base request: have a method to prepopulate environment variables for the build and destroot phases

[kencu (Ken)]

When setting up a port for a build, base does a very careful job of pre-populating the environment variables prior to running ./configure with carefully planned out defaults.

Appropriately, base does not by default recalculate and reset all those environment variables prior to the build phase, in deference to what the ./configure script has set up. This has worked well for many years.

However, there are quite a few ports that do not run a ./configure phase, and those builds enter the build phase with a very empty set of environment variables. As things have become more complicated with building ports in general, the deficiencies in building these ports has become more obvious.

So I'd like to suggest that in cases where ports are not using a configure phase, having base prepopulate the build (and perhaps destroot) environment variables with same defaults it sets up prior to the ./configure phase could be very helpful.

[kencu (Ken)]

This was just a possibly good idea that will never get any traction. There are simple workarounds that can be done in the Portfile anyway if anyone wants this, like tacking a printenv onto the end of the configure.args and redirecting the content into a temporary file in the workrcdir that gets read back in by the build phase, should anyone be so inclined.

[jmroot (Joshua Root)]

There's no reason to close a legitimate enhancement request.

[kencu (Ken)]

the makefile PG was the step to fixing this