install location problems

[Ralf Habacker]

Am 11.11.2011 17:01, schrieb Alexander Neundorf:
> On Friday 11 November 2011, Ralf Habacker wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> in the past the KDE on Windows port has been faced with install path
>> related issues caused by the fact that in opposite to unix/linx the end
>> user install location differs from the build time install location.
>> While several issue has been solved in the past, others may be still
>> present.
>>
>> Patrick von Reth for example reported shortly ago that there are
>> problems with dbus service files generated by the build system. The
>> generated install location points to the build install location, which
>> will not work on end users workstation.
>>
>> A few days ago Alexander Neundorf, the maintainer of the KDE
>> buildsystem, asked me if there are still such problems, so if anyone
>> know about open install location related problems, please report.
- On the kdepim meeting this year in osnabrück Andre Heinecke and I 
recognized a home dir problem between independent KDE installations on 
windows like kdepim setup installer and community distribution. 
Currently independent installations depends on the same home dir, which 
may produce unwanted interferences  and/or conflicts
- in ksyscoca database (affects system settings modules)
- application settings

- There is a kde-runtime windows platform config module, which sets 
install root depending registry keys 
https://projects.kde.org/projects/kde/kde-runtime/repository/revisions/master/show/platforms/win/config 


- There is a kde-runtime system context menu module, which sets insstall 
root depending registry keys 
https://projects.kde.org/projects/kde/kde-runtime/repository/revisions/master/show/platforms/win/contextmenu. 



Currently people can use environment variables to define a different 
home dir, but this do not help gui orientated os like windows. A 
solution will be to have a kind of use-install-root-related-home-dir. 
This would be extremly helpfull with usb-stick installations, where the 
home dir(s) are also on the usb stick.
> Please not only about the places where they are still open, but also those
> places where it has been already fixed/worked around/hacked to make it work
> somehow.
 From my memory  these are:

- dbus daemon determines the location of config files from the location 
of the dbus executable  
http://cgit.freedesktop.org/dbus/dbus/tree/dbus/dbus-sysdeps-win.c#n3182

- dbus provides an install root limited session bus  
http://dbus.freedesktop.org/doc/dbus-specification.html#meta-transports-autolaunch

- dbus is going to determine the location of executables in dbus service 
files from the location of the dbus-daemon executable (use 
BIN_INSTALL_DIR as service executable path,  dbus patch required)

- qt determines several dirs base from a dedicated qt.conf  relative to 
the install root  
https://projects.kde.org/projects/kdesupport/emerge/repository/revisions/master
/entry/portage/libs/qt/qt.conf

- kde4-config determine the install root by the location of the kdecore 
shared library - 
https://projects.kde.org/projects/kde/kdelibs/repository/revisions/master/entry/kdecore/kernel/kkernel_win.cpp#L97


I'm not sure if this is all.

Regards
  Ralf