[OE-core] setting EXTRA_IMAGE_FEATURES explicitly in .bb file can screw things up

[Robert P. J. Day]

On Sat, 7 Jul 2012, Robert P. J. Day wrote:

>   a while back, i whined about the inconsistent usage of
> EXTRA_IMAGE_FEATURES, like this as a snippet:
>
> meta/recipes-sato/images/core-image-sato-sdk.bb:EXTRA_IMAGE_FEATURES += "tools-debug tools-profile tools-testapps debug-tweaks"
> meta/recipes-rt/images/core-image-rt-sdk.bb:EXTRA_IMAGE_FEATURES += "tools-debug tools-profile tools-testapps debug-tweaks"
> meta/recipes-extended/images/core-image-lsb-sdk.bb:EXTRA_IMAGE_FEATURES = "tools-debug tools-profile tools-testapps debug-tweaks"
>
> notice the mixing of "+=" and "=", which seems messy.  then i ran
> across this in core-image-lsb-sdk.bb:
>
> IMAGE_FEATURES += "apps-console-core tools-sdk dev-pkgs ssh-server-openssh"
> EXTRA_IMAGE_FEATURES = "tools-debug tools-profile tools-testapps debug-tweaks"
>
>   that *can't* be right, can it?  the explicit setting of
> EXTRA_IMAGE_FEATURES in that recipe file will override any such
> setting in one's local.conf file, won't it?  and that's how the
> current manual *advises* how to add more features through your
> local.conf.
>
>   i tested this target with a standard local.conf, and checked the
> environment to see:
>
> ... snip ...
> IMAGE_FEATURES="apps-console-core debug-tweaks tools-sdk
> tools-testapps dev-pkgs tools-profile tools-debug ssh-server-openssh"
>
> which looks fine according to the .bb file.
>
>   but if i add the following to my local.conf file (as the manual
> suggests i do to add another feature):
>
> EXTRA_IMAGE_FEATURES = "nfs-server"
>
> i see *no* difference in the environment.  hasn't the setting in the
> .bb file overridden the one in my local.conf?
>
>   i *can* get nfs-server added to my list of features with
> (predictably):
>
> IMAGE_FEATURES += "nfs-server"
>
> but that doesn't strike me as a proper solution and will certainly
> come as an unpleasant surprise to someone eventually.

  i'm still curious if this is a potential issue, or whether i'm just
misreading/misunderstanding.  thoughts?

rday

-- 

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Robert P. J. Day                                 Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA
                        http://crashcourse.ca

Twitter:                                       http://twitter.com/rpjday
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