/setup`. - -3. The final step calls the shell function `genericBuild`, which - performs the steps that were done explicitly in the previous build - script. The generic builder is smart enough to figure out whether - to unpack the sources using `gzip`, `bzip2`, etc. It can be - customised in many ways; see the Nixpkgs manual for details. - -Discerning readers will note that the `buildInputs` could just as well -have been set in the Nix expression, like this: - -```nix - buildInputs = [ perl ]; -``` - -The `perl` attribute can then be removed, and the builder becomes even -shorter: - -```bash -source $stdenv/setup -genericBuild -``` - -In fact, `mkDerivation` provides a default builder that looks exactly -like that, so it is actually possible to omit the builder for Hello -entirely. diff --git a/doc/manual/src/expressions/language-constructs.md b/doc/manual/src/expressions/language-constructs.md deleted file mode 100644 index 1c01f2cc7..000000000 --- a/doc/manual/src/expressions/language-constructs.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,354 +0,0 @@ -# Language Constructs - -## Recursive sets - -Recursive sets are just normal sets, but the attributes can refer to -each other. For example, - -```nix -rec { - x = y; - y = 123; -}.x -``` - -evaluates to `123`. Note that without `rec` the binding `x = y;` would -refer to the variable `y` in the surrounding scope, if one exists, and -would be invalid if no such variable exists. That is, in a normal -(non-recursive) set, attributes are not added to the lexical scope; in a -recursive set, they are. - -Recursive sets of course introduce the danger of infinite recursion. For -example, the expression - -```nix -rec { - x = y; - y = x; -}.x -``` - -will crash with an `infinite recursion encountered` error message. - -## Let-expressions - -A let-expression allows you to define local variables for an expression. -For instance, - -```nix -let - x = "foo"; - y = "bar"; -in x + y -``` - -evaluates to `"foobar"`. - -## Inheriting attributes - -When defining a set or in a let-expression it is often convenient to -copy variables from the surrounding lexical scope (e.g., when you want -to propagate attributes). This can be shortened using the `inherit` -keyword. For instance, - -```nix -let x = 123; in -{ inherit x; - y = 456; -} -``` - -is equivalent to - -```nix -let x = 123; in -{ x = x; - y = 456; -} -``` - -and both evaluate to `{ x = 123; y = 456; }`. (Note that this works -because `x` is added to the lexical scope by the `let` construct.) It is -also possible to inherit attributes from another set. For instance, in -this fragment from `all-packages.nix`, - -```nix -graphviz = (import ../tools/graphics/graphviz) { - inherit fetchurl stdenv libpng libjpeg expat x11 yacc; - inherit (xlibs) libXaw; -}; - -xlibs = { - libX11 = ...; - libXaw = ...; - ... -} - -libpng = ...; -libjpg = ...; -... -``` - -the set used in the function call to the function defined in -`../tools/graphics/graphviz` inherits a number of variables from the -surrounding scope (`fetchurl` ... `yacc`), but also inherits `libXaw` -(the X Athena Widgets) from the `xlibs` (X11 client-side libraries) set. - -Summarizing the fragment - -```nix -... -inherit x y z; -inherit (src-set) a b c; -... -``` - -is equivalent to - -```nix -... -x = x; y = y; z = z; -a = src-set.a; b = src-set.b; c = src-set.c; -... -``` - -when used while defining local variables in a let-expression or while -defining a set. - -## Functions - -Functions have the following form: - -```nix -pattern: body -``` - -The pattern specifies what the argument of the function must look like, -and binds variables in the body to (parts of) the argument. There are -three kinds of patterns: - - - If a pattern is a single identifier, then the function matches any - argument. Example: - - ```nix - let negate = x: !x; - concat = x: y: x + y; - in if negate true then concat "foo" "bar" else "" - ``` - - Note that `concat` is a function that takes one argument and returns - a function that takes another argument. This allows partial - parameterisation (i.e., only filling some of the arguments of a - function); e.g., - - ```nix - map (concat "foo") [ "bar" "bla" "abc" ] - ``` - - evaluates to `[ "foobar" "foobla" "fooabc" ]`. - - - A *set pattern* of the form `{ name1, name2, …, nameN }` matches a - set containing the listed attributes, and binds the values of those - attributes to variables in the function body. For example, the - function - - ```nix - { x, y, z }: z + y + x - ``` - - can only be called with a set containing exactly the attributes `x`, - `y` and `z`. No other attributes are allowed. If you want to allow - additional arguments, you can use an ellipsis (`...`): - - ```nix - { x, y, z, ... }: z + y + x - ``` - - This works on any set that contains at least the three named - attributes. - - It is possible to provide *default values* for attributes, in - which case they are allowed to be missing. A default value is - specified by writing `name ? e`, where *e* is an arbitrary - expression. For example, - - ```nix - { x, y ? "foo", z ? "bar" }: z + y + x - ``` - - specifies a function that only requires an attribute named `x`, but - optionally accepts `y` and `z`. - - - An `@`-pattern provides a means of referring to the whole value - being matched: - - ```nix - args@{ x, y, z, ... }: z + y + x + args.a - ``` - - but can also be written as: - - ```nix - { x, y, z, ... } @ args: z + y + x + args.a - ``` - - Here `args` is bound to the entire argument, which is further - matched against the pattern `{ x, y, z, - ... }`. `@`-pattern makes mainly sense with an ellipsis(`...`) as - you can access attribute names as `a`, using `args.a`, which was - given as an additional attribute to the function. - - > **Warning** - > - > The `args@` expression is bound to the argument passed to the - > function which means that attributes with defaults that aren't - > explicitly specified in the function call won't cause an - > evaluation error, but won't exist in `args`. - > - > For instance - > - > ```nix - > let - > function = args@{ a ? 23, ... }: args; - > in - > function {} - > ```` - > - > will evaluate to an empty attribute set. - -Note that functions do not have names. If you want to give them a name, -you can bind them to an attribute, e.g., - -```nix -let concat = { x, y }: x + y; -in concat { x = "foo"; y = "bar"; } -``` - -## Conditionals - -Conditionals look like this: - -```nix -if e1 then e2 else e3 -``` - -where *e1* is an expression that should evaluate to a Boolean value -(`true` or `false`). - -## Assertions - -Assertions are generally used to check that certain requirements on or -between features and dependencies hold. They look like this: - -```nix -assert e1; e2 -``` - -where *e1* is an expression that should evaluate to a Boolean value. If -it evaluates to `true`, *e2* is returned; otherwise expression -evaluation is aborted and a backtrace is printed. - -Here is a Nix expression for the Subversion package that shows how -assertions can be used:. - -```nix -{ localServer ? false -, httpServer ? false -, sslSupport ? false -, pythonBindings ? false -, javaSwigBindings ? false -, javahlBindings ? false -, stdenv, fetchurl -, openssl ? null, httpd ? null, db4 ? null, expat, swig ? null, j2sdk ? null -}: - -assert localServer -> db4 != null; ① -assert httpServer -> httpd != null && httpd.expat == expat; ② -assert sslSupport -> openssl != null && (httpServer -> httpd.openssl == openssl); ③ -assert pythonBindings -> swig != null && swig.pythonSupport; -assert javaSwigBindings -> swig != null && swig.javaSupport; -assert javahlBindings -> j2sdk != null; - -stdenv.mkDerivation { - name = "subversion-1.1.1"; - ... - openssl = if sslSupport then openssl else null; ④ - ... -} -``` - -The points of interest are: - -1. This assertion states that if Subversion is to have support for - local repositories, then Berkeley DB is needed. So if the Subversion - function is called with the `localServer` argument set to `true` but - the `db4` argument set to `null`, then the evaluation fails. - - Note that `->` is the [logical - implication](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_table#Logical_implication) - Boolean operation. - -2. This is a more subtle condition: if Subversion is built with Apache - (`httpServer`) support, then the Expat library (an XML library) used - by Subversion should be same as the one used by Apache. This is - because in this configuration Subversion code ends up being linked - with Apache code, and if the Expat libraries do not match, a build- - or runtime link error or incompatibility might occur. - -3. This assertion says that in order for Subversion to have SSL support - (so that it can access `https` URLs), an OpenSSL library must be - passed. Additionally, it says that *if* Apache support is enabled, - then Apache's OpenSSL should match Subversion's. (Note that if - Apache support is not enabled, we don't care about Apache's - OpenSSL.) - -4. The conditional here is not really related to assertions, but is - worth pointing out: it ensures that if SSL support is disabled, then - the Subversion derivation is not dependent on OpenSSL, even if a - non-`null` value was passed. This prevents an unnecessary rebuild of - Subversion if OpenSSL changes. - -## With-expressions - -A *with-expression*, - -```nix -with e1; e2 -``` - -introduces the set *e1* into the lexical scope of the expression *e2*. -For instance, - -```nix -let as = { x = "foo"; y = "bar"; }; -in with as; x + y -``` - -evaluates to `"foobar"` since the `with` adds the `x` and `y` attributes -of `as` to the lexical scope in the expression `x + y`. The most common -use of `with` is in conjunction with the `import` function. E.g., - -```nix -with (import ./definitions.nix); ... -``` - -makes all attributes defined in the file `definitions.nix` available as -if they were defined locally in a `let`-expression. - -The bindings introduced by `with` do not shadow bindings introduced by -other means, e.g. - -```nix -let a = 3; in with { a = 1; }; let a = 4; in with { a = 2; }; ... -``` - -establishes the same scope as - -```nix -let a = 1; in let a = 2; in let a = 3; in let a = 4; in ... -``` - -## Comments - -Comments can be single-line, started with a `#` character, or -inline/multi-line, enclosed within `/* ... */`. diff --git a/doc/manual/src/expressions/language-operators.md b/doc/manual/src/expressions/language-operators.md deleted file mode 100644 index 268b44f4c..000000000 --- a/doc/manual/src/expressions/language-operators.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,28 +0,0 @@ -# Operators - -The table below lists the operators in the Nix expression language, in -order of precedence (from strongest to weakest binding). - -| Name | Syntax | Associativity | Description | Precedence | -| ------------------------ | ----------------------------------- | ------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------- | -| Select | *e* `.` *attrpath* \[ `or` *def* \] | none | Select attribute denoted by the attribute path *attrpath* from set *e*. (An attribute path is a dot-separated list of attribute names.) If the attribute doesn’t exist, return *def* if provided, otherwise abort evaluation. | 1 | -| Application | *e1* *e2* | left | Call function *e1* with argument *e2*. | 2 | -| Arithmetic Negation | `-` *e* | none | Arithmetic negation. | 3 | -| Has Attribute | *e* `?` *attrpath* | none | Test whether set *e* contains the attribute denoted by *attrpath*; return `true` or `false`. | 4 | -| List Concatenation | *e1* `++` *e2* | right | List concatenation. | 5 | -| Multiplication | *e1* `*` *e2*, | left | Arithmetic multiplication. | 6 | -| Division | *e1* `/` *e2* | left | Arithmetic division. | 6 | -| Addition | *e1* `+` *e2* | left | Arithmetic addition. | 7 | -| Subtraction | *e1* `-` *e2* | left | Arithmetic subtraction. | 7 | -| String Concatenation | *string1* `+` *string2* | left | String concatenation. | 7 | -| Not | `!` *e* | none | Boolean negation. | 8 | -| Update | *e1* `//` *e2* | right | Return a set consisting of the attributes in *e1* and *e2* (with the latter taking precedence over the former in case of equally named attributes). | 9 | -| Less Than | *e1* `<` *e2*, | none | Arithmetic/lexicographic comparison. | 10 | -| Less Than or Equal To | *e1* `<=` *e2* | none | Arithmetic/lexicographic comparison. | 10 | -| Greater Than | *e1* `>` *e2* | none | Arithmetic/lexicographic comparison. | 10 | -| Greater Than or Equal To | *e1* `>=` *e2* | none | Arithmetic/lexicographic comparison. | 10 | -| Equality | *e1* `==` *e2* | none | Equality. | 11 | -| Inequality | *e1* `!=` *e2* | none | Inequality. | 11 | -| Logical AND | *e1* `&&` *e2* | left | Logical AND. | 12 | -| Logical OR | *e1* <code>||</code> *e2* | left | Logical OR. | 13 | -| Logical Implication | *e1* `->` *e2* | none | Logical implication (equivalent to <code>!e1 || e2</code>). | 14 | diff --git a/doc/manual/src/expressions/language-values.md b/doc/manual/src/expressions/language-values.md deleted file mode 100644 index 75ae9f2eb..000000000 --- a/doc/manual/src/expressions/language-values.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,251 +0,0 @@ -# Values - -## Simple Values - -Nix has the following basic data types: - - - *Strings* can be written in three ways. - - The most common way is to enclose the string between double quotes, - e.g., `"foo bar"`. Strings can span multiple lines. The special - characters `"` and `\` and the character sequence `${` must be - escaped by prefixing them with a backslash (`\`). Newlines, carriage - returns and tabs can be written as `\n`, `\r` and `\t`, - respectively. - - You can include the result of an expression into a string by - enclosing it in `${...}`, a feature known as *antiquotation*. The - enclosed expression must evaluate to something that can be coerced - into a string (meaning that it must be a string, a path, or a - derivation). For instance, rather than writing - - ```nix - "--with-freetype2-library=" + freetype + "/lib" - ``` - - (where `freetype` is a derivation), you can instead write the more - natural - - ```nix - "--with-freetype2-library=${freetype}/lib" - ``` - - The latter is automatically translated to the former. A more - complicated example (from the Nix expression for - [Qt](http://www.trolltech.com/products/qt)): - - ```nix - configureFlags = " - -system-zlib -system-libpng -system-libjpeg - ${if openglSupport then "-dlopen-opengl - -L${mesa}/lib -I${mesa}/include - -L${libXmu}/lib -I${libXmu}/include" else ""} - ${if threadSupport then "-thread" else "-no-thread"} - "; - ``` - - Note that Nix expressions and strings can be arbitrarily nested; in - this case the outer string contains various antiquotations that - themselves contain strings (e.g., `"-thread"`), some of which in - turn contain expressions (e.g., `${mesa}`). - - The second way to write string literals is as an *indented string*, - which is enclosed between pairs of *double single-quotes*, like so: - - ```nix - '' - This is the first line. - This is the second line. - This is the third line. - '' - ``` - - This kind of string literal intelligently strips indentation from - the start of each line. To be precise, it strips from each line a - number of spaces equal to the minimal indentation of the string as a - whole (disregarding the indentation of empty lines). For instance, - the first and second line are indented two spaces, while the third - line is indented four spaces. Thus, two spaces are stripped from - each line, so the resulting string is - - ```nix - "This is the first line.\nThis is the second line.\n This is the third line.\n" - ``` - - Note that the whitespace and newline following the opening `''` is - ignored if there is no non-whitespace text on the initial line. - - Antiquotation (`${expr}`) is supported in indented strings. - - Since `${` and `''` have special meaning in indented strings, you - need a way to quote them. `$` can be escaped by prefixing it with - `''` (that is, two single quotes), i.e., `''$`. `''` can be escaped - by prefixing it with `'`, i.e., `'''`. `$` removes any special - meaning from the following `$`. Linefeed, carriage-return and tab - characters can be written as `''\n`, `''\r`, `''\t`, and `''\` - escapes any other character. - - Indented strings are primarily useful in that they allow multi-line - string literals to follow the indentation of the enclosing Nix - expression, and that less escaping is typically necessary for - strings representing languages such as shell scripts and - configuration files because `''` is much less common than `"`. - Example: - - ```nix - stdenv.mkDerivation { - ... - postInstall = - '' - mkdir $out/bin $out/etc - cp foo $out/bin - echo "Hello World" > $out/etc/foo.conf - ${if enableBar then "cp bar $out/bin" else ""} - ''; - ... - } - ``` - - Finally, as a convenience, *URIs* as defined in appendix B of - [RFC 2396](http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2396.txt) can be written *as - is*, without quotes. For instance, the string - `"http://example.org/foo.tar.bz2"` can also be written as - `http://example.org/foo.tar.bz2`. - - - Numbers, which can be *integers* (like `123`) or *floating point* - (like `123.43` or `.27e13`). - - Numbers are type-compatible: pure integer operations will always - return integers, whereas any operation involving at least one - floating point number will have a floating point number as a result. - - - *Paths*, e.g., `/bin/sh` or `./builder.sh`. A path must contain at - least one slash to be recognised as such. For instance, `builder.sh` - is not a path: it's parsed as an expression that selects the - attribute `sh` from the variable `builder`. If the file name is - relative, i.e., if it does not begin with a slash, it is made - absolute at parse time relative to the directory of the Nix - expression that contained it. For instance, if a Nix expression in - `/foo/bar/bla.nix` refers to `../xyzzy/fnord.nix`, the absolute path - is `/foo/xyzzy/fnord.nix`. - - If the first component of a path is a `~`, it is interpreted as if - the rest of the path were relative to the user's home directory. - e.g. `~/foo` would be equivalent to `/home/edolstra/foo` for a user - whose home directory is `/home/edolstra`. - - Paths can also be specified between angle brackets, e.g. - `<nixpkgs>`. This means that the directories listed in the - environment variable `NIX_PATH` will be searched for the given file - or directory name. - - Antiquotation is supported in any paths except those in angle brackets. - `./${foo}-${bar}.nix` is a more convenient way of writing - `./. + "/" + foo + "-" + bar + ".nix"` or `./. + "/${foo}-${bar}.nix"`. At - least one slash must appear *before* any antiquotations for this to be - recognized as a path. `a.${foo}/b.${bar}` is a syntactically valid division - operation. `./a.${foo}/b.${bar}` is a path. - - - *Booleans* with values `true` and `false`. - - - The null value, denoted as `null`. - -## Lists - -Lists are formed by enclosing a whitespace-separated list of values -between square brackets. For example, - -```nix -[ 123 ./foo.nix "abc" (f { x = y; }) ] -``` - -defines a list of four elements, the last being the result of a call to -the function `f`. Note that function calls have to be enclosed in -parentheses. If they had been omitted, e.g., - -```nix -[ 123 ./foo.nix "abc" f { x = y; } ] -``` - -the result would be a list of five elements, the fourth one being a -function and the fifth being a set. - -Note that lists are only lazy in values, and they are strict in length. - -## Sets - -Sets are really the core of the language, since ultimately the Nix -language is all about creating derivations, which are really just sets -of attributes to be passed to build scripts. - -Sets are just a list of name/value pairs (called *attributes*) enclosed -in curly brackets, where each value is an arbitrary expression -terminated by a semicolon. For example: - -```nix -{ x = 123; - text = "Hello"; - y = f { bla = 456; }; -} -``` - -This defines a set with attributes named `x`, `text`, `y`. The order of -the attributes is irrelevant. An attribute name may only occur once. - -Attributes can be selected from a set using the `.` operator. For -instance, - -```nix -{ a = "Foo"; b = "Bar"; }.a -``` - -evaluates to `"Foo"`. It is possible to provide a default value in an -attribute selection using the `or` keyword. For example, - -```nix -{ a = "Foo"; b = "Bar"; }.c or "Xyzzy" -``` - -will evaluate to `"Xyzzy"` because there is no `c` attribute in the set. - -You can use arbitrary double-quoted strings as attribute names: - -```nix -{ "foo ${bar}" = 123; "nix-1.0" = 456; }."foo ${bar}" -``` - -This will evaluate to `123` (Assuming `bar` is antiquotable). In the -case where an attribute name is just a single antiquotation, the quotes -can be dropped: - -```nix -{ foo = 123; }.${bar} or 456 -``` - -This will evaluate to `123` if `bar` evaluates to `"foo"` when coerced -to a string and `456` otherwise (again assuming `bar` is antiquotable). - -In the special case where an attribute name inside of a set declaration -evaluates to `null` (which is normally an error, as `null` is not -antiquotable), that attribute is simply not added to the set: - -```nix -{ ${if foo then "bar" else null} = true; } -``` - -This will evaluate to `{}` if `foo` evaluates to `false`. - -A set that has a `__functor` attribute whose value is callable (i.e. is -itself a function or a set with a `__functor` attribute whose value is -callable) can be applied as if it were a function, with the set itself -passed in first , e.g., - -```nix -let add = { __functor = self: x: x + self.x; }; - inc = add // { x = 1; }; -in inc 1 -``` - -evaluates to `2`. This can be used to attach metadata to a function -without the caller needing to treat it specially, or to implement a form -of object-oriented programming, for example. diff --git a/doc/manual/src/expressions/simple-building-testing.md b/doc/manual/src/expressions/simple-building-testing.md deleted file mode 100644 index 7f0d8f841..000000000 --- a/doc/manual/src/expressions/simple-building-testing.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,61 +0,0 @@ -# Building and Testing - -You can now try to build Hello. Of course, you could do `nix-env -f . -iA -hello`, but you may not want to install a possibly broken package just -yet. The best way to test the package is by using the command -`nix-build`, which builds a Nix expression and creates a symlink named -`result` in the current directory: - -```console -$ nix-build -A hello -building path `/nix/store/632d2b22514d...-hello-2.1.1' -hello-2.1.1/ -hello-2.1.1/intl/ -hello-2.1.1/intl/ChangeLog -... - -$ ls -l result -lrwxrwxrwx ... 2006-09-29 10:43 result -> /nix/store/632d2b22514d...-hello-2.1.1 - -$ ./result/bin/hello -Hello, world! -``` - -The `-A` option selects the `hello` attribute. This is faster than -using the symbolic package name specified by the `name` attribute -(which also happens to be `hello`) and is unambiguous (there can be -multiple packages with the symbolic name `hello`, but there can be -only one attribute in a set named `hello`). - -`nix-build` registers the `./result` symlink as a garbage collection -root, so unless and until you delete the `./result` symlink, the output -of the build will be safely kept on your system. You can use -`nix-build`’s `-o` switch to give the symlink another name. - -Nix has transactional semantics. Once a build finishes successfully, Nix -makes a note of this in its database: it registers that the path denoted -by `out` is now “valid”. If you try to build the derivation again, Nix -will see that the path is already valid and finish immediately. If a -build fails, either because it returns a non-zero exit code, because Nix -or the builder are killed, or because the machine crashes, then the -output paths will not be registered as valid. If you try to build the -derivation again, Nix will remove the output paths if they exist (e.g., -because the builder died half-way through `make -install`) and try again. Note that there is no “negative caching”: Nix -doesn't remember that a build failed, and so a failed build can always -be repeated. This is because Nix cannot distinguish between permanent -failures (e.g., a compiler error due to a syntax error in the source) -and transient failures (e.g., a disk full condition). - -Nix also performs locking. If you run multiple Nix builds -simultaneously, and they try to build the same derivation, the first Nix -instance that gets there will perform the build, while the others block -(or perform other derivations if available) until the build finishes: - -```console -$ nix-build -A hello -waiting for lock on `/nix/store/0h5b7hp8d4hqfrw8igvx97x1xawrjnac-hello-2.1.1x' -``` - -So it is always safe to run multiple instances of Nix in parallel (which -isn’t the case with, say, `make`). diff --git a/doc/manual/src/expressions/simple-expression.md b/doc/manual/src/expressions/simple-expression.md deleted file mode 100644 index 857f71b9b..000000000 --- a/doc/manual/src/expressions/simple-expression.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,23 +0,0 @@ -# A Simple Nix Expression - -This section shows how to add and test the [GNU Hello -package](http://www.gnu.org/software/hello/hello.html) to the Nix -Packages collection. Hello is a program that prints out the text “Hello, -world\!”. - -To add a package to the Nix Packages collection, you generally need to -do three things: - -1. Write a Nix expression for the package. This is a file that - describes all the inputs involved in building the package, such as - dependencies, sources, and so on. - -2. Write a *builder*. This is a shell script that builds the package - from the inputs. (In fact, it can be written in any language, but - typically it's a `bash` shell script.) - -3. Add the package to the file `pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix`. The - Nix expression written in the first step is a *function*; it - requires other packages in order to build it. In this step you put - it all together, i.e., you call the function with the right - arguments to build the actual package. diff --git a/doc/manual/src/expressions/writing-nix-expressions.md b/doc/manual/src/expressions/writing-nix-expressions.md deleted file mode 100644 index 5664108e7..000000000 --- a/doc/manual/src/expressions/writing-nix-expressions.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,12 +0,0 @@ -This chapter shows you how to write Nix expressions, which instruct Nix -how to build packages. It starts with a simple example (a Nix expression -for GNU Hello), and then moves on to a more in-depth look at the Nix -expression language. - -> **Note** -> -> This chapter is mostly about the Nix expression language. For more -> extensive information on adding packages to the Nix Packages -> collection (such as functions in the standard environment and coding -> conventions), please consult [its -> manual](http://nixos.org/nixpkgs/manual/). |