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authorScott Rifenbark <srifenbark@gmail.com>2016-07-29 14:08:25 -0700
committerRichard Purdie <richard.purdie@linuxfoundation.org>2016-08-02 15:21:01 +0100
commitfc47bb99dbc1972dfb3a83c0f4c479963da64bcc (patch)
tree4ce9ca34f1671c5c2c798a305e7a9ad18df6b581 /doc
parent8006da3f229d0227215ccd59cd273edacf72f9ce (diff)
downloadbitbake-fc47bb99dbc1972dfb3a83c0f4c479963da64bcc.tar.gz
bitbake-user-manual: Updated the PROVIDES variable
Fixes [YOCTO #10011] Added paragraphs near the end to describe the role of virtual targets. Signed-off-by: Scott Rifenbark <srifenbark@gmail.com>
Diffstat (limited to 'doc')
-rw-r--r--doc/bitbake-user-manual/bitbake-user-manual-ref-variables.xml21
1 files changed, 21 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/doc/bitbake-user-manual/bitbake-user-manual-ref-variables.xml b/doc/bitbake-user-manual/bitbake-user-manual-ref-variables.xml
index a152218e3..dcf3ab3dd 100644
--- a/doc/bitbake-user-manual/bitbake-user-manual-ref-variables.xml
+++ b/doc/bitbake-user-manual/bitbake-user-manual-ref-variables.xml
@@ -1976,6 +1976,27 @@
The <filename>PROVIDES</filename> statement results in
the "libav" recipe also being known as "libpostproc".
</para>
+
+ <para>
+ In addition to providing recipes under alternate names,
+ the <filename>PROVIDES</filename> mechanism is also used
+ to implement virtual targets.
+ A virtual target is a name that corresponds to some
+ particular functionality (e.g. a Linux kernel).
+ Recipes that provide the functionality in question list the
+ virtual target in <filename>PROVIDES</filename>.
+ Recipes that depend on the functionality in question can
+ include the virtual target in
+ <link linkend='var-DEPENDS'><filename>DEPENDS</filename></link>
+ to leave the choice of provider open.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Conventionally, virtual targets have names on the form
+ "virtual/function" (e.g. "virtual/kernel").
+ The slash is simply part of the name and has no
+ syntactical significance.
+ </para>
</glossdef>
</glossentry>