doc: Mention quoting and keywords.

Suggested by Vincent Legoll <vincent.legoll@gmail.com>.

* doc/guix.texi (Defining Packages): Remove quasiquote in 'arguments'
example.  Mention quoting and keywords, with references to Guile's
manual.
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Ludovic Courtès 2016-07-22 14:39:29 +02:00
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@ -2387,7 +2387,7 @@ package looks like this:
(base32
"0ssi1wpaf7plaswqqjwigppsg5fyh99vdlb9kzl7c9lng89ndq1i"))))
(build-system gnu-build-system)
(arguments `(#:configure-flags '("--enable-silent-rules")))
(arguments '(#:configure-flags '("--enable-silent-rules")))
(inputs `(("gawk" ,gawk)))
(synopsis "Hello, GNU world: An example GNU package")
(description "Guess what GNU Hello prints!")
@ -2452,12 +2452,44 @@ The @code{arguments} field specifies options for the build system
@var{gnu-build-system} as a request run @file{configure} with the
@code{--enable-silent-rules} flag.
@cindex quote
@cindex quoting
@findex '
@findex quote
What about these quote (@code{'}) characters? They are Scheme syntax to
introduce a literal list; @code{'} is synonymous with @code{quote}.
@xref{Expression Syntax, quoting,, guile, GNU Guile Reference Manual},
for details. Here the value of the @code{arguments} field is a list of
arguments passed to the build system down the road, as with @code{apply}
(@pxref{Fly Evaluation, @code{apply},, guile, GNU Guile Reference
Manual}).
The hash-colon (@code{#:}) sequence defines a Scheme @dfn{keyword}
(@pxref{Keywords,,, guile, GNU Guile Reference Manual}), and
@code{#:configure-flags} is a keyword used to pass a keyword argument
to the build system (@pxref{Coding With Keywords,,, guile, GNU Guile
Reference Manual}).
@item
The @code{inputs} field specifies inputs to the build process---i.e.,
build-time or run-time dependencies of the package. Here, we define an
input called @code{"gawk"} whose value is that of the @var{gawk}
variable; @var{gawk} is itself bound to a @code{<package>} object.
@cindex backquote (quasiquote)
@findex `
@findex quasiquote
@cindex comma (unquote)
@findex ,
@findex unquote
@findex ,@@
@findex unquote-splicing
Again, @code{`} (a backquote, synonymous with @code{quasiquote}) allows
us to introduce a literal list in the @code{inputs} field, while
@code{,} (a comma, synonymous with @code{unquote}) allows us to insert a
value in that list (@pxref{Expression Syntax, unquote,, guile, GNU Guile
Reference Manual}).
Note that GCC, Coreutils, Bash, and other essential tools do not need to
be specified as inputs here. Instead, @var{gnu-build-system} takes care
of ensuring that they are present (@pxref{Build Systems}).