Delete unneeded dependencies
lazarus / 9-Editor

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Dzandaa · 2025-08-26 09:54

Hi,

In Package graph, is it safe to delete unneeded dependencies?

Thank you.

B->

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Thaddy · 2025-08-26 10:17

Which ones?

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Dzandaa · 2025-08-26 11:33

Hi,

When you click with the right mouse button on an empty space, you have
"show unneeded dependencies" and then this form

"Clean up package dependencies"

I'm just trying to figure out what this is for and if you can click
"delete dependencies" safely?

Just for info.

B->

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Thaddy · 2025-08-26 11:52

I would be very careful with that: some of these are related to
debugging.
Never worked with that tool, though, but dependencies gets optimized
away when not needed.

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Martin_fr · 2025-08-26 12:36

Safe => I think yes.

Useful => not so much. Unless it gets committed back into the repo.


It will not (or at least should not) change anything with regard to
either your project or the IDE.

As it states, those are packages that are required "twice" => but in
any case, they end up exactly once in the code. And if you remove the
2nd requirement, then they still end up exactly once.

E.g.
- FpDebug requires DebuggerIntf AND FCL (it directly lists FCL as its
own requirement)
- But DebuggerIntf requires LazDebuggerIntf which also requires FCL

So, if FCL is removed from FpDebug's list of requirements, then it
still ends up in the exe (in the lazarus.exe) via the indirect
requirement. And by that, it also still is available for FpDebug, and
FpDebug still works and still makes use of it.

And as for cleaning this up in the Lazarus git repo, well there is pro
and contra.

- Pro (minor): It would reduces the entries in each requirement
section.
- Contra: In case of FpDebug, it would lead to an error, if at some
future time LazDebuggerIntf does no longer require it.


And that gets you back to the original question. If you remove it,
then all should be fine. At least for now. But if someone else changes
what the base packages require... Then it stops compiling, and you
have to add it again. (Still "safe" because the compiler will tell you
when you need to add it again, though it wont tell you which one you
need... Your time to find that)

Besides, if it's package you installed, then it will be back, when you
update them. For your own packages, it's your own choice.

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Dzandaa · 2025-08-26 13:52

Hi,

@Martin_fr:

Thank you, It's very clear for me now.

B->