mesonbuild/meson

gnome module doesn't give a clear error on missing gobject-introspection-1.0.pc files

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#2,664 opened on Nov 20, 2017

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buggnomehelp wanted

Description

When running meson build on a a system without the libgirepository1.0-dev package installed, I got this very cryptic error:

Program g-ir-scanner found: YES (/usr/bin/g-ir-scanner)
Program g-ir-compiler found: YES (/usr/bin/g-ir-compiler)
Meson encountered an error in file subprojects/gstreamer/gst/meson.build, line 270, column 4:
gobject-introspection dependency was not found, gir cannot be generated.

I'd expect to have the error I found in the meson logs show up in the main config:

Determining dependency 'gobject-introspection-1.0' with pkg-config executable '/usr/bin/pkg-config'

Contributor guide

Tech stack
python
Domain
build systemdeveloper experience
Issue type
bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
2
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
Python programmingMeson build system basics
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
70
Research direction
Investigate Meson's gnome module (likely in mesonbuild/gnome.py) to understand how the dependency for gobject introspection 1.0 is resolved. The issue occurs when pkg config fails to find the .pc file, but the error is not propagated correctly. Look at the code around line 270 in subprojects/gstreamer/gst/meson.build? Actually the error location is in Meson's own code. The fix should ensure that when the dependency is not found, a clear error message is displayed instead of a generic one. Check if there are any existing PRs or comments on this issue.