pyqtconfig is deprecated (and unavailable on some distributions)

[bchretien]

sip_configure.py currently relies on pyqtconfig which is deprecated since pyqt4 4.10 (cf. the official documentation), and is likely to be removed (unless pyqt4 was packaged with the legacy script, more information here).

This was detected while trying to compile rviz on Arch Linux with pyqt4 4.11 (cf. ros-visualization/rviz#785), since pyqtconfig is no longer available (cf. this bug report).

This update could go to an indigo branch, based on the pyqt4 versions of targeted Ubuntu distributions.

[dirk-thomas]

Please consider providing a pull request to migrate the code to non-deprecated API. I might not find time for this in the near future.

[dirk-thomas]

It looks like that Ubuntu ships with 4.11 in Vivid but it does not have that problem. It is likely still build with configure.py instead of the new configure-ng.py.

I took a closer look to the PR and am a bit worried about all the hard coded values, especially https://github.com/ros-visualization/python_qt_binding/pull/15/files#diff-eba1f022829502c99827bbf06f688d22R25. Therefore I have create a minimal patch which makes it work for me on Vivid (forcing the pyqtconfig module not to be available).

The new branch pyqtconfig contains a single commit with the proposed changes: e82f4b7 @bchretien Could you please check if that patch also works for you on Arch and comment here about the results?

[bchretien]

@dirk-thomas Thanks for looking into this. Here is what I get when I build rviz with this patch applied:

[ 71%] Generating view_controllers/moc_fps_view_controller.cxx
Scanning dependencies of target default_plugin
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/opt/ros/indigo/share/python_qt_binding/cmake/sip_configure.py", line 115, in <module>
    makefile.generate()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sipconfig.py", line 1234, in generate
    self.ready()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sipconfig.py", line 1229, in ready
    self.finalise()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sipconfig.py", line 1922, in finalise
    ModuleMakefile.finalise(self)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sipconfig.py", line 1677, in finalise
    Makefile.finalise(self)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sipconfig.py", line 532, in finalise
    libs.extend(self._dependent_libs(l))
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sipconfig.py", line 1080, in _dependent_libs
    prl_name = os.path.join(self.config.qt_lib_dir, "lib" + clib + ".prl")
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sipconfig.py", line 191, in __getattr__
    raise AttributeError("\"%s\" is not a valid configuration value or user option" % name)
AttributeError: "qt_lib_dir" is not a valid configuration value or user option
src/python_bindings/sip/CMakeFiles/librviz_sip.dir/build.make:88: recipe for target 'devel/bin/sip/rviz_sip/Makefile' failed
make[2]: *** [devel/bin/sip/rviz_sip/Makefile] Error 1
CMakeFiles/Makefile2:1989: recipe for target 'src/python_bindings/sip/CMakeFiles/librviz_sip.dir/all' failed
make[1]: *** [src/python_bindings/sip/CMakeFiles/librviz_sip.dir/all] Error 2
make[1]: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs....

I guess this extra entry in the dictionary would solve this. Was there any particular reason for only keeping the qt_dir entry when loading data from the qtconfig dictionary?

[dirk-thomas]

Thanks for testing so quick. I only tried to build rqt on-top. I will add the entry you mentioned and try again with rviz.

[dirk-thomas]

I added the extra entry (as well asthe other qtconfig directories). A local rviz build of Jade passed. Therefore I have created a new PR with the patch: #21.

I will already go ahead and merge and release it to move fast for Jade. Please give it another try on Arch to ensure its working for you as well. Thank you.