Re: includes inside squid.conf

On 2 Apr 2002, at 3:19, Henrik Nordstrom <hno@squid-cache.org> wrote:

> On Tuesday 02 April 2002 01:39, Alex Rousskov wrote:
>
> > A simpler way is to NOT have optional includes.
>
> And even simpler is not to have includes at all, and refer to a god
> pre-processor if one wants includes..
...
> After careful consideration I think I will withdraw my support for
> include files outside what we already have. As Alex pointed out, if
> we start to embark on this path we do not know where we will end up,
> and as there already exists very good tools for the job I see no
> reason why to implement yet another one. Better to spend some small
> amount of time to document how to use any of the existing
> pre-processors such as m4 for the job.

 Guys, plz don't sweep from one extreme to another. Basic includes is
 very simple way to organise common options for many squids. Its so
 rudimentary that even thinking of some external tools makes me puzzled.

 Sure, we can go further and say that it would be simpler to NOT have
 any config parser at all and precompile all options we'd need, and
 have some good pre-processor that recompiles squid based on templates.
 And best-known preprocessor is human, of course.

 Its all about balance between convenience and needless complexity
 in the end.

 Of course we can do "whatever" with some fancy scripting and generate
 squid.conf whenever needed. Its just inconvenient way to solve very
 simple matters. Why would we need to invent some new syntax for
 templates for something as simple as sharing refresh_patterns or
 ACL definitions?
 Of course there are good tools like m4, but why on earth would
 one user want to get familiar with it? What about portability?

 We junked optional includes, ok. We junked strict config reuse
 detection, ok, now we are on the verge of junking whole idea of
 includes as well? Common, being userfriendly can't be that bad.

 OK, how about limiting recursion depth to 1? No issues with loops,
 included parts can be generated or synced the way whoever likes,
 but people who dislike fancy preprocessors still can make quick
 use of includes to organize their configs.

------------------------------------
 Andres Kroonmaa <andre@online.ee>
 CTO, Microlink Online
 Tel: 6501 731, Fax: 6501 725
 Pärnu mnt. 158, Tallinn,
 11317 Estonia
Received on Tue Apr 02 2002 - 06:32:04 MST