Arch Linux

timm

Member

From: Wisconsin

Registered: 2004-02-25

Posts: 417

What does "this file must be sourced" mean? [Solved]

I'm working to install a program from source (no arch package that does what I need) and it requires qt4.  It can't find the installation that arch does, so it provides a way to build qt4 and install it in a temporary location so you can build the main package.  It can then be deleted.

The qt build includes a file named "qt4-paths".  The instructions say

If you are going to build Qt4 using depkgs-qt, you must source the qt4-paths file included in the package prior to building Bacula. Please read the INSTALL file for more details.

INSTALL doesn't answer my question, apparently this is knowledge that is presumed.

What do I do to "source" this file?

[bump]

For some reason, I can never google the correct 'magic words" until after I post a question.  Thereupon, the correct query immediatly snaps into my brain ...

The bash howto says: 

When a file is sourced (by typing either source filename or . filename at the command line), the lines of code in the file are executed as if they were printed at the command line. This is particularly useful with complex prompts, to allow them to be stored in files and called up by sourcing the file they are in.

Last edited by timm (2009-08-23 18:01:16)

daf666

Member

Registered: 2007-04-08

Posts: 470

Website

Re: What does "this file must be sourced" mean? [Solved]

'source' usually means 'run', like if there is a file which is not an executable you can do
# source my_file
or
# . my_file