Check for required dependencies in makefile(s)

[aryoda]

While the build and run-time dependencies are documented in REAMDE of this Github repo they will not be checked in the configured makefiles (common/makefile and qt/makefile).

It would be great to extend the makefiles to check for missing dependencies since

• subsequent errors in unit tests are easier to relate back to its underlying reason (a missing dependency)
• issues can more easily be diagnosed when the OP starts the makefile of the installed version
• package maintainers can more easily recognize missing dependencies (without the need to re-read too much documentation for each new BiT version)

A warning should suffice.

The check should distinguish between build and run-time dependencies (where the latter is a subset of the former).

This feature request is a spin-off of the issue https://github.com/bit-team/backintime/issues/1342#issuecomment-1290139332.

[buhtz]

Do I understand it correct that checks like this should go into the configure file which is in fact a shell (sh/bash) script, right?

Is there a "magic" make command/tool to do checks like this or do we need to write shell functions from scratch for this?

[buhtz]

Setting this to "low" priority because the need of make-files will dissolve when migrated to state of the art python packaging recommendations (PEP621 and src-layout).

It will be a lot of work. But I'm not sure how much work this is and how much things it will break in the first place. I'll figuring this out and report back in a separate issue.

[buhtz]

I vote to close because the feature will become not necessary anymore when #1575 is fixed.

• 1575

[buhtz]

Closing this ticket based on the comment above. Feel free to reopen if the problem still exists. Thank you for your efforts. If you have any further questions, ideas or encounter any other issues, please don't hesitate to let us know.

Best regards,