graphviz-gui: "Port graphviz-gui requires a full Xcode installation..."

[dyne2meter]

I'm using OSX 10.14; I have Xcode 10.3 installed, but I could install 11.3.1 according to Apple

In /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs is 10.14.sdk

I have no log to submit; all I get is the message indicated in my subject line

Perhaps I should reinstall Xcode 10.3; please advise if you understand anything about this failure.

Same thing happened for R-app, which I also have installed.

[jmroot (Joshua Root)]

xcodebuild -version is the command that MacPorts uses to check whether you have Xcode.

[dyne2meter]

Then something funny is going on. I reinstalled Xcode 10.3, and got the same message (even after starting Xcode, agreeing, and installing components.

I had to:

xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer

to get access to the xcodebuild command, and if thereafter I do

xcode-select --switch /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools

I lose xcodebuild again. I understand paths and so on, but the advice I get from MacPorts only goes as far as issuing xcode-select --install. I see that the command line tools are on another path from Xcode.app.

Anyway, I was able to complete the installation of R-app and graphviz-gui, so that issue is retired. I just don't understand the additional work with xcode-select. Are the command line tools always available to MacPorts once they are installed? Thanks for any advice.

[kencu (Ken)]

don’t do this:

xcode-select --switch /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools

the command line tools don’t have xcodebuild, and are missing other xcode things too.

[dyne2meter]

Indeed I understand this, but I never before needed to give the explicit command

xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer

in order to build something from MacPorts. Before I reinstalled Xcode, I was upgrading my outdated ports simply by using the port upgrade outdated command, and this has been true for years.

It could be I don't recall, but I don't think it has ever been part of my workflow when upgrading to a later MacOS.

[jmroot (Joshua Root)]

Relatively few ports need Xcode to build; most are fine with just the Command Line Tools. And even the ones that do need Xcode to build will happily install without it if there is a binary available. It's only in the case that you have to build one of these ports locally that you will see this message.

[ryandesign (Ryan Carsten Schmidt)]

That's what I was going to say too. graphviz-gui is one of the few ports that both requires a full Xcode installation and is not available as a binary for licensing reasons.

I also get the impression that Apple might select Xcode or the command line tools automatically for you depending on which one you have installed, which might explain why you didn't have to select it manually before. However, if you do select it manually, maybe that then overrides whatever would have been chosen automatically. This is all speculation; I could be totally wrong.