An update on this bug: I just sent this mail to debian-deity. It looks like this is either a bug or a deficiency in libapt; I am currently awaiting feedback on which one it is.
Daniel ----- Forwarded message from Daniel Burrows <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ----- From: Daniel Burrows <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: MarkInstall and AutoInst To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Thu, 4 Mar 2004 13:13:09 -0500 This is something that came up in an aptitude bug report recently. The behavior of MarkInstall in one corner case seems odd to me, and I thought I should bring it up here. Say you have packages A, B, C, dependencies A->B and B->C. All three are installed, but have been marked for removal (MarkDelete). Now, call MarkInstall on A with AutoInst=true. I would expect that B and C would automatically be kept to satisfy the dependencies, but this does not occur: A is installed, and B *is* kept, but C is left in the Delete state, resulting in B being InstBroken. Calling MarkInstall on B (again with AutoInst=true) installs its immediate dependencies (C in this case). For longer dependency chains, the pattern continues: the dependencies of C, for instance, remain in the Delete state until C is marked for installation. It looks to me like the culprit is lines 612-614 of depcache.cc: after calling MarkKeep, the routine immediately returns rather than recursively checking the dependencies of the package. There are a number of plausible ways to approach this, assuming my diagnosis is correct and that the current behavior is not intentional; I have attached an entirely untested patch that demonstrates one approach. Daniel -- /-------------------- Daniel Burrows <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> -------------------\ | "Witches and pickles went together like...she hesitated at | | the stomach-curdling addition of peaches and cream, and | | mentally substituted 'things that went together very well'" | | -- Terry Pratchett | \----------------- The Turtle Moves! -- http://www.lspace.org ----------------/ --- apt-pkg/depcache.cc.old 2004-03-04 13:08:36.000000000 -0500 +++ apt-pkg/depcache.cc 2004-03-04 13:09:43.000000000 -0500 @@ -608,35 +608,37 @@ P.iFlags &= ~AutoKept; if (P.InstBroken() == false && (P.Mode == ModeInstall || P.CandidateVer == (Version *)Pkg.CurrentVer())) - { - if (P.CandidateVer == (Version *)Pkg.CurrentVer() && P.InstallVer == 0) + { + if (P.CandidateVer == (Version *)Pkg.CurrentVer() && P.InstallVer == 0) MarkKeep(Pkg); - return; - } - - // See if there is even any possible instalation candidate - if (P.CandidateVer == 0) - return; - - // We dont even try to install virtual packages.. - if (Pkg->VersionList == 0) - return; - - /* Target the candidate version and remove the autoflag. We reset the - autoflag below if this was called recursively. Otherwise the user - should have the ability to de-auto a package by changing its state */ - RemoveSizes(Pkg); - RemoveStates(Pkg); - - P.Mode = ModeInstall; - P.InstallVer = P.CandidateVer; - P.Flags &= ~Flag::Auto; - if (P.CandidateVer == (Version *)Pkg.CurrentVer()) - P.Mode = ModeKeep; + // return; + } + else + { + // See if there is even any possible instalation candidate + if (P.CandidateVer == 0) + return; + + // We dont even try to install virtual packages.. + if (Pkg->VersionList == 0) + return; + + /* Target the candidate version and remove the autoflag. We reset the + autoflag below if this was called recursively. Otherwise the user + should have the ability to de-auto a package by changing its state */ + RemoveSizes(Pkg); + RemoveStates(Pkg); - AddStates(Pkg); - Update(Pkg); - AddSizes(Pkg); + P.Mode = ModeInstall; + P.InstallVer = P.CandidateVer; + P.Flags &= ~Flag::Auto; + if (P.CandidateVer == (Version *)Pkg.CurrentVer()) + P.Mode = ModeKeep; + + AddStates(Pkg); + Update(Pkg); + AddSizes(Pkg); + } if (AutoInst == false) return; ----- End forwarded message ----- -- /-------------------- Daniel Burrows <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> -------------------\ | Put no trust in cryptic comments. | \------------- Got APT? -- Debian GNU/Linux http://www.debian.org ------------/
