Clean up handling of path-related environment variables

doc/guides/spatial/guide_spatially_structured_networks.rst

@@ -1521,14 +1521,16 @@ Manual. The basic steps required to get started are:
 
    .. code:: bash
 
-      cmake -Dwith-nest=${NEST_INSTALL_DIR}/bin/nest-config ../mm_src
-
-4. MyModule will then be installed to ``${NEST_INSTALL_DIR}``. This
-   ensures that NEST will be able to find initializing SLI files for the
-   module. You should not use the ``--prefix`` to select a different
-   installation destination. If you do, you must make sure to use
-   addpath in SLI before loading the module to ensure that NEST will
-   find the SLI initialization file for your module.
+      cmake -Dwith-nest=${NEST_INSTALL_PREFIX}/bin/nest-config ../mm_src
+
+4. MyModule will be installed under ``NEST_INSTALL_PREFIX``. This
+   ensures that NEST will be able to find the module and initializing SLI
+   files for the module. You should not use the ``-DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX``
+   to select a different installation destination. If you do, you must make
+   sure to use ``addpath`` in SLI before loading the module to let NEST
+   find the SLI initialization file for your module. You also might have
+   to set ``LD_LIBRARY_PATH`` (on Linux) or ``DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH`` (on macOS)``
+   for the module itself to be found.
 
 5. Compile and install.
 

doc/installation/linux_install.rst

@@ -139,19 +139,9 @@ The following variables are set in ``nest_vars.sh``:
 
    * - Variable
      - Description
-   * - ``NEST_INSTALL_DIR``
-     - NEST installation directory. Contains ``bin``, ``lib``, etc.
-   * - ``NEST_DATA_DIR``	
-     - NEST finds standard *.sli files in ``$NEST_DATA_DIR/sli``
-   * - ``NEST_DOC_DIR``
-     - NEST built-in online help finds help files in ``$NEST_DOC_DIR/help``
-   * - ``NEST_PYTHON_PREFIX``
-     - The path where the PyNEST bindings are installed.
    * - ``PYTHONPATH``
      - Search path for non-standard Python module locations. Will be newly set or prepended to the already existing variable if it is already set.
    * - ``PATH``
      - Search path for binaries. Will be newly set or prepended to the already existing variable if it is already set.
-   * - ``LD_LIBRARY_PATH``
-     - Search path for shared objects (*.so files). Note: called ``DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH`` on MacOS. Will be newly set or prepended to the already existing variable if it is already set.
 
 If your operating system does not find the ``nest`` executable or if Python does not find the ``nest`` module, your path variables may not be set correctly. This may also be the case if Python cannot load the ``nest`` module due to missing or incompatible libraries.

extras/nest-config.in

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #! /bin/sh
 
-prefix=${NEST_INSTALL_DIR:-@CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX@}
+prefix="@CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX@"
 exec_prefix=${prefix}
 
 usage()

extras/nest_vars.sh.in

@@ -1,26 +1,7 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
-# NEST is installed here. When you relocate NEST, change this variable.
-export NEST_INSTALL_DIR="@CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX@"
+# Make PyNEST available by prepending its path to PYTHONPATH in a safe way.
+export PYTHONPATH="@CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX@/@PYEXECDIR@${PYTHONPATH:+:$PYTHONPATH}"
 
-# NEST finds standard *.sli files $NEST_DATA_DIR/sli
-export NEST_DATA_DIR="${NEST_INSTALL_DIR}/@CMAKE_INSTALL_DATADIR@"
-
-# NEST finds help files $NEST_DOC_DIR/help
-export NEST_DOC_DIR="${NEST_INSTALL_DIR}/@CMAKE_INSTALL_DOCDIR@"
-
-# The path in which NEST dynamic libraries are found. Works also if $(DY)LD_LIBRARY_PATH is undefined.
-if [ "`uname`" = "Darwin" ]; then
-    export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH="$NEST_INSTALL_DIR/@CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR@/nest"${DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH:+:$DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH}
-else
-    export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$NEST_INSTALL_DIR/@CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR@/nest"${LD_LIBRARY_PATH:+:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH}
-fi
-
-# The path where the PyNEST bindings are installed.
-export NEST_PYTHON_PREFIX="${NEST_INSTALL_DIR}/@PYEXECDIR@"
-
-# Prepend NEST to PYTHONPATH. Works also if $PYTHONPATH is undefined.
-export PYTHONPATH="$NEST_PYTHON_PREFIX${PYTHONPATH:+:$PYTHONPATH}"
-
-# Make nest/sli/... executables visible.
-export PATH="${NEST_INSTALL_DIR}/bin:${PATH}"
+# Make NEST executables available by prepending their path to PATH.
+export PATH="@CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX@/@CMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR@:${PATH}"

nestkernel/rng_manager.cpp

@@ -241,9 +241,6 @@ nest::RNGManager::create_rngs_()
 void
 nest::RNGManager::create_grng_()
 {
-  // create new grng
-  LOG( M_INFO, "Network::create_grng_", "Creating new default global RNG" );
-
 // create default RNG with default seed
 #ifdef HAVE_GSL
   grng_ = librandom::RngPtr( new librandom::GslRandomGen( gsl_rng_knuthran2002, librandom::RandomGen::DefaultSeed ) );

pynest/nest/lib/hl_api_helper.py

@@ -444,12 +444,6 @@ def show_help_with_pager(hlpobj, pager=None):
         pager to use, False if you want to display help using print().
     """
 
-    if 'NEST_INSTALL_DIR' not in os.environ:
-        print(
-            'NEST help needs to know where NEST is installed.'
-            'Please source nest_vars.sh or define NEST_INSTALL_DIR manually.')
-        return
-
     # check that help is available
     objf = get_help_filepath(hlpobj)
     if objf is None:

pynest/nest/lib/hl_api_info.py

@@ -88,14 +88,8 @@ def helpdesk():
 
     """
 
-    if 'NEST_DOC_DIR' not in os.environ:
-        print(
-            'NEST help needs to know where NEST is installed.'
-            'Please source nest_vars.sh or define NEST_DOC_DIR manually.')
-        return
-
-    helpfile = os.path.join(os.environ['NEST_DOC_DIR'], 'help',
-                            'helpindex.html')
+    nestdocdir = sli_func("statusdict/prgdocdir ::")
+    helpfile = os.path.join(nestdocdir, 'help', 'helpindex.html')
 
     # Under Windows systems webbrowser.open is incomplete
     # See <https://bugs.python.org/issue8232>

sli/slistartup.cc

@@ -103,12 +103,6 @@ true
 SLI ] (NONEXISTING) getenv =
 false
 
-SLI ] (NEST_DATA_DIR) getenv
-SLI [2] { (Using root path: )  =only = }
-SLI [3] { (Warning: $NEST_DATA_DIR undefined) =}
-SLI [4] ifelse
-Using root path: /home/gewaltig/nest/release/release
-
 SLI ] (/home) getenv
 false
 
@@ -209,7 +203,7 @@ SLIStartup::checkenvpath( std::string const& envvar, SLIInterpreter* i, std::str
 SLIStartup::SLIStartup( int argc, char** argv )
   : startupfilename( "sli-init.sli" )
   , slilibpath( "/sli" )
-  , slihomepath( NEST_INSTALL_PREFIX "/" NEST_INSTALL_DATADIR )
+  , slilibdir( NEST_INSTALL_PREFIX "/" NEST_INSTALL_DATADIR )
   , slidocdir( NEST_INSTALL_PREFIX "/" NEST_INSTALL_DOCDIR )
   , sliprefix( NEST_INSTALL_PREFIX )
   , verbosity_( SLIInterpreter::M_INFO ) // default verbosity level
@@ -340,43 +334,13 @@ SLIStartup::init( SLIInterpreter* i )
   i->createcommand( getenv_name, &getenvfunction );
   std::string fname;
 
-  // Check for supplied NEST_DATA_DIR
-  std::string slihomepath_env = checkenvpath( "NEST_DATA_DIR", i, slihomepath );
-  if ( slihomepath_env != "" )
-  {
-    slihomepath = slihomepath_env; // absolute path & directory exists
-    i->message(
-      SLIInterpreter::M_DEBUG, "SLIStartup", String::compose( "Using NEST_DATA_DIR=%1", slihomepath ).c_str() );
-  }
-
-  // check for supplied NEST_DOC_DIR
-  std::string slidocdir_env = checkenvpath( "NEST_DOC_DIR", i, slidocdir );
-  if ( slidocdir_env != "" )
-  {
-    slidocdir = slidocdir_env; // absolute path & directory exists
-    i->message( SLIInterpreter::M_DEBUG, "SLIStartup", String::compose( "Using NEST_DOC_DIR=%1", slidocdir ).c_str() );
-  }
-
-  // check for supplied NEST_INSTALL_DIR
-  std::string sliprefix_env = checkenvpath( "NEST_INSTALL_DIR", i, sliprefix );
-  if ( sliprefix_env != "" )
-  {
-    sliprefix = sliprefix_env; // absolute path & directory exists
-    i->message(
-      SLIInterpreter::M_DEBUG, "SLIStartup", String::compose( "Using NEST_INSTALL_DIR=%1", sliprefix ).c_str() );
-  }
-
   // check for sli-init.sli
-  if ( not checkpath( slihomepath, fname ) )
+  if ( not checkpath( slilibdir, fname ) )
   {
     i->message( SLIInterpreter::M_FATAL, "SLIStartup", "Your NEST installation seems broken. \n" );
     i->message( SLIInterpreter::M_FATAL, "SLIStartup", "I could not find the startup file that" );
-    i->message( SLIInterpreter::M_FATAL,
-      "SLIStartup",
-      std::string( std::string( "should have been in " ) + slihomepath ).c_str() );
+    i->message( SLIInterpreter::M_FATAL, "SLIStartup", ( std::string( "should have been in " ) + slilibdir ).c_str() );
     i->message( SLIInterpreter::M_FATAL, "SLIStartup", "Please re-build NEST and try again." );
-    i->message( SLIInterpreter::M_FATAL, "SLIStartup", "The file install.html in NEST's doc directory tells you how." );
-
     i->message( SLIInterpreter::M_FATAL, "SLIStartup", "Bye." );
 
     // We cannot call i->terminate() here because the interpreter is not
@@ -401,7 +365,7 @@ SLIStartup::init( SLIInterpreter* i )
   statusdict->insert( version_name, Token( new StringDatum( NEST_VERSION_STRING ) ) );
   statusdict->insert( exitcode_name, Token( new IntegerDatum( EXIT_SUCCESS ) ) );
   statusdict->insert( prgbuilt_name, Token( new StringDatum( String::compose( "%1 %2", __DATE__, __TIME__ ) ) ) );
-  statusdict->insert( prgdatadir_name, Token( new StringDatum( slihomepath ) ) );
+  statusdict->insert( prgdatadir_name, Token( new StringDatum( slilibdir ) ) );
   statusdict->insert( prgdocdir_name, Token( new StringDatum( slidocdir ) ) );
   statusdict->insert( prefix_name, Token( new StringDatum( sliprefix ) ) );
   statusdict->insert( host_name, Token( new StringDatum( NEST_HOST ) ) );

sli/slistartup.h

@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ class SLIStartup : public SLIModule
 {
   const std::string startupfilename;
   const std::string slilibpath;
-  std::string slihomepath;
+  std::string slilibdir;
   std::string slidocdir;
   std::string sliprefix;
 

testsuite/do_tests.sh.in

@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ EXTENDED_REGEX_PARAM=r
 . "$(dirname $0)/junit_xml.sh"
 . "$(dirname $0)/run_test.sh"
 
-TEST_BASEDIR="${NEST_DOC_DIR:-@CMAKE_INSTALL_FULL_DOCDIR@}"
+TEST_BASEDIR="$(sli -c 'statusdict/prgdocdir :: =only')"
 TEST_OUTDIR="${TEST_OUTDIR:-$( pwd )/reports}"
 TEST_LOGFILE="${TEST_OUTDIR}/installcheck.log"
 TEST_OUTFILE="${TEST_OUTDIR}/output.log"
@@ -104,7 +104,6 @@ fi
 mkdir "${TEST_OUTDIR}"
 
 PYTHON="${PYTHON:-python}"
-PYTHON_HARNESS="${NEST_DATA_DIR:-@CMAKE_INSTALL_FULL_DATADIR@}/extras/do_tests.py"
 
 TMPDIR="${TMPDIR:-${TEST_OUTDIR}}"
 TEST_TMPDIR="$(mktemp -d "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/nest.XXXXX")"
@@ -432,7 +431,7 @@ if test "x${TEST_PYNEST}" = xtrue ; then
     echo "Phase 7: Running PyNEST tests."
     echo "------------------------------"
 
-    # If possible, we run using nosetests. To find out if nosetests work,
+    # If possible, we run using nosetests. To find out if nosetests works,
     # we proceed in two steps:
     # 1. Check if nosetests is available
     # 2. Check that nosetests supports --with-xunit by running nosetests.
@@ -442,12 +441,11 @@ if test "x${TEST_PYNEST}" = xtrue ; then
     #    dummy directory to search for tests.
 
     if command -v @NOSETESTS@ >/dev/null 2>&1 && @PYTHON@ @NOSETESTS@ --with-xunit --xunit-file=/dev/null --where="${TEST_OUTDIR}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-
-        @PYTHON@ @NOSETESTS@ -v \
-                   --with-xunit --xunit-testsuite-name="07_pynest_tests" --xunit-file="${TEST_OUTDIR}/07_pynest_tests.xml" \
-                   "${NEST_PYTHON_PREFIX:-@CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX@/@PYEXECDIR@}/nest/tests" 2>&1 \
+	# Find the path to PyNEST without actually importing it
+	PYNEST_TEST_DIR="$(@PYTHON@ -c "import importlib; print(importlib.util.find_spec('nest').submodule_search_locations[0])")/tests"
+	XUNIT_FILE="${TEST_OUTDIR}/07_pynest_tests.xml"
+        @PYTHON@ @NOSETESTS@ -v --with-xunit --xunit-testsuite-name="07_pynest_tests" --xunit-file="${XUNIT_FILE}" "${PYNEST_TEST_DIR}" 2>&1 \
             | tee -a "${TEST_LOGFILE}" | grep -i --line-buffered "\.\.\. ok\|fail\|skip\|error" | sed 's/^/  /'
-
     else
         echo
         echo "  Not running PyNEST tests because nosetests is not available."