Port options types

[freethread]

For some ports, there are options with a strange syntax. I guess they act like a sort of 'radio buttons' instead of 'check buttons'. I'm not sure, so this post. Upgrading www/libxul its option dialog is this

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Options for libxul 10.0.7                                          │
│ ┌────↑(-)────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │[ ] DEBUG            Install debug symbols                      │ │
│ │[ ] GNOME            GNOME desktop environment support          │ │
│ │[ ] LIBPROXY         Proxy support via libproxy                 │ │
│ │[*] LOGGING          Additional log messages                    │ │
│ │[ ] OPTIMIZED_CFLAGS Use extra compiler optimizations           │ │
│ │[ ] GCONF            M(GNOME): GConf configuration backend suppo│ │
│ │[ ] GIO              M(GNOME): GIO for file I/O                 │ │
│ │[ ] GNOMEUI          M(GNOME): libgnomeui support module        │ │
│ │[ ] GNOMEVFS2        M(GNOME): GnomeVFS2 support                │ │
│ │[ ] ALSA             S(AUDIO): ALSA audio architecture support  │ │
│ │[*] OSS              S(AUDIO): Open Sound System support        │ │
│ │[ ] PULSEAUDIO       S(AUDIO): PulseAudio sound server support  │ │
│ │[*] GTK2             S(TOOLKIT): GTK+ 2 GUI toolkit support     │ │
│ │[ ] QT4              S(TOOLKIT): Qt 4 toolkit support           │ │
│ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────100%────┘ │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                   <  OK  >          <Cancel>                       │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

The last 9 options seems be grouped with labels (GNOME), (AUDIO) and (TOOLKIT) with a 'M' or 'S' prefix (?). It's not the first time I see that and I did try to check options in the same group and the installation exited with an error about wrong option set (sometimes I don't exactly know what I'm doing).

Anyone can explain it or lead me to a man page or something. Thanks.

 

[SirDice]

They are part of the new option structure. The M means you can select Multiple options, the S means a Single option must be chosen.

 

[freethread]

Thank you very much Sir, now it's more clear.

 

[SirDice]

Yes, it should be much clearer now compared to the old system. People regularly picked conflicting or incompatible options. Something you didn't notice until you got build errors. The new system should detect incompatible options and warn you about it before starting the actual build process.