[MLton] question about bin/make-pdf-guide

[Matthew Fluet]

>> A normal build (whether from a source package or from an SVN
>> checkout) does not perform grab-wiki, so I would think that we can
>> presume that a source package has stamped wiki pages with the
>> packaging date.
>
> Yes, for stable releases.  What I am more concerned about is packages
> built from the SVN (e.g. experimental packages).  For those, we use
> the version of the docs in the repository from the last time grab-wiki
> was run.
>
> Where this relates to Adam's question is in deciding how to
> instantiate the $version in make-pdf-guide.  You proposed using
> MLTONVERSION, which is instantiated at source-package build time.  I
> think it may be better to use the version corresponding to the run of
> grab-wiki.  For stable releases, those will both be the release
> number.  For packages built in between releases, using the grab-wiki
> version will ensure consistency between the date stamp on each page of
> the docs and the date stamp on the pdf MLton Guide cover.

Fair enough.

> One way to implement my proposal would be for grab-wiki to store the 
> version in a file (VERSION) in doc/guide.  Then, make-pdf-guide would 
> use that to set its $version.  It seems to me like that's the right 
> dependence.

I'd say have grab-wiki replace/update the version variable directly in 
make-pdf-guide.  If somebody is running grab-wiki, then they are commiting 
to the SVN repository anyways; unless you forsee other uses of the VERSION 
file.