Re: [OE-core][PATCH v2] boost: make Boost.Locale ICU backend optional

[Ross Burton <Ross.Burton@arm.com>]

On 29 Jul 2026, at 07:12, Shinu Chandran via lists.openembedded.org <shinucha=cisco.com@lists.openembedded.org> wrote:
> +BOOST_LOCALE_ICU_DEP = "${@bb.utils.contains('PACKAGECONFIG', 'locale', 'icu', '', d)}"
> +PACKAGECONFIG[locale] = ",,"
> +PACKAGECONFIG[locale-icu] = ",,${BOOST_LOCALE_ICU_DEP}"

The use of BOOST_LOCALE_ICU_DEP is overcomplicating things: if the distro turns on locale-icu but not locale then locale not enabling is entirely user error.  Just set the dependency directly.

> PACKAGECONFIG[graph_parallel] = ",,,boost-mpi mpich"
> PACKAGECONFIG[mpi] = ",,mpich"
> PACKAGECONFIG[python] = ",,python3"
> @@ -145,10 +147,13 @@ BJAM_TOOLS   = "--ignore-site-config \
> 
> # use PARALLEL_MAKE to speed up the build
> BOOST_PARALLEL_MAKE = "${@oe.utils.parallel_make_argument(d, '-j%d')}"
> +# --disable-icu below controls Boost.Regex ICU support. Boost.Locale ICU is
> +# handled independently with boost.locale.icu.

So there’s an option to enable/disable the use of ICU in boost.locale, which you’re exposing.

There’s also an option to enable/disable the use of ICU in boost.regex, which is not exposed.

What’s the rationale behind enabling it in some parts of boost but not others?  It seems like there should be an “icu” option which flips the toggles on all parts of boost that have an optional dependency on ICU.

> +BOOST_LOCALE_ICU_OPTS = "${@bb.utils.contains('PACKAGECONFIG', 'locale locale-icu', 'boost.locale.icu=on -sICU_PATH=${STAGING_EXECPREFIXDIR}', 'boost.locale.icu=off', d)}"

Instead of doing this, inline the argument into the PACKAGECONFIG[] statements and pass ${PACKAGECONFIG_CONFARGS} to BJAM_OPTS. This variable is generated at build time and contains the relevant enable/disable statements based on the selected configuration.

Ross