Thanks for the explanation...


> No, the -pkg.el file is generated by ELPA using the information from the
> main file.  There is no need to write it yourself, in fact it is a waste
> effort since it will be overwritten anyway.  Package-vc does the same
> btw.
>

I was trying to create a multi-file package, but before submitting it to
elpa-devel, I was testing locally if I did things correctly. So I defined a
'local archive' in a directory, then uploaded the .tar file to that
directory/archive, and then checked if installing worked. When doing
this, it seemed necessary to create the -pkg.el file manually.

Anyway, I understand things better now.

Thanks again!

On Tue, 21 Mar 2023 at 10:35, Philip Kaludercic <philipk@posteo.net> wrote:

> dalanicolai <dalanicolai@gmail.com> writes:
>
> > Ah okay, I see.
> >
> > So I assume that this means that as a function 'define-package' was
> > redundant, but we should still include a 'define-package' in the
> > -pkg.el file of a multi file package?
>
> No, the -pkg.el file is generated by ELPA using the information from the
> main file.  There is no need to write it yourself, in fact it is a waste
> effort since it will be overwritten anyway.  Package-vc does the same
> btw.
>
> > The initial comment of 'package.el' mentions that the -pkg.el file
> > should consist of 'a call to' define-package. I would say this
> > formulation is somewhat confusing/misleading then?
>
> You are right, that comment is outdated and should be revised.
>
> > Or is the -pkg.el file just outdated? And did I miss the news about it?
>
> No, the file is still required because it contains the package
> descriptor.  The only thing that changed is that instead of the contents
> being evaluated as code, they are read in and processed manually.
> Without that file, you will notice that `package-load-descriptor'
> wouldn't add the package to `package-alist', which in turn means that
> `package--activate-all' wouldn't activate it.
>
> > On Mon, 20 Mar 2023 at 20:32, Philip Kaludercic <philipk@posteo.net>
> wrote:
> >
> >> Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:
> >>
> >> >> From: dalanicolai <dalanicolai@gmail.com>
> >> >> Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2023 17:21:04 +0100
> >> >>
> >> >> Can I ask why 'define-package' was marked obsolete?
> >> >
> >> > It never did anything useful.  Its original implementation just
> >> > signaled an error.
> >>
> >> I just looked up the definition from when package.el was merged[0], and
> it
> >> did stuff, mainly modifying `package-alist'.
> >>
> >> [0]
> >>
> https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/emacs.git/tree/lisp/emacs-lisp/package.el?id=44198b6ee97bcb0ac88a5cadd1bf9b62048d0156#n513
> >>
> >> --
> >> Philip Kaludercic
> >>
>