site-lib(5)							File Formats Manual						       site-lib(5)

NAME

       site-lib - [Location of package directories]

STANDARD LAYOUT

       ...somewhere in the filesystem hierarchy...
	  |
	  
	    site-lib
	    |
	    +- (optional) stublibs
	    +- (optional) postinstall
	    +- (optional) postremove
	    |
	    +- package1
	    |  |
	    |  +- META
	    |  +- archive files
	    |  +- interface definitions
	    |
	    +- package2
	    +
	    :
	    :
	    
	       packageN

DESCRIPTION

       Every  installation of "findlib" has a default location for package directories, which is normally a directory called "site-lib". The loca-
       tion can be set by the configuration variables path (used to look up packages), and destdir (used  to  install  new  packages);	see  find-
       lib.conf.

       The  name  of  a package is the name of the package directory. For example, if destdir=/usr/local/lib/ocaml/site-lib, the package p will be
       installed in the subdirectory /usr/local/lib/ocaml/site-lib/p. This subdirectory must contain the META file and all other  files  belonging
       to the package. Package names must not contain the '.' character.

       The variable destdir specifies the directory for new packages. You can only have one such directory at a time; but of course you can change
       this directory in findlib.conf. The command ocamlfind install puts new packages into this directory; it is recommended to use this  command
       for installation because it ensures that the directory layout is right.

       For searching packages, findlib uses (only) the variable path which may name several locations to look at.

       For  systems  with  DLL	support another directory may exist: stublibs.	 If present, findlib will install DLLs into this directory that is
       shared by all packages at the same site-lib location. Findlib remembers which DLL belongs to which package by special files with the suffix
       ".owner";  e.g.	for  the DLL "dllpcre.so" there is another file "dllpcre.so.owner" containing the string "pcre", so findlib knows that the
       package "pcre" owns this DLL. It is not possible that a DLL is owned by several packages.

       If the stublibs directory does not exist, DLLs are installed regularly in the package directories like any other file.

       For special needs, a postinstall and/or a postremove script may be installed in the site-lib directory. These  scripts  are  invoked  after
       installation or removal of a package, respectively.

ALTERNATE LAYOUT

       ...somewhere in the filesystem hierarchy...
	  |
	  
	    site-lib
	    |
	    +- (optional) stublibs
	    +- (optional) postinstall
	    +- (optional) postremove
	    |
	    +- package1
	    |  |
	    |  +- archive files
	    |  +- interface definitions
	    |
	    +- package2
	    +
	    :
	    :
	    
	 :     packageN
	 |
	 
	   metaregistry
	   |
	   +- META.package1
	   +- META.package2
	   +
	   :
	   
	      META.packageN

       This  is  an  alternate	directory  layout collecting all META files in one directory. You can configure this layout by setting path to the
       absolute location of metaregistry. Findlib recognizes that there are META files in this directory and uses them; it  is	not  necessary	to
       include site-lib into the path.

       In  order  to  work,  the  META files must contain a directory directive pointing to the corresponding package directory that resides below
       site-lib.

       The command ocamlfind install copes with this layout, too. The variable destdir must contain the absolute location  of  site-lib,  and  the
       variable  metadir  must contain the absolute location of metaregistry. Note that ocamlfind install automatically adds a directory directive
       to the META file, so you need not do it manually.

User Manual					       The findlib package manager for OCaml					       site-lib(5)