Why build INDEX ?

[Lowell Gilbert]

Adam McLaurin <adam.mclaurin at gmx.net> writes:

> Kris, maybe you can answer this definitively, once and for all. What are the
> precise reasons why INDEX is needed? Also, what is the practical difference
> between using 'make index' and 'portsdb -uU'?

'make index' and 'portsdb -U' update INDEX.  'portsdb -u' updates
INDEX.db.  INDEX is used by the base system ports utilities to handle
searches, some pkg_info options, and so on.  

> I've been told by a few people that INDEX is unnecessary unless you're building
> a package, which most end users will never do. However, I am suspicious that
> there are other reasons for INDEX, but I've never heard definitively what they
> are.

'pkg_version -v' and 'make search' are very useful, and depend on an
up-to-date INDEX file.

> I do know that building INDEX after cvsup allows using portversion instead of
> pkg_version, for a bit of a performance improvement. However, pkg_version isn't
> THAT slow, so I certainly don't think building INDEX (~30-40 minutes on my box)
> is worth it just for that.

This is completely incorrect.  Building INDEX.db is for portversion.
INDEX has to be updated for pkg_version to see the updated versions of
the ports skeletons (in other words, if you don't rebuild it,
'pkg_version -v won't know that your ports have been updated).

> Kris, want to clear my conscience here? Is it REALLY needed for the typical end
> user?

It's not essential, but some utilities will work with outdated information.